Chapter 497 The Islet Amid the Lava Sea

“This is bad!”

Aralond channeled all his power at once in a desperate bid to hold the ground back,

yet he still failed.

The backlash blanched his face, and he crumpled to the ground, completely drained of strength.

“I-I can’t…… the volcano’s power is far too great……”

“Don’t give up so easily!”

Fulmir shouted, his voice ringing with urgency.

“We have to try, even if there’s only a glimmer of hope! Otherwise, the kingdom and the entire Northern Wastes behind us are doomed!”

“……Master.” Aralond stared at him, stunned.

Then his eyes hardened with renewed resolve.

He gritted his teeth and pushed himself back to his feet.

“You’re right. Now is not the time to quit.”

Hum!

The sacred shield in his hand blazed with divine light once more.

“O Earth, converge!”

Rumble.

The shattered ground began to coalesce again, piece by piece.

“I’ll lend you a hand.”

Irus waved her Staff of the Sacred Tree,

and a fierce gale erupted, sweeping the surging lava far into the distance. The speed at which Aralond and Fulmir mended the land picked up at once.

“I-I’ll help too!”

Prarlulu fumbled to lift her divine staff, her hands shaking with nervousness.

Hum!

A soft, warm radiance washed over the two mages.

“Oh?! This is——!”

Aralond and Fulmir’s eyes lit up. The speed of the earth’s convergence skyrocketed in an instant.

“Our stamina’s regenerating! Power is surging through us nonstop!!! This is incredible——Lady Prarlulu, you’re amazing!”

“Eek!!! M-Me?!?”

Prarlulu clapped her hands over her face in flustered shyness.

I…… I’m actually that powerful?

“……Hehe~.”

On the other side,

Miko Kedar stared down at her hands, then at the group struggling to subdue the volcano.

Was there anything she could do to help?

Hmm…… I’ll ask Hulim.

She turned to call out to Hulim Heyerar—only to pause mid-sentence.

Hulim had her back to them, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the volcano. Even as the searing hot wind curled her hair and stung her skin, she did not move an inch, as if she were completely oblivious to everything around her.

“Hulim?”

Miko took a step forward to approach her.

“Ahem!”

At that moment, Laki spoke up suddenly, her voice cutting through the chaos.

“Look, I know this is a terrible time to interrupt…… but Aralond—”

“Aren’t we forgetting something?”

“……?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Aralond looked up in confusion.

“You said we forgot……”

His voice trailed off, and his eyes widened in shock. He whipped his head around to stare past the volcano, toward the distant plains.

“This is a disaster! Charkin and the others are in danger——!!!”

At his words, the others froze mid-spell, their faces paling as the realization hit them like a hammer.

The retreating Dwarven Legion!

“……”

“Damn it, we have to go save them!”

“Right! Let’s move!”

Shwoop——!

Shaken out of their stupor,

Laki and Irus shot off into the distance in a flash.

Fulmir grabbed Aralond and raced after them without a second thought.

“You two, hurry up here!”

Ignir crouched down and roared, his massive wings beating slightly to steady himself.

“Okay!” Miko nodded, then turned back to Hulim again.

“Hulim, let’s go too……”

Whoosh~!

A sudden gust of wind blew past, swirling ash and cinders through the air.

Miko raised her hands to shield her eyes instinctively.

“Ugh, what was that?”

When she opened her eyes again, Hulim was already soaring into the sky.

Only……

“Hey? Wait a minute…… Hulim? That’s the wrong way! Hulim! Hulim——!”

Her shouts fell on deaf ears.

Before the sound could reach her, Hulim had vanished from sight, streaking toward the volcano.

Moments later,

directly above the colossal volcanic caldera,

Hulim hovered in the air, her gaze fixed intently on the churning lava gushing endlessly from below.

“……It’s right there, beneath the surface.”

In the next instant,

she dove straight down into the roiling lava without the slightest hesitation.

……

The earth continued to split and crumble, fissures snaking across the plains like venomous snakes.

“Damn it, why do I have to be stuck with this mess?! What did I do to deserve this?!”

“Quit your complaining and run! Move faster, those in front——!”

Across the plain, the Dwarven Legion fled in a panicked stampede.

To protect their men, Charkin and Aznov had chosen to stay behind as rearguard.

Crack!

Suddenly, the ground ahead collapsed into a gaping chasm.

Several dwarven soldiers stumbled and fell toward the abyss.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Charkin and Aznov moved in a blur,

catching the falling soldiers and yanking them back to solid ground in the nick of time.

“Th-Thank you, sir.”

The rescued soldiers thanked them, their voices shaking with fear.

“Watch your step next time. Now keep running!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

Charkin herded the men back to the main column, only to find the entire legion had ground to a halt.

“What’s the hold up?! I told you not to stop for anything!”

“Sir Charkin…… there’s no way forward.”

“What did you say!?”

Charkin’s eyes widened in shock, and he cursed under his breath.

He turned to Aznov and snapped, “Aznov, keep an eye on the rear. I’m going to check the front.”

“Hurry up and fix it.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With a few powerful leaps,

Charkin bounded past the throng of dwarves and reached the head of the column in seconds.

“Sir Charkin……”

The dwarves at the front stepped aside quickly to let him through.

“What in the blazes is going on here?”

Charkin pushed through the last of his men and looked forward——and froze.

A massive, gaping fissure stretched across the entire plain, blocking their path completely.

Its depths were lost in shadow, only a faint red glow seeping up from the bottom, a sign of the molten lava far below.

By width alone, a B-rank warrior could jump across it with ease.

But……

Charkin glanced back at his men, a grim expression crossing his face.

How many B-rank warriors were there in this legion, anyway?

With so many soldiers, even if every elite warrior carried a man across, it would be impossible to get everyone to safety in time……

“……We’ll go around!”

It was the only decision he could make.

The legion swerved left at once, marching as fast as they could—but they had not gone far,

before the same sight met them again: another massive fissure blocking the way.

“Turn back!”

Charkin barked the order without hesitation.

This time, they marched for a short while longer——

only to be stopped by a roiling river of boiling lava, its surface bubbling and spitting fire.

“……”

Charkin fell silent, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

Their massive legion was trapped, with no way out.

Crack, crack……

The sound of the earth splitting apart echoed all around them, growing closer by the second.

“Charkin! Have you found a way out yet?! The rear is getting worse by the minute!”

Aznov’s anxious shout carried over the din from the back of the column.

Charkin stared forward, his eyes filled with despair.

Go where?

Where could they run now?

Moments later……

the path behind them collapsed too, swallowed by a fissure.

The Dwarven Legion was trapped on a small islet, surrounded on all sides by lava and crumbling earth.

And the islet was shrinking by the second, eaten away by the surging lava and splitting ground.

The dwarves were forced to huddle together in the center, pressing closer and closer as their safe ground vanished.

“I’m telling you, Charkin…… we’re as good as dead.”

“Can’t you say something hopeful for once?”

“It’s the truth!”

“Sir Charkin! Sir Aznov……”

“What is it?!”

Aznov snapped, spinning around in frustration.

The soldiers exchanged a few anxious glances, then one of their leaders stepped forward, his head bowed.

“Please, don’t worry about us anymore. You two can still escape!”

“Bullshit!!!” Aznov roared in a rage, his face turning red. “Do I look like the kind of man who abandons his men?! Who the hell came up with this stupid idea?! I’ll throw them into the lava and roast them alive!”

“Sir Aznov……”

“Enough! All of you be quiet. Aznov and I are not leaving. And we’re not doomed yet.”

Crack……

A faint sound came from beneath their feet—the sound of stone splitting.

Charkin’s face paled.

“Fall back! Further back!”

“W-We can’t! There’s no more room to retreat!”

“What——”

His words died in his throat.

A massive fissure split the islet in two, right down the center.

Dozens of dwarves stumbled and fell toward the lava below, their screams echoing in the air.

BOOM——!

At that moment, a deafening roar echoed from the sky.

Whoosh——!!!

A fierce gale descended in an instant, swirling around the falling dwarves.

The dwarves plummeting toward the abyss were lifted up by the wind, suspended in mid-air, safe at last.

“……We made it just in time.”