?Toz and the others looked at each other anxiously, the footsteps rapidly approaching. They obviously couldn't leave the pedestal behind as it was. They had to either destroy it or take it with them, which was possible now that it wasn't part of the floor. However, if they stayed behind, they would have to face the innumerable soldiers and combatants of the Fortress of Death. Not to mention how difficult it would be to destroy or retrieve the Fountain, considering the pool of lava around it.
But they had to reach a decision quickly.
Eventually, much to the guilty relief of the others, Toz spoke up.
"I'll stay behind and make sure they can't use it. You guys go on ahead. I'll meet you back at the camp."
Toz turned around and began walking toward the Fountain of Death. Now wasn't the time to stand around and wait for their agreement.
"Toz!"
Toz turned around and looked at Seich.
"...If you get in trouble, activate the cloak and throw it at the enemy. If you can, hide inside one of those orbs."
Toz nodded resolutely and continued toward the Fountain of Death. He heard the others' footsteps disappear as they activated the cloaks' stealth and used magic to hide their presence as they slipped out of the room.
Toz grinned as he walked toward the Fountain. Now that the others were gone, he didn't have to pretend or anything. He could openly reveal his desire to snatch the Fountain for himself. Thankfully, the magic attack hadn't damaged it, at least not the orb. The pedestal was a little scarred, but the orb was untouched by the flames.
He had been worried that their attack would have ruined any chance of finding out why he was drawn to the orb, but it was a needless worry. Now, however, he had to worry about retrieving the Fountain and getting out of the Fortress alive.
The heat around the Fountain and the lava pool wasn't lethal, and Toz quickly lowered it while he approached the Fountain.
He solidified the lava under his feet by draining away the heat, but he let the lava around the pedestal's base remain soft so that he could more easily lift it out of the ground.
Toz was finally in front of the Fountain of Death, and he reinforced his body with metal mana, which would give his body the greatest boost to physical strength and endurance. He barely had to bend down as he reached out to grab the underbelly of the pedestal's head.
His hands sizzled as they came in contact with the stone that had yet to lose the orange color that came from being submitted to the infernal explosion at close range. The pedestal had endured the damage and hadn't melted, which was a lot better than the stone around it. But the pedestal hadn't escaped the heat.
The pedestal had taken the explosion head-on and had absorbed astounding amounts of heat. It was to the point where even Toz's hands stung from the burning pain. Thankfully, it was manageable as long as he added a few more layers of mana to his hand and wrapped them in void metal.
With a firm grasp on the fountain, Toz took a shallow breath. Although he could withstand it, the hot air still dried his throat more than was comfortable.
Toz tugged on the Fountain and yanked the pedestal out of the pool of lava it stood in.
Lava sprayed across the floor following Toz's yanking, but it quickly cooled down.
The Fountain of Death wasn't as heavy as Toz had expected it to be, but it was still too heavy for him to lug it around as he escaped from the Fortress. And it was definitely too heavy for him to carry it while he fought against the knights pouring through the archway.
Thankfully, they couldn't approach him due to the heat surging from the center of the chamber. But that didn't mean there were no enemies capable of approaching him, and the heat would die down eventually. Toz could fan the flames, but that would only be a temporary measure that would keep the enemies from getting close to him. And it would only work as long as he had mana.
He could use his creased blanket method to restore his mana. But not as fast as he would have to use his mana if he wanted to hold high level enemies at bay, especially when he had to convert the demonic energy to neutral mana and then to mana of a suitable attribute.
He had tried absorbing demonic energy when they were below ground. And it took significantly more time and effort for a similar amount of mana, and that was when the air was filled with part mana and part demonic energy. Now that he stood in nothing but demonic energy, there was no way he would be able to replenish his mana as quickly as he would have to if he wanted to fight against the entire Fortress of Death.
Thankfully, Toz wasn't left without options.
If he couldn't carry the Fountain of Death in his hand, he could use a spatial storage item.
Ordinary rings that he had grown up with might not be enough. But rings that could be found on the officers of the Alliance of Kingdom's military were more than enough. And they weren't even enchanted for exclusivity so that it would be easy to transport supplies.
Toz and Lucy had grabbed a few when they passed through the camp and the Resource Center, and one of the officers came too close. Most of the goods inside were useless, so those ended up somewhere else, and Toz ended up with some spatial rings of excellent quality.
Toz threw a glance at the armors who had taken to surrounding him and the Fountain of Death before he tried to put the Fountain of Death away.
"Haha! If your heads weren't empty, you might have been able to stop me!"
"..."
"..."
Toz ignored the armors' silence and looked at the Fountain of Death in his hands. He lifted the Fountain above his head so that he could see the ring on his finger. However, he only saw the metal scraps that fell to the ground after he moved his finger.
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