Dragon Spirit/Stage 5

The fifth stage takes place inside of a giant cavern. The first thing to note about this stage is the cavern ceilings. On either side of the visible path will be a darkened section meant to represent the ceiling of the cavern. Touching any part of the dark portion of the screen will result in you taking damage and losing power, and potentially dying. On top of this, the position of the darkness will shift left and right as you fly, forcing you to occupy certain sections of the screen as you travel. Keep an eye on this as you progress, and don't allow yourself to be lured too close to the edge for too long.

When you start, you'll see an easy blue egg to bomb, but you'll have to do it on the other side of an outcropping from the ceiling. You'll soon encounter the first enemy of the stage, a Cave Bat. Cave Bats act a lot like Swallowtails, flutter around near the top of the screen until you get close to them, and they dive toward you. After you first meet them, there will be an unknown enemy underneath the right ceiling that shoots at you (it happens to be spider, but you won't be able to see it.) Around that time, the ceiling will start to shift. The left ceiling will head left, opening up the path, but then the right ceiling will head left as well, shrinking it again. Around that time, a blue egg will be in the middle of the path. Behind that is a red egg closer to the right, but by the time you realize it's there, the ceiling will cover it, making obtaining the orb it contains nearly impossible.

The next enemy to appear will be the Spiders and their Nets. Spiders sit on Nets which move in small circles, and shoot bullets at you. If you only shoot the Nets long enough to destroy the Spiders, Nets will spawn new Spiders in their place. You must continue to shoot the Nets while they are unoccupied in order to destroy the Nets completely. For a start, only one Spider Net will be present on the left.

Just behind that Spider Net will be a small lake on the right. The lake contains fish known as Death Flatters. They leap out of the water to shoot a projectile at you before dropping back in. Since you can't bomb them in the water, the only way to defeat them is to shoot them when they're in the air. Near the back of the lake, you will find two more Spider Nets and a large number of Cave Bats.

As you begin flying over land again, the two sides of the ceiling will begin closing in. You will see a blue egg in the back behind a Spider Net, but don't be tempted to fly over and bomb it, as you will only increase the likelihood of crashing into the ceiling. The ceiling will begin to open up again just as a new enemy will appear. Large frogs known as Gedo will hop off the floor and try to strike you with their long tongue. Unlike the fish, Gedos can be both shot in the air, or bombed on the ground. As a second Gedo appears, you will see a red egg on the left. The ceiling will be opening and closing at this point, so be careful if you decide to go after it. A second red egg will appear on the right behind a Spider Net.

More Spider Nets and Cave Bats will appear. Eventually, one final new enemy will appear: the Caterpillar. Caterpillars can roll up into a little ball, at which time they are invulnerable to attack. It is only when they stretch back out that you can successfully bomb them. Behind the first Caterpillar, you will approach another body of water. At this time, the ceiling will begin to close in, leaving very small gaps for Amul to safely sit in until the ceiling opens back up again. Death Flatters will leap out of the water, but you'll have to focus on avoiding the ceiling more than taking out the fish. You are better off staying up near the top of the screen, where you'll have more time to react to the ceiling and find a safe spot.

By the time you reach the back of the water, the ceiling will begin to open back up. Back on land, there will be a red egg, followed by two Caterpillars, the second of which will be flashing. It's possible that even after you bomb the egg and the Caterpillar, that the power-ups they produce will fly off into the ceiling, so don't crash into it chasing after them.

Over the next stretch, both ceilings will remain the same distance apart, but the entire structure will begin to move left and right across the screen, and of course you'll have to move with it. If you're having trouble figuring out where the safe routes are, keep firing your normal weapon and watch which paths do not block your shots. The area will be occupied by Caterpillars and Gedo frogs, along with several Cave Bats. There is a blue egg far to the right, but you'll only have a brief moment of safety to try and collect it.

A Flashing Caterpillar will appear just before another body of water. As you fly over it, the ceiling will begin to open up a little bit, but continue to shift left and right. Spider Nets will float over the water, and one of the Cave Bats in the vicinity will be flashing. Shoot ahead to clear away the bats, spiders, and fish. Three Spider Nets will appear above the land beyond the water, and the ceiling will begin to stabilize. You'll be forced down into the bottom of the screen until both side of the ceiling open up enough to reveal the boss's lair. Shoot the last of the Cave Bats as you approach it.

Boss: Berento Spider
The Berento Spider will climb down from the top of the screen to occupy the web beneath. This large spider is a ground based enemy which must be bombed in order to damage it. However, the way it defends itself is by depositing Spider Nets in the air above itself. These Nets are occupied by Spiders which shoot at you. In order to ensure your safety, you should prioritize destroying the Spiders and their Nets, or the screen will be overrun with projectiles. At the same time, you should simultaneously bomb the ground continuously, in an effort to chip away at the Berento Spider's health. The boss of the stage will do nothing else to threaten you, so drop bombs on it as much as you can whenever the screen is clear of Spider Nets, which won't be very often.