Chapter 78

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 78

Chapter Title: Eternal Furnace

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78

The Eternal Furnace, the treasure of the dwarf race, lay deep within the Giant Rock Mountains where the Thunderhammer dwarf clan's village was located.

"There it is. See that?"

-Mm.

Deep inside the Giant Rock Mountains, where icy valley streams trickled around them. In the midst of this chill place, barely touched by sunlight, stood a massive furnace.

It glowed red-hot, spewing smoke straight into the sky, even whistling with a high-pitched pee-ik! sound.

-It's hot here.

This should have been a cool spot, but the deeper they went, the hotter it got. According to the owner, a place like this could be called a "sauna."

With a massive hunk of metal belching flames right there, the heat was only natural. But even so, it felt excessively hot to Ddol Ddoli.

He'd never seen a furnace before, so he wasn't sure, but one thing was clear: it was full of fire.

Yet fire didn't make a shrill peee-ik noise like that.

And with the surrounding valley water heating up enough to steam faintly, something had to be wrong.

-Is this normal?

"It always holds flames, sure. The Eternal Furnace has never gone out once. But it's never overheated this close to exploding, not even once."

-I see.

"Think you get it?"

-No clue.

Of course, just looking at it wouldn't reveal the problem to Ddol Ddoli.

But did he really need to know?

Not at all.

-Doesn't matter. What counts is cooling it down. Ddol Ddoli's in cold golem mode now. Cold golems are strong against fire.

Ddol Ddoli stared at the furnace. It looked precarious, swollen and red-hot like it might burst. Boldly, he reached out and touched it.

"H-Huh?!"

"What are you doing?! Don't touch that! You'll melt!"

"Golem! Pull your hand out now!"

The dwarves cried out in horror. Ddol Ddoli ignored them.

-Might be dangerous. Step back.

With that, without even glancing behind, he plunged his hand into the blazing red flames.

Chiiiiiik!

Vast clouds of steam erupted. It blocked out everything, vision lost in the haze. The peee-ik whistle piled on the chaos made it utterly disorienting.

"Th-This is bad..."

"We're all gonna die. Dead, I tell you!"

The dwarves trembled. One curled into a ball in terror; another bolted in blind panic. Ddol Ddoli didn't waver.

He barely registered their presence. His focus was solely on the searing heat.

Ddol Ddoli, it's hot.

Ddol Ddoli was as tough against heat as he was cold. Even so, this intensity burned vividly clear.

But it was fine. The heat hadn't reached his core heartstone. He felt it keenly but without pain, letting him concentrate.

Ddol Ddoli's cold, pouring into the furnace.

Shoooo!

Cold mana flowed from Ddol Ddoli's hand into the furnace.

The escaping chill mixed with the heat, but the overheating showed no signs of easing.

Still, Ddol Ddoli didn't give up. He gradually increased the cold output, bit by bit, careful not to trigger an explosion.

Thankfully, no blast came. But things weren't improving.

Ddol Ddoli's body looked off, for starters. His once-pale stone surface had turned glowing red, on the verge of melting.

The dwarves behind him worried just that. The Eternal Furnace, the dwarves' unquenchable treasure. Its extreme heat could fell even this seemingly invincible golem.

-Ddol Ddoli can endure.

Unlike the dwarves' fears, Ddol Ddoli was fine.

His body, hardened through layers of growth, withstood the ultra-high temperatures. Dragon scale traits blocked the heat, and his new Environmental Adaptation repelled it.

Shuuuuaaaak!

Suddenly, Ddol Ddoli felt an emptiness. The chill that had filled his body was gone.

Had he used up all the cold? Ddol Ddoli returned to his original body.

In other words, he could no longer wield cold like breath.

As if to prove it, the furnace acted up again. The familiar peee-ik rang out as it boiled furiously.

"U-Ugh! The heat's surging again!"

"I-It failed! Total failure!"

"We really needed that Heartstone of Eternal Frost..."

Ddol Ddoli, really hot.

Truly scorching. Without cold to counter it, his body glowed even redder, but Ddol Ddoli kept his hand in.

When the rocks making up his body heated fully red, change came.

A new sensation flooded in. The opposite of cold—heat.

An intensely hot energy seeped into his body. Just like with the cold, instinct told him how to wield it.

Mix the incoming heat with mana, envelop the whole body.

Envelop the core heartstone fully?

Hwoooong!

Mana turned to a heat blast, transforming Ddol Ddoli's body.

The moment his body turned red, Ddol Ddoli realized the heat no longer burned him.

And that wasn't all.

He could control this heat.

He knew how.

Absorb the heat to make it safe. Ddol Ddoli's in flame golem state now, so it's fine.

Shoooo!

Heat was sucked in. The furnace flames, once venting steam everywhere, now flowed entirely into Ddol Ddoli.

"Ooh?"

"Th-The heat..."

"It's being absorbed!"

Ddol Ddoli absorbed the heat rapidly. Strangely, no discomfort at all. Earlier as cold golem, it had felt off.

Same element, probably.

The raging flames shrank. The furnace's trembling stopped. Finally, the flames spewing outside fully died down.

"He did it!"

"The furnace is stable!"

The dwarves cheered wildly, hugging and shedding tears of joy. Ddol Ddoli shook his head firmly.

-No, not yet.

"Not... yet?"

-Yes.

Ddol Ddoli's eyes narrowed.

He'd sensed something odd inside the furnace.

-Something's inside the furnace.

No illusion. Definitely something in there.

Not just sitting—wriggling.

The eternal ember that sustained the 'Eternal Furnace'?

No, something else.

What's inside?

Ddol Ddoli thrust his hand into the furnace. The dwarves gasped in shock.

"Y-You're insane!"

"Even a golem can't survive that!"

"It melts the toughest stone!"

But it didn't melt. His expression was serene, like dipping a hand in cool water and stirring casually, searching peacefully.

"I-Is that possible?"

"A stone golem... immune to lava?"

"Even after absorbing flames..."

"Unbelievable..."

"How was that thing even made?"

-Found it.

Ddol Ddoli's gem eyes glowed.

Instantly, he gripped something.

-Kraaak!

With a scream of agony, a searing dark-red flame was yanked out in his hand.

A bizarre flame with eyes, nose, and mouth.

-Dwarves. Look at this. Bad guy was hiding here. That's why the fire grew.

-Let go! Release me!

-No.

-H-How did you catch me?! I'm a demon realm flame!

-Just grabbed it. Ddol Ddoli's flame golem, so possible.

The dark-red flame writhed in pain. Ddol Ddoli ignored it, punching relentlessly.

-Kraaak! Kaaaak!

Hwarrruk!

Sparks flew with each hit. Wherever they landed, things melted and turned dark-red.

-Bad guy, die.

The dark-red flame slowly got sucked in. It screamed wildly.

-Kraaaaaak! Right when I used all my power, you absorb me...!

Its voice cut off. Fully absorbed.

"Th-The furnace."

"It's quiet."

The dwarves stared at the furnace.

Perfectly fine.

Back to its original state, with just the ember remaining.

As they gawked blankly at each other,

-Ugh.

Ddol Ddoli grimaced fiercely.

-This tastes bad.

Ddol Ddoli opened his mouth wide, like retching.

-Buuuurp!

A mighty belch released a blackish aura. Demonic energy.

The expelled demonic energy shot into the air and evaporated.

"Waaaaah!"

"He saved the furnace!"

"Golem's the best!"

Ddol Ddoli paid no mind to the dwarves hugging and wailing beside him.

-Ugh, really tastes bad. Never wanna eat it again.

The first thing he'd ever "eaten" in his life was utterly revolting.

Another one popped up. Out of nowhere.

What the hell is Ddol Ddoli doing out there?

How does fixing something boost dwarf affinity that much?

And slaying a Demon Realm Flame?

Demon Realm Flame means a demon spirit, right?

Demon spirits.

Essentially spirits corrupted into demons.

Demon Realm Flame specifically meant fire-attribute demon spirits.

He killed one?

That ultra-hot flame itself?

Guess a demon spirit was hiding up north.

Not surprising.

Demons lurked everywhere.

The shock was catching it.

Melts stone, so not easy. How'd he grab it?

Needs insane flame resistance to even touch.

Too curious. Should ask?

With the consciousness link network, yes.

Lift the mana block, and it's reconnected.

"Ddol Ddoli, what was that Demon Realm Flame you caught?"

-......

No response.

Concentrating?

"Ddol Ddoli? Didn't you hear me..."

-Y-Yeah, owner, I hear you.

"Oh, you do."

-Ddol Ddoli fixed furnace, ate bad guy. Tastes awful.

"Ate it?"

-Yes. Never again...

"...?"

Ian's head tilted involuntarily.

What? Furnace? Bad guy?

Shockingly, it made zero sense.

Ate a demon while fixing the furnace? Related how?

Ddol Ddoli didn't even eat things.

And why fix a dwarf furnace?

Fixed their furnace, so affinity up?

Hmm.

No idea.

No answers no matter how he thought.

Shouldn't have asked Ddol Ddoli anyway.

-Kyaaaak!

A sudden shrill scream.

Lara's voice through the consciousness link.

The network linked all Ian's creations, so with mana connected, everyone's voices came through.

"What? Lara? What's wrong?"

-B-Big trouble! Our kids are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gone!

"What?"

-Edelin sis says h-humans kidnapped them!

Ian's face hardened. Kidnapped?

Slavery or something?

"Lara, you okay?"

-Uhuhuhuhu.

"Lara?"

-Ian-nim. I'm angry. Really, really angry.

Yeah, sounded like it.

Fully pissed-off voice.

"Calm down first. I'll handle it..."

-No. It's fine. They're my kids, so I'll fix it. Don't know which humans, but I won't let them off. Uhuhu.

Lara's voice sounded eerily sinister.

Almost max rage mode...

She gonna be okay?