Overall, I can't really say anything about floors 26 through 30. Their structures were highly basic, just a massive basin that was several kilometers across. There was a subtle slope at first, but the further down I went the more severe the incline became.
Adding to that, the entire basin contains a giant whirlpool that grows ever more severe the further one progresses.
Even in the shallowest areas my body was submerged up to the waist in spring water. If one relaxes for but a moment you'll definitely be swept away by the current.
The stairs to progress to the lower floors is in the dead center of the basin, basically requiring you to go to the center of the whirlpool. Seeing the chance for some general ease, I started to let the whirlpool carry me to the next set of floors after discovering the sheer amount of barriers in my way.
First, it was nigh impossible to fly. The moment I made an attempt to fly the thousands of gallons of spring water rushed up in a geyser all around me and formed a water barrier in the sky blocking my way. So, I decided to just barrel through, but the harder I rushed through, the more dense the water seemed to become. Going at full strength it grew harder than metal.
That certainly got on my nerves, but even my best attack was only able to penetrate a few hundred meters ahead. If I kept doing that and charged full force, it'd still take me a full 10 minutes to reach the center. Of course, the entire path I blew apart sealed itself in less than half a second through unordinary means, so it was rather pointless effort.
So, after a moment of deliberation, I opted to just take my time and leisurely swim forward with the current. Sure you'd sometimes have to go against the current when necessary, but for the most part I just let this annoying whirlpool do the work for me.
There were no traps to speak of, aside from the whirlpool itself, so there wasn't really anything to concern oneself about. Aside from the monsters that appeared at some points.
I'd definitely say that the situation made it very difficult to evade attacks, so even though I was going rather easy concerning the task at hand, caution was absolutely necessary. A little too much ease of mind and it wouldn't be impossible to be killed lopsidedly. Every now and then the vortex would stop playing ball, so i'd have to force my way forward directly every now and then. There was neither a great amount of treasure chests, nor dungeon items. I was more displeased, however, that there was not a significant amount of delicious things to eat on this floor since monsters were infrequent in appearing.
This floor is one you can advance quickly if one wishes though, so that's what I did.
Thus, I arrived at the 30th floor far ahead of my self-imposed schedule.
The floor boss on the 30th floor was in view for much of the journey and was surprisingly small. It simply waited at the center of the huge whirlpool. It's name was "Charybdis of Grief[1]".
Like with Lord Dominaria the Gillman Rider, the entire floor seemed to be a battlefield for the floor boss, and because the floor was influenced by the floor the entire challenge grew the closer I got. That's because the vortex ever more rapid and violent the closer I got to the Charybdis of Grief. When I considered the battle, it became obvious that it would be considerably troublesome to defeat it.
My first thought was to simply snipe it at a far distance, but the very instant the thought came to mind, an endless torrent of water fueled a score of water barriers around Charybdis of Grief. My second thought was of less than subtle frustration at the vortex once again, and the third was to consider the battle without heavy-long range abilities.
When I considered the sheer complexity of the defense formation in place, I just accepted that there was no other reasonable choice in the matter .
It was difficult to approach the Charybdis of grief for several reasons. She had a feminine contour with long, light blue-green hair, that expanded to its waist with porcelain white skin. I wasn't sure whether or not it was beautiful since there was a white mask covering the face, though, judging on the figure alone she's a high-class beauty.
While I put my imagination to ponder what her face looked like, I tore through the whirlpool slowly but surely. The sheer intensity of the vortex in resisting me was almost threatening.
It took me hours just to clear the distance between myself and her.
[Floor boss [Charybdis of Grief] successfully eliminated]
[Achiever Yatendouji is permitted to proceed to the next floor, floor boss [Charybdis of Grie] can hereafter be passed without battle]
[Achiever Yatendouji has been Awarded the [Maiden of Grief] as a first time subjugation bonus]
[Achiever Yatendouji has been Assigned the Rare Skill [Vast Vortex of Grief] as a bonus for a solo kill]
Almost regrettably, the Charybdis of Grief was especially weak. I was able to subdue her almost immediately upon reaching where she was. While she resisted, she had no real way to defend herself and was vulnerable to being attacked. It was because she was so weak that it only required a single blow through her abdomen to defeat her.
I was reluctant for a moment because of the beautiful Western face I uncovered under her mask first. Alas, I digress.
It was definitely clear that the sheer danger of the vortex was because she was so weak, the approach to reach her would be especially dangerous to most adventurers.
While the Vortex Turtles had attacked with whirlpools as well, one on the scale of several floors was certainly a different case.
The Vortex Armored Turtle only influenced the enclosed boss room. There was a massive difference in the volume of water, the approach, and the behavior of the boss monster as well.
If it wasn't for the fact that I had the ability [Anaerobic], that entire ordeal would have been life threatening. I might have had a serious chance of drowning outright.
After spending some time catching my breath, I collected the corpse and the chest. Then I turned to descend to the next floor.
The 31st floor had an even higher difficulty structure...