Lava Boiling from Below
Lava boiled from below. A stifling heat rose from the depths, and sweat poured from everyone's foreheads like a monsoon.
"Huff... puff... It's too hot..." Seril muttered, wiping her sweat furiously, her face flushed as red as her hair. Even though the academy had artificially lowered the temperature of the lava, it was still well over two hundred degrees Celsius. For Seril, whose physical constitution was barely different from an ordinary person's, the heat was overwhelming. She looked ready to collapse at any moment. I caught Deila's eye and gave her a nod, prompting her to chant a spell.
"O cold, banish the heat. Frost." Instantly, a wave of frigid air swept through the area. The boiling lava solidified into hard rock, coated in a layer of white frost. Seril shivered at the sudden drop in temperature, but Deila was already casting her next spell.
"Heat." A gentle warmth dispelled the biting chill. As the temperature settled into a comfortable range, the color returned to Seril's pale face.
"Good job," I said.
"This is nothing," Deila replied. "Let's hurry and explore the next zone."
"Right. We should."
Multiple targets eliminated by environmental freeze.
Points have been successfully credited to your party.
At this rate, I won't even need to draw my sword. Deila had just wiped out dozens of monsters with a single spell. And since Tom, our tank, was just as capable, maybe I could just sit back and relax?
Rumble! The ground shook violently the moment that thought crossed my mind. Is someone reading my thoughts? An ominous surge of mana erupted from a newly formed fissure in the earth.
"Watch out!" I yelled.
"Kyaaa!"
I scooped Seril up in my arms and leaped away. The moment my feet left the ground, the floor collapsed. Crash! Dust billowed from the newly formed crater, revealing an abyss that seemed to stretch down into infinity.
"Could you... put me down?" Seril mumbled in a tiny voice, her face as red as a ripe tomato. I was holding her in a bridal carry, and her feet dangled in the air, kicking slightly.
"Ah, sorry. I was in a hurry."
"I-It's fine!" Seril slapped her own cheeks. Is she sick? Her face looks incredibly flushed.
"Hey, Leader! Is Miss Seril okay?!"
"Her mana flow is perfectly stable. So shut up, will you? With a Sword Master as our leader, there's no way Seril would get hurt."
Tom emerged from the dust cloud, shouting in concern, followed by Deila, who was tapping her ear to block out his loud voice.
"Ugh, the dust!" Deila frowned at the thick haze. It's blocking my line of sight. I swung my sword lightly, dispersing the dust in all directions. Only then did the crater come into clear view. An ominous, low growl echoed from the depths of the abyss.
"Seril. Can you tell what kind of monster did this?"
"Give me a second!"
At my request, Seril ran over and carefully inspected the edge of the pit. After examining the crater, which had a radius of easily over four meters, she reached a conclusion.
"These are the tracks of a Lava Worm. It tunneled deep underground, causing a sinkhole. But judging by the scale... this is a giant one."
"A giant?"
"Yes. A monster at least twenty meters long and three meters thick. It could easily crush an ogre to death. I'd classify it as a semi-A-rank threat."
A semi-A-rank? How could such a monster evade the professors' sweep?
"Does that even make sense? The academy professors aren't incompetent," Tom questioned.
"Logically, it's impossible," Seril agreed, nodding.
She didn't need to say anything more. We all knew that the current situation defied all common sense.
"Shouldn't we report this to the professors?"
"We can't. The Devices are dead," Deila said, tapping her screen in frustration.
I checked my own Device, but the screen wouldn't even turn on. It was a familiar scenario—the dungeon sealing phenomenon from the original game. This meant that Antalles's seal was on the verge of shattering.
But why is it breaking so early? Even a 6th-circle black mage shouldn't be able to break Antalles's seal this easily. The sealing array itself was highly complex, and it was supposed to be completely out of the black mage's reach. This meant the black mage had already reached the core of the Lava Dungeon—previously classified as an A-rank dungeon—and was actively dismantling the seal. This is unexpected.
It was far too fast. In the original story, the collapse of the seal only showed warning signs near the very end of the exam. But the biggest problem was... Seril. I had planned to slowly build a safe house for her to hide in. If the seal broke and Antalles went on a rampage before that was ready, she would be exposed. I didn't even want to imagine it. If worst came to worst, I might have to kill her myself. For now...
"Let's head to the dungeon entrance. Since a Lava Worm has already made its way up, A-rank monsters might start appearing soon."
We made our way back to the entrance, only to find it packed with students who had the exact same idea. The only problem was that the exit was completely sealed shut.
"Why is the entrance gone?! Isn't this dungeon run by the academy?!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Please! Open the gate! My friend is dying!"
It was absolute pandemonium. As soon as the seal cracked, the monsters of the Lava Dungeon, sensing the presence of a supreme predator, began swarming the student zones. The area was filled with severely wounded students who would die without immediate medical attention. Some had chunks of flesh torn away, while others had lost entire limbs. If Rio had been here, Seril would have completely lost her mind. Part of me wanted to just tear the entrance open, but...
Even I can't do that. If I were a mage, maybe. But as a swordsman, even if I managed to slash through space to force a path open, there was no telling where it would lead. Instead of saving lives, I might end up slaughtering everyone.
Wait, where is Idrian? I couldn't see any sign of Idrian's party, whom I had spotted when we first entered the dungeon. A cold sweat broke out on my neck as I stared back into the depths of the dungeon. Don't tell me... they didn't make it out?
While Kanteil's party was seeking refuge at the entrance, deep inside the dungeon, Idrian's party was in a state of absolute panic.
"No! You can't die! Lord Idrian!"
Miruel, her wheat-colored hair disheveled and tears streaming down her face, desperately pressed a white cloth against Idrian's abdomen. Blood gushed out, instantly soaking the fabric and turning it a deep crimson. A blue-haired girl slapped Miruel across the cheek as she sobbed hysterically.
"Get a grip, Miruel! If we just stand here pressing on the wound, we're all going to die!"
"But... Lord Idrian got hurt because of me..."
A Lava Worm had ambushed Miruel, and in his attempt to shield her, Idrian's waist had been shredded by its razor-sharp scales. They had managed to perform basic first aid, but it was barely holding. If they stayed here, he would die.
Because of me... to protect me...!
She was consumed by agonizing regret. If only she had taken the blow instead. If only she had sensed the Lava Worm sooner...! This tragedy would never have happened! She felt so foolish. Endless remorse washed over her as her fingers dripped with blood—the blood of the person she cherished more than her own life.
Thud—!!!
A massive tremor shook the entire Lava Dungeon. Miruel immediately threw her body over the fallen Idrian to shield him. Crash!
"Ugh!"
A large boulder struck her back. Her armor shattered, and blood began to drip from her back. The healer beside her frantically asked if she was alright, but Miruel didn't answer. No, she couldn't afford to. Her mind was consumed by a single, desperate thought: she had to protect Idrian.
Just as you protected me at the entrance ceremony.
"I will protect you," she whispered.
Even if it cost her life.
Rumble!
A sound like roaring thunder echoed through the cavern. The temperature of the Lava Dungeon skyrocketed, and a mysterious green toxic mist began to blanket the area. At the center of this bizarre phenomenon stood Antalles, a red-skinned demon with the head of a ram.
An overwhelming presence. The black mage trembled in terror at a pressure so immense it was hard to believe it came from a being who had been sealed away and weakened for a millennium. The vampire guarding him was no different. Is this... an upper-tier demon? An upper-tier demon possessed power equivalent to a 7th-stage martial artist or a 7th-circle archmage. The black mage swallowed hard, overwhelmed by a presence that made the mid-tier demons he had summoned in the past look like mere insects.
Antalles's gaze briefly drifted toward the black mage.
Antalles clicked his tongue and turned away. He had once been a great demon, a being on par with transcendent masters. Though he had lost most of his power during his long imprisonment, his perception still remained at the level of a great demon. The black mage gritted his teeth at the demon's dismissive gaze. A mere demon dares to look down on me...! He seethed with silent rage, but there was nothing he could do. Antalles's sheer existence was far too grand for a mere black mage to contend with.
Antalles closed his eyes briefly, recalling the memories of that fateful day—the hero who had sealed him just as he was about to annihilate the kingdom. When his eyes snapped open, a terrifying wave of killing intent erupted from them.
It was a murderous intent directed solely at the bloodline of the hero who had sealed him away a thousand years ago.