Chapter 292: Flame Forest
The group fought against the pressure of the depths of the molten lake.
Squeezing through a crevice, Seth soon led them into a broader sea of lava, the currents of flowing molten mass could be felt as they swam against the currents.
Silent minutes passed aside from the faint hiss of toxic gasses, and gurgling of the bubbling molten depths nothing could be heard as they all focused on following Seth’s highlighted path.
The worst thing that could happen to them at the moment was losing their leader’s trail and getting lost.
If that happened they’d die, no question, after all even they weren’t confident in their ability to adapt fast enough before this environment succeeded in claiming their lives.
A loud splash of lava clapped as Seth finally burst out of the lava, landing on land, the temperature of the atmosphere already rivaling the heat intensity of the blacksmithing furnace.
But compared to the depths of the lava stream, this was akin to a fresh cool flow of air.
He settled down and patiently waited till all the evolvers of his division had arrived.
This time without a hindrance from their environment, they were able to travel in a single swarm with Seth leading the bunch.
So waiting didn’t take long. Within three minutes the dark crimson region was already filled with silhouettes of all 140 evolvers of division one.
With such numbers, they wouldn’t be able to execute a stealthy penetration and this was a pertinent factor of their mission.
While the other divisions tracked down essence veins and rigged it with explosives, Elaine’s troops went to activate the dormant volcanic behemoth.
His troops’ mission was the most crucial, penetrating the core of this island, and planting enough bombs within to blow this whole place sky-high.
Destroying all essence veins, activating the dormant volcano and destroying the core of the island, these three processes were crucial.
And if a single one wasn’t completed destroying the pocket dimension and annihilating the dragon race wouldn’t be possible.
The best outcome would be they would deliver devastating damage to the race, but some would survive, and might alarm the others.
Such an outcome Seth couldn’t possibly allow to come to pass.
Wasting no time he quickly called out all seven members of team alpha, the captains of this division.
Each in charge of nine evolvers, his plan was to split them into smaller groups, so that they would retain both stealth and numerical advantages.
Leading one of the seven units himself, the division scattered following different directions, activating the stealth feature of their suits; they all sneaked forward.
Following the guidance of the essence tracking radar, they followed the path mapped out towards the region with the densest essence concentration.
It was only natural for the core to be located in such a region, this was what they had been tracking since they arrived on this island.
Right now they were so deep into the earth, oxygen was nonexistent, aside from small pocket spaces self-formed from caves, there was nothing like land mass.
Or at least they shouldn’t be... Seth peeked through a thin crack of a jagged burnt black surface.
He was trying to see if there was a path ahead, but the sight that held in his eyes was shocking. Were those trees?
No, a forest, his pupils constricted as he realized...
A forest of towering ember sprouts, with barks ashen black lined with throbbing veins of fiery red, their leaves flickering with the raging intensity of a flame.
Seth blinked at the sight, could it be that they had entered a secret space of the dragons?
Feeling both wariness and intrigue, Seth signaled the ten evolvers behind him to give him some space.
Drawing a stance, clenching tight, his fist plowed through the scalding air, reducing the jagged obstacle to a rain of flaming debris.
This very small action, igniting a small explosion in the air, violent enough to kick Seth’s frame uncontrollably backwards.
His lungs clenching as it was forced to exhale, veins streaked his eyes red, as he crawled to his feet.
The others had already given him space so they didn’t deal with much, as the wave had dissipated somewhat before getting to them.
Seth rose, taking in a deep breath, as he rotated his aching joints, it seemed the gases in the air were not only toxic now.
And could also react violently, causing heavy movements to provoke disastrous consequences of sharp lethal bursts of explosion.
And that explosion just now, Seth could clearly feel his armour siphoning essence to repair damages incurred just now.
Meaning fighting here was a no go, the sharp explosions were lethal enough to deal critical injuries.
"Leader?" A captain of the squad walked up behind him.
Seth could hear the worry in the captain’s voice, the smart captain seemed to have also come to the same conclusion fighting in this place would be unbearably disadvantageous to them.
Seth turned slightly to address the captain, "Don’t worry, I doubt the enemy is exempt from this rule."
He stated calmly, feeling confident in this conclusion, that even if there were dragons here, the beasts shouldn’t be able to take rash actions.
But regardless, it would be better if they prioritized a stealthy penetration that won’t require confrontation.
The captain organized the others, and led by Seth, they all stepped into a new environment.
The flaming forest was brighter and more spacious than the narrow tunnels they had just come from, the heat having more room to expand made the atmosphere lighter.
Which in turn allowed their internal cooling circuits to circulate more effectively, a rush of vapor hissed out of the seams of their armour.
As their battle suits were finally able to quench the heated surface and parts of the battle gear.
Marveling at the strange yet enticing sight of a flaming forestry, the group marched silently, ears perked cautiously scanning their environment as they progressed.
Seth frowned, a deep feeling of unease, twisting down his guts, as he felt everything just seemed wrong.
His brows scrunched, as the feeling grew firmer, and his instincts screamed louder.
Everything felt off... aside from the shadow flame lizards, why hadn’t they come across any obstacle so far?
In the lava lake, in the dark flaming tunnels everything progressed so smoothly, why? His eyes darted to the rippling radar map flashing at an inconspicuous corner of his screen.
They were so close to the core of this island, yet there was still no sight of an enemy or guards; it all felt off.