10 — Volkanos Volcano

Six volcano stages, easy until the last two — Volcanic Defender's early Teacher Bun Bun, then Kory's wave-attack debut in Flame Caldera.

Easy until it abruptly isn't. Each stage plays differently from the last, so expect to swap loadouts more than usual. The two hard ones close the map: Volcanic Defender sends Teacher Bun Bun early with Shy Boy support, and Flame Caldera introduces Kory — buffed to 200% on debut.

Kory is the saga's first wave-attacker: a tough Traitless enemy with high health and several knockbacks whose Lv.4 Wave Attacks punish exactly the thing most players do by reflex — spamming short-range cats into his face. The waves pass over your front line and crush the support behind it. He's the reason wave-immunity and ranged play start mattering from here.