Chapter 1297: Lava lake
The adventurers parted ways with Michael and the Rebornian, choosing to wander through the Chasm and earn their living that way.
And on the way, they inevitably found themselves face to face with more adventurers.
"Is it true that there are monsters here that are at the same level as a Nascent Spirit cultivator?" asked one of the foreigners.
"Yes, it’s true. Why? Are you going to be hunting them down?"
The foreigners nodded. "We have no choice. It’s the only way we’re going to succeed in a cutthroat place like this. Now that magic is gone, we don’t have a reliable way to make money anymore."
"I just hope that we don’t get lost in this maze. I’ve heard that getting lost is the leading cause of death here, much more than the creatures that prowl these depths."
"We guess that you guys don’t have that much of a problem with those creatures. You have really good armor and weapons."
The adventurers all looked at each other. "If you’re lucky, you may run into an Oasis."
This caused the foreigners to become confused. So, the adventurers began spilling all the details about their brief visit to the Rebornian camp.
Of course, those details were very hard to believe. A hotspring? A tavern? Warm beds? It sounded like it was nothing more than a hallucination that their minds concocted in order to cope with the horrors of the depths.
However, the proof came with the fact that their weapons and armors were truly unique. They were unlike anything that had been produced in the world. It was made by a Dwarf, after all.
The foreigners were still a little doubtful of the adventurers’ words, but they kept their eyes on such a location.
And so, this was the place where the rumors of an Oasis in the depths of the Chasm began to flourish.
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Michael and the Rebornian army continued forwards, now with a lot more direction than before. He knew where to go. The map that the adventurers gave him was quite detailed, showing a good layout of the tunnels in the Chasm.
And on the way, they were ambushed with more Magical Monsters coming from out of nowhere.
Lizards, bears, cockroaches... all manners of mutated creatures each one having the strength of a high-levelled Maugnetic cultivator had attacked them at random.
Thankfully, Jaku and the Rebornian army were well equipped to deal with those magical monsters. Their command over the Lionheart flame only grew more powerful as they got more hands-on experience on the field.
Strangely enough, they weren’t being targeted by the demi-humans.
From all the accounts he’d heard, most adventuring parties became subject to the guerilla tactics of the demi-humans.
They would appear in the shadows in a blitz, dealing significant damage to them, before retreating into the tunnels and disappearing. This kind of pattern of attack would persist for days on end, making the adventurers paranoid and injured, leading to them straying off the explored path of the maze, making them lost.
Michael hoped that they were targeted at least once. That way, he’d have a chance to communicate with the demi-humans.
Unfortunately, not a single one came their way. Perhaps it was because of their massive numbers, or perhaps because they had rightfully estimated their strengths, anyway, it seemed as if the demi-humans wouldn’t be coming to him anytime soon.
He’d have to come to them.
Thankfully, by the end of the fifth day of travel, they reached the supposed location.
The entire cavern was lit with an orange hue, brought about by the large magma lake in the middle of the open space. On the walls, glowing igneous rocks provided more lambent light that allowed for great visibility even underground.
It looked like they weren’t the only ones here. He could already tell that there were thousands of life forms gathered in this large open cavern.
On one side, there were humans. Numbering about 50,000 men or more. They seemed to be in a stalemate with the other side of the cavern, which consisted of giant, lizard-like magical monsters being ridden by Red Mankey demi-humans.
Michael gestured for his army to stop. He didn’t want to break their stealth for now. He wanted to observe everything first.
He sent out his Mini Drones down, before he eventually saw the leader of the human army. Levi Vanderbilt. He rode on a palanquin as he addressed the demi-humans opposite him.
"We are not here for hostilities," said Levi. "As long as you surrender your control over the Chasm, then we will leave you alone."
A Red Mankey demi-human stepped forward. He wore glowing, igneous rock as his armor, signifying his leadership within his group.
"Leave now, human! Or else we will not hesitate to unleash hell upon your army."
Levi shook his head. "Look, I am willing to negotiate with your... civilization. As long as you allow us to build a bridge in the Chasm, I am willing to share the profits with you."
"No," said the Red Mankey. "No one shall build a bridge where we reside."
This seemed to frustrate Levi very much. And Michael had a feeling that this wasn’t the first time he’d tried to negotiate with the demi-human.
"Let me talk with your monarch. I know you have one. Maybe she’ll have more of a mind to talk about business."
The demi-humans snarled once Levi said that. "No one is permitted to enter our kingdom. No one is worthy to meet our Monarch."
A lot of the human soldiers amongst Levi’s army wanted to scoff at the demi-humans’ words. After all, these people were living in a backwards world under the continent! They could barely be considered as a civilization.
However, the growl coming from the lizards they tamed made them reconsider those thoughts.
After all, these giant lizards were magical monsters that were each a Nascent Spirit cultivator!
There must have been twenty of them in total.
Even if Levi fought against them, the result would be extremely bloody. Their win would be pyrrhic, as he would have had to sacrifice more than half of his army.