Chapter 146: Locating the Molten Magma Core part 1
Kayn and the others were completely unaware of the situation outside and the unexpected arrival of a dangerous party that closely followed them.
The moment they walked inside the Peaceful Volcano, they were immediately greeted by the harsh and extreme terrain, and the searing pain caused by the heat of the magma flowing all over the place.
Although that was the case, they still didn't hesitate to begin moving deeper inside.
They carefully and cautiously navigated through the harsh and extreme terrain while they make sure to avoid every possible danger along the way.
Eventually, they stumbled upon the first hurdle in the Peaceful Volcano.
In front of them, three paths leading to each different location inside the Peaceful Volcano hindered their path.
"According to the information we've gathered yesterday, the one on the left side leads to an underground ancient settlement. A lot of treasures and relics were said to have been found over the site, but based on reports of the majority of the parties that explored the place, there's no way for the Molten Magma Core to be hidden at that place as the place slightly diverted away from the center of the Peaceful Volcano," Friedrich started informing everyone.
Just from the name Molten Magma Core alone, it's quite evident that it's located at the center of the Peaceful Volcano.
"Let's go to the right," Kayn pointed all of a sudden.
Friedrich narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure?"
"If I am not mistaken, both the right and the middle lead somewhere close to the center of the Peaceful Volcano. But because of the difficulty of traversing the place, no one has yet to confirm which one truly leads to the center of the Peaceful Volcano,"
"You're right,"
It wasn't hard to assume that since up until now no one is still able to find a single clue of the Molten Magma Core's whereabouts. If they have, that means they've found the center of the Peaceful Volcano. But since they haven't, meaning they still haven't found the center yet.
Needless to say, he isn't intending on betting on the chances that the right side would lead to the center of the Peaceful Volcano. As a matter of fact, he already knows that it would lead exactly to that place.
That's because Natas has already informed him when he was still injured previously of the route to get to the Molten Magma Core. And he isn't planning on going to many places first before eventually guiding everyone to its exact location.
Simply put, he doesn't want to waste any time on useless and meaningless actions.
Regardless of what the reaction of the others would be, he doesn't care and it doesn't matter.
"Then let's just pick whatever path between the two since the only way to find out exactly where the center of the Peaceful Volcano is through looking for it ourselves,"
"I guess you're right," Friedrich understand. "Then let's go to the right,"
With that being said, everyone immediately runs on the right path.
Not long after Kayn's party disappeared, the party that came after them soon arrived in the same predicament.
Unlike Kayn's party that arrived unscathed though, their party seems to have received a considerable number of wounds and injuries around their respective bodies.
However, the wounds and injuries don't look like it was inflicted by the natural dangers brought by the Peaceful Volcano, but from fights against other parties along the way. And looking at the fact that they have reached here, it means that those parties were clearly defeated and perhaps even completely eliminated.
Nevertheless, the expression on their faces strangely shows that they are delighted and are in a state of euphoria
"Let's go to the center,"
Fortunately, they've chosen a different path from Kayn's party.
…..
"I don't know why, but I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine just now," Gilbert expresses as he slightly shivers.
"I think that has to do with the situation right in front of us," Friedrich uttered in response.
In front of them, they have discovered a beautiful but at the same time extremely dangerous scene.
It was like how it would look if heaven loses the fight against hell.
Looking up, they could see numerous magma flowing down below in a straight line like a waterfall while tongues of flames would occasionally erupt around it, thus raining drops of magma nearby.
Following where it was leading, they could see a river of magma flowing in a specific direction far away from them.
As they looked for a path to use to continue their travel, they soon realized that the only way to actually travel deeper is to go down below to where the waterfall is falling toward and use the small patches of land that have detached themselves from the main body and are now on a constant move forward as it slowly got melted away by the magma underneath it.
"Are you telling me that's our only way?!" Gilbert exclaimed.
"Can you see other methods around us?" Kayn rolled his eyes as he started walking down a flight of roughly made stairs to their side.
As he closely followed Kayn, Gilbert can't help asking, "If we stumbled upon something like this, shouldn't the first thought be assuming that this is a dead end?"
"Well, it isn't," Friedrich interrupted as he pointed at a party that has now jumped on top of a moving patch of land.
Upon landing, the two Mages of their party immediately cast a protective barrier around the patch of land to protect it from the magma thus preventing it from melting away.
"They are insane!" Gilbert was shocked. He might have done a lot of life-threatening actions and experienced numerous near-to-death events in the past, but never once has he actively sought after death himself like that group of Heroes.
"Luckily for us, we have two of the most capable Mages in 'The Bridge'," Friedrich looks at Kimberly and Cyril.
"I think you've forgotten me," Jude stepped forward.
"As far as I know, there was no Jude in the list the previous time I looked," Cyril jokingly muttered.
"Ha-ha, very funny," Jude clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Jokes aside. Since we have three Mages with us, one being very adept in the fire element," Friedrich nodded at Jude. "It should be a lot easier for our party to handle the problem with the lava melting the platform we would be standing,"
"Enough with the talk, let's begin!"
As soon as they reached the edge of the main body of land, instead of waiting patiently for a patch to detach from it, Jude, Kimberly, and Cyril use their magic power to carve a big but manageable platform for their entire party to stand on.
The instant the land detached itself from the main body, Kayn's party immediately jumped on top of it as Jude, Kimberly, and Cyril created a barrier to protect it from the magma.
Unfortunately, because the patch of land was slightly bigger in size compared to the others that they have seen so far, the speed of its travel was significantly slower.
"I have an idea," Roshan nodded at Carter as the two of them suddenly went to both sides of the platform.
Waving their hands, the two of them took out a shield with a high enough fire resistance stat to handle the magma around them.
Putting the shield on a horizontal angle instead of vertically, the two right after started rowing using their respective shield.
As a result, the speed of the platform slowly increases.
The more Roshan and Carter rows, the faster the platform becomes.
Since there's nothing hindering their path, and in addition to that the flow of the magma seems to be slowly going downward, thus the speed only increases and seems to not show any signs of slowing down any time soon.
"You both can stop now," Kayn informs Roshan and Carter, instantly making the two let go of their shields that have already been badly damaged by the magma that some parts of its body have been melted away to the point that they can't be used anymore.
They still have a few of those shields as extras in their Storage Rings, so it wasn't a problem to throw some away now that they have served their use.
Because their speed has become a lot faster compared to the others, they started catching up to those that have left before them.
Gilbert can't help asking. "Where do you think this would lead to?"
Hearing that question, everyone subconsciously turns to look at Kayn for answers, as if confident that the latter would be able to provide one.
"A waterfall," Kayn replied while staring in front of them, his eyes solemn and with caution.
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you think water flows downwards?"
"That's because the land is a slope, thus the water at the top would naturally descend down below… Don't tell me,"
"Whatever is in your minds right now, that's the correct answer. But rest assured, unlike water, we can easily go against the flow in the case of magma. Just look at that," Kayn pointed at a group of people who are going against the flow of the magma with the help of their Mages.
Seeing that, everyone immediately understood that is their only way of returning from the way they came from.
"I believe that there's another cave somewhere in front of us. Once we see it, I guess all we have to do is to let our Mages control the direction of our platform in order to get close to it," He already knows that there's going to be a cave.