Chapter 14

Lin Jun, who was following the adventurers from afar, felt more and more wrong as he walked.

This road is so familiar,

Isn't this the road to the Flame Demon's home?

Lin Jun knew very well that there had been no battle at the Flame Demon's lair, otherwise the mushrooms he arranged nearby would definitely have monitored the mana fluctuations.

Could it be that the Flame Demon didn't come back after that time it went out, and they missed it when they came down?

He had always thought that these people came down through a route he didn't know. After all, the deep area didn't know how big it was, and there was far more than one entrance; it was just that he didn't have the ability to explore it.

Since they were walking through the Flame Demon's lair, the problem now is—did the Flame Demon go home?

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"Ha, finally I can rest easy."

Finding the Duke's daughter, Gal's mood also became pleasant. Which adventurer wouldn't covet the reward of an entire city?

"Captain, you don't know how desperate I was when you said the direction changed on the 9th floor. I thought she really fell into the tentacle..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gal was kicked by Night Owl.

Looking at the pink Puji held by Night Owl, he remembered that Inanna was still here, and his words just now were a bit too casual.

"Cough, cough."

As always, it was Captain Nova who came out to change the subject.

"Ivan, are you sure about undoing Miss Inanna's transformation spell?

Do we need to find some professional curse-breakers after we go up?"

Ivan wouldn't like this: "Do you think I'm not as good as those third-rate goods?

It's just that she used a solidification potion after transformation. Do you think that can stump me?

It won't be harder than turning you guys back from the scarecrow abyss last time."

Nova just wanted to change the subject and didn't expect to step on Ivan's minefield, so he could only laugh awkwardly:

"I don't understand, I don't understand. As long as you are sure..."

Unknowingly, the few had returned to the entrance to the upper floor.

It was as hot as ever here.

Night Owl was already intolerant of heat, and now she was holding a Puji, making it even hotter.

But considering that Inanna was always a young lady, it wouldn't be good to let men hold her casually even if she turned into a Puji.

Night Owl could only endure the heat, just walking a little faster.

Instead, Inanna in her arms didn't have much reaction to the hot environment, after all, she had LV6 resistance.

"Wait!"

Archmage Ivan's short voice made Night Owl and the others stop.

"The mana fluctuation is different."

[Detection Spell]

"Night Owl," the archmage's voice was calm, "take the young lady and go."

Night Owl looked at Ivan. Although this old halfling often went crazy when addicted to mana, he was the most experienced person in the entire team when sober.

Without hesitation, she merged into the shadows cast by the few and darted into the passage at an extremely fast speed.

In the second after she disappeared, the entire cave began to tremble.

The lava pools on both sides suddenly surged like boiling blood vessels, viscous golden-red magma bubbles burst one after another, and sulfur thick smoke carried heat waves and spewed out.

Night Owl's departure made the hidden enemy realize that it had been discovered. Now it didn't intend to let the remaining few pieces of prey escape again.

Accompanied by an inhuman roar, the huge figure rose from the lava pool.

The mountain-like upper body was composed of semi-solidified lava and charred bones, and dark red rock shells wrapped the body and the lava heart inside like armor.

At the same time, many flame monsters the size of a person, which looked like its miniature versions, jumped out and blocked the way.

Gulp—

The half-dragon swallowed hard.

"Flame Demon... and Lava Golem..."

"Be careful, it's level 64." Ivan, who had already used the detection spell, said the Flame Demon's strength.

There was no more time for communication. The Flame Demon had already swung its giant lava fist and smashed it over.

[Shield Domain]

Gal raised his shield in front of him to form a huge virtual shield, hard-blocking this blow.

However, he was not unscathed under the level gap. Fresh blood kept seeping out from his arm armor.

[Recovery]

[Life Potential]

Nova took a breath and released both healing and strengthening magic, and Gal barely maintained the Shield Domain.

Another roar, seeing that he couldn't directly slap these bugs to death, the Flame Demon lifted a giant wave from the lava pool beneath him.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Ivan decisively inserted an A-grade magic crystal into his abdomen, and at the same time, a [Sobriety Spell] kept him rational under the mana turbulence, although this would cause him huge pain.

Facing the LV64 Flame Demon, he didn't dare to hide anything at all. He used 300% of his full strength as soon as he made a move.

[Ice Ring]

The embedded magic crystal provided him with a power bonus far exceeding that of an ordinary staff. The Ice Ring spread outward with the three as the center.

It froze the rocky ground, froze the lava golems, and finally collided with the giant lava wave, barely solidifying it.

"We... have to run quickly."

Huge pain stimulated every nerve of Ivan. He couldn't maintain this state for long.

Even with this explosive blessing, his magic could only be on par with the Flame Demon's conventional power. If they dragged it out, the few would definitely die.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple."

This Flame Demon actually took advantage of the few blocking the lava wave and moved to the vicinity of the passage entrance, blocking the three.

Seeing this, Ivan also rarely exploded with profanity:

"Damn it, if I can go back alive this time, I must go apologize to Kemo. She said the Flame Demon had high intelligence last time and I even laughed at her..."

"What should we do? Should we retreat?"

The half-dragon looked at the passage they came from. It should still be in time to retreat now.

"No, you guys hold on for a while longer."

Nova's tone was like he had made some decision. Gal, who had been working with him for 10 years, naturally knew what he was thinking.

"You want to use that? Even so, it might not be able to deal with this Flame Demon!"

Ivan didn't make a sound on the side. After blocking another wave of lava, he was already in too much pain to speak, and his last strength had to be used on the next spell.

Nova didn't explain, just looked at the half-dragon, and the latter could only choose to believe his captain as he had in the past.

A small twig with two tender buds was taken out by Nova from his arms.

Lin Jun, who had been paying attention to this side from afar, immediately noticed this item with a panel.

[Artifact: Wood Core of Life (Fragment)]

Another artifact!

Mana poured into it, but it wasn't just mana.

Nova's life force was also drawn away in large quantities, and his face became visibly thin.

After finally feeding the artifact, Nova pointed it at a corner of the Flame Demon's chest—there was a tiny crack on the rock shell there.

It was only because he noticed this that he dared to counterattack here.

A tender bud turned into green light and flashed past, piercing the Flame Demon's armor and shattering the lava heart inside its chest.

The Flame Demon, which thought it had the victory in hand, suddenly suffered a fatal blow.

With its core shattered, it could no longer support its huge body, fell to the side of the lava pool, and let out a final weak moan.

This strongest monster he had ever seen, which had blocked Lin Jun for several years, died so abruptly.

Feeling the Sun Stone fragment still emitting heat under the shell.

Is this an artifact...

If you guys find any bugs, let me know, I'll fix them in time.

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(End of chapter)