Chapter 137
Chapter 137
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: Trapping the Salamander
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From the traces, it was clear that Jerex had headed to the deepest part of this mine shaft.
After several hours of following Jerex's trail, the search party was just about to reach the heart of the Sleeping Fire Mountains.
Boom!
A massive explosion rocked the shaft, making it feel like it was about to collapse.
As people familiar with mines, the search party didn't panic. They covered their heads and crouched low.
Nayoung immediately raised a shield above their heads. Fortunately, the shaft didn't collapse.
"Jerex must have done something! Hurry!"
As soon as the shaking stopped, they quickened their pace again. They were less than a minute away now.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
The knight leading the charge came running back, his face pale as ash.
"What?! Why are you coming back?!"
Pachem shouted. They were already in a rush—why turn back now?
"Flames...!"
Roooar!!!!
A torrent of fire filled the tunnel, engulfing the fleeing knight.
Nayoung quickly threw up a shield to protect him.
"Get back! Hurry!"
The intense blaze shook the shield, which was barely holding.
But turning around in the narrow shaft with so many people at once was slow going. Bringing a large group to navigate the complex tunnels had been a mistake.
The shaft was about three meters high, but not wide enough for people to run two abreast.
"Hya!"
As people rushed past, Pachem swung his long hammer at the ceiling with unbelievable strength for a one-meter-tall goblin.
The moment Nayoung's shield shattered under the flames, the ceiling came crashing down with a rumble.
The cascade of earth blocked the fire.
Beyond the collapsed passage, two glowing eyes shone through the flames.
Without stopping, Pachem kept smashing the shaft to collapse it as he ran.
"Huff... huff... Pachem! What is that thing?!"
"It's the Fire Incarnation Salamander."
Pachem said to Jain, who had slumped to the floor.
"The Fire Incarnation? Like the Darkness Incarnation Eres?"
"Similar, but on a different level. It's several grades below the Darkness Incarnation."
"Does it normally live here?"
"No way! The last time a Salamander appeared was thirty years ago in the Eastern Continent. Even then, countless people died before it was barely subdued. Why here, why now...?"
"Can we kill the Incarnation?"
"We can kill it."
"But that won't make fire disappear from the world, right?"
As an Earthling, Jain lacked understanding of Incarnations.
"An Incarnation is just a physical manifestation of a certain phenomenon or primal force—it's not the phenomenon itself. So killing it won't make fire vanish from the world. For now... we need to head up. We need reinforcements. Everyone, get up! If you don't want to die, move!"
The search party members struggled to their feet. They'd descended for two hours, so climbing back would take even longer. Plus, they had minor injuries and depleted stamina.
"Did Jerex summon it?"
"Summon an Incarnation...? If he had a Fire Essence, maybe. But even if possible, summoning an uncontrollable Incarnation would kill him first. I don't get why he'd do it."
Roooar!
"Aaaagh!!!"
Salamander burst from the forward tunnel, setting a guard on fire.
"Damn it! It circled around through a side path!"
Pachem charged into the flames to rescue the injured man.
Nayoung hurriedly raised a shield in front of Pachem, who tore off another guard's cloak to wrap the burning man.
Nayoung hurled dozens of sharp mana needles at the blatantly hostile Fire Incarnation.
The mana needles whistled through the air, piercing Salamander and embedding in the wall. It didn't seem hurt, but the moment they passed through its body, Salamander's movements froze briefly.
"Attacks like that don't work on the Fire Incarnation! Run!"
Pachem collapsed another section of tunnel as he led them back the way they'd come.
After running for a while, they ducked into a side shaft to catch their breath.
"Master... it's definitely following us, right? Why?"
"...They say Salamander likes those favored by fire."
"Those favored by fire?"
"Outstanding blacksmiths like me."
"......"
Jain stared blankly at Pachem.
"What! It's not my fault!"
"No... who said it was? But if it likes you, won't it not attack?"
"It's like a dog liking a bone. It'll probably burn me until not even bones are left. Damn it!"
"Is the way up blocked?"
To snap Pachem out of his self-blame, Nayoung asked about a solution.
"One path is blocked. But there are others. You all go up first."
Pachem sketched a web-like map of the shafts on the ground.
"I'll lure it."
"How was the Incarnation from thirty years ago caught?"
Jain ignored Pachem's words and asked.
"Mages poured thousands of tons of lake water to weaken it, then the Empire's Grand Master took it down."
"Not even a Master level can do it?"
"An Incarnation's attacks are beyond what a mere human can block. A human can't even attack an Incarnation. But a Grand Master isn't an ordinary human, so it worked."
"Nayoung blocked it with a shield earlier, though?"
"...Really? How? Are you a Grand Master?"
"Who knows?"
Nayoung tilted her head. She had no reference point.
"No, it doesn't matter. Even if you're amazing, Nayoung, you couldn't fully block its attack, right? And our attacks didn't work either."
"You said they weakened it with water last time? Is there water nearby?"
"No large amounts in the shafts or the workshop district. The closest is the valley below."
Pachem pointed to one end of the map he'd drawn on the floor.
"It won't jump into the valley on its own... If we break through this wall, we're close to the valley. I'll lure it. Hurry up and go."
Pachem steeled his resolve and repeated himself. He couldn't let all these people—and everyone in the workshop district—die because of him. Dropping it into the valley would distance it from the district, buying time for survivors to escape.
"Instead of that, lure it here and block it off here, here."
Sensing Pachem's determination, Jain suggested an alternative, marking spots on the floor map.
"It's the Fire Incarnation—a living blaze. Blocking it like that would suffocate us... Ah!"
Pachem realized Jain's intent.
"Jain, what should I do?"
Nayoung asked.
"Protect people from the flames with your shields as we move."
The plan was set. Half the group, including the injured, circled back toward the workshop district, while the rest headed to the marked spots.
"Master, how much farther?"
Jain asked while running.
"At this pace, twenty more minutes. I can handle the plan alone. You two escape now."
"No way you last twenty minutes alone, Pachem. We're going with you."
Nayoung shook her head at Pachem's words.
"After coming this far?"
Jain chimed in.
"...I'll repay this debt. Once we're through, collapse the tunnels completely."
Pachem ordered the search party.
"Master, see you above!"
Knowing they'd only hold the three back, the search party swallowed their gloom and spoke.
"Yeah, see you above."
Pachem didn't think he'd survive, but he said it to reassure them.
Flames flickered beyond the tunnel.
"It's coming! Go!"
Pachem, Nayoung, and Jain entered one tunnel while the remaining search party took another. As expected, Salamander followed Pachem's group.
A defender hidden nearby collapsed the tunnel after Salamander passed.
"Next position!"
The defenders hurried. Having mapped Pachem's route in advance, they deliberately led Salamander around, blocking tunnels one by one to guide it.
Weightless Salamander moved incredibly fast. When it closed in, Nayoung blocked with a shield and fired needles to briefly halt it, buying time.
"How much farther?!"
Jain shouted, gasping for breath.
"Right here! Goddess! Shield!"
The three leaped into a small cavern, Salamander right behind.
"Master! See you above!"
The last defender collapsed the tunnel after the three and Salamander entered.
Salamander and the three faced off in the narrow ten-meter cavern, shield between them.
Salamander's flickering tongue fixed its gaze on them.
"You know the plan? If it goes wrong, I'll jump alone. You two stay safe."
"It'll work."
Pachem slowly edged sideways. While he lured it, the other two needed to breach the wall.
"Huh...?"
As Pachem sidled along the wall, Salamander's gaze stayed locked on Nayoung and Jain, ignoring him.
"It's not following me?"
"Then me?"
Nayoung shifted sideways too.
Salamander's gaze settled on Jain.
"Me...?"
"Don't panic! Goddess! Watch it a moment!"
Salamander crept toward Jain, tongue flicking like a puppy eyeing a treat.
"N-nice...? Could you back up a bit?"
Jain wiggled her fingers, hoping it'd retreat.
That gesture was the signal. Salamander lunged at Jain with a blaze, shaking Nayoung's shield violently.
Nayoung poured mana until veins bulged on her forehead, holding it back.
But with no oxygen left to burn, Salamander's flames weakened.
Ordinary people would have died from lack of air, but these superhumans endured the dizziness.
As the flames died down, blocking became easier for Nayoung.
Now only Salamander's orange body remained, flames gone. The moment Nayoung relaxed, thinking it was over—
Salamander reared up, claws raking the shield, shattering several layers at once.
"Not yet?!"
Nayoung layered shields anew.
She was on the verge of collapse from mana overuse.
"Going!"
Pachem swung his long hammer hard at the wall.
Boom!
The struck wall burst open over a meter wide.
Whoooosh!!!!
Salamander in the airless space was sucked toward the influx of air.
Pachem hooked the hammer's pointed end into the floor to anchor himself.
Salamander did the same, claws gripping the hole's edge.
Then Nayoung fired a barrage of mana needles.
As they pierced its body, Salamander blurred and got sucked out the hole, plummeting.
"Got it!"
Below was the valley. Flightless Salamander would plunge into the water.
Jain and Pachem collapsed in exhaustion.
"It worked, just like Jain said."
"Backdraft. Punch a hole in contained flames to inject oxygen, and they explode outward. Since Salamander's insubstantial fire, it should work."
"Now we just escape."
"W-wait..."
Tension eased, but Pachem's green face paled.
"Anyone hear a splash?"
"....."
"A fireball like Salamander hitting water should've made a huge noise, right?"
They all jumped up.
The three tensely peered out the hole downward.