Chapter 643: Volcano Dungeon Run
Arthur, Evan, Artemisia, Beatrix, Crim, and Hibiki descended deeper into the Volcano Dungeon, their footsteps echoing against the stone pathways.
Magma spilt from the cracked walls in occasional bursts, hissing and glowing in molten streams.
On the first floor, they only had to worry about a magma river flowing beside them on one side, but from floor two, there were seas of magma on either side of the path.
A single misstep could send one tumbling into the glowing depths below.
Even stranger were the magma bubbles that floated lazily in the air, suspended in defiance of gravity.
Evan’s eyes caught sight of the first of such bubbles and his brow furrowed.
"That looks suspicious as hell."
He muttered under his breath and everyone agreed with him. Deciding to run a test, Evan flicked his fingers and sent a small humanoid-shaped ice construct towards the magma bubble.
The moment the construct neared, the bubble erupted, sending molten droplets spraying outward in a fiery burst. The explosion echoed off the cavern walls, and Evan stepped back, satisfied with his caution.
"Yeah, definitely suspicious."
He confirmed this before continuing with the group.
As they ventured further, the temperature began to spike and even though Arthur was bending the heat away from their immediate area using his gravity powers, it couldn’t seem to keep the unbearable warmth at bay.
The deeper they went, the hotter it became.
It was as if the very air itself was thick with heat, pressing down on them, seeping through their skin. Sweat began to pour from their bodies, their clothes clinging uncomfortably to them.
"This doesn’t make sense. The heat should be dissipating around us."
Artemisia muttered to herself as she stepped forward, moving to stand beside Arthur and Evan while Beatrix, Hibiki and Crim trailed some metres behind.
The group’s clothing stuck to their bodies, the fabric clinging to their skin as they sweated more profusely.
For Hibiki, a Greater Succubus, her racial physiology began to complicate matters. As the sweat coated her skin, the pheromones naturally exuding from her body intensified, though neither she nor the others immediately noticed the change as their minds were focused on the sweltering heat.
Beatrix, however, began to feel a strange stirring in her chest, an unexplainable heat. She glanced over at Hibiki, her brown eyes drawn to the succubus’ figure.
Hibiki’s clothes, damp with sweat, clung to her in ways that accentuated her every curve.
’What... what is this?’
Her instincts rang alarm bells, but she was already mentally drained from dealing with the heat, and now the sudden surge of attraction confused her.
Her eyes narrowed in a heated manner as her focus stayed on Hibiki. The way her clothes outlined her body, the sheen of sweat highlighting her skin, it was all...
Hibiki, sensing Beatrix’s gaze on her, turned her head, momentarily perplexed by the intensity she found in the goddess’ expression.
"Huh? Beatrix?"
Beatrix blinked, her lips parted slightly, and she replied in a low voice.
"It’s just... the way your clothes are sticking to you... it’s making you look... sexier."
Before Hibiki could respond, Crim suddenly leapt over, throwing her arms around Hibiki and pressing herself against the succubus. Her eyes were glazed over, a strange heat radiating from her body as she nuzzled against Hibiki’s neck.
"I know, right?"
Crim purred, her voice thick with desire and her lips hovering dangerously close to Hibiki’s skin.
Hibiki instantly realised what had happened and she acted quickly. Raising her hand, she snapped her fingers in front of Beatrix’s face.
The sharp sound rang out, echoing through the dungeon, and with it came a pulse of magic that snapped Beatrix back to her senses.
Beatrix blinked rapidly, shaking her head as if coming out of a trance. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she stammered.
"I—what just..."
"You were charmed. Sorry, I got distracted."
Hibiki’s passive charm was something she actively suppressed, so if she lost focus, the intensity would slowly rise back to normal.
The heat had made her lose focus just now, and Beatrix and Crim who were behind her were instantly caught up.
Hibiki shifted her gaze to Crim, who was still clinging to her and snapped her fingers again, jolting Crim back to reality.
The Vampire girl recoiled slightly, blinking in confusion and Hibiki let out a soft sigh.
"This is getting bad."
Arthur, Evan, and Artemisia, who had been walking ahead, didn’t notice anything until they felt the sudden pulse of magic from Hibiki’s snapping fingers.
All three turned their heads almost simultaneously and the moment Artemisia glanced at Hibiki, her eyes glazed over for a second.
But before the unsuppressed charm could fully take hold, a burst of crackling lightning sparked around her head, snapping her back to her senses.
Her failsafe, a personal enchantment against Hibiki’s charm, had activated instantly.
Noticing this, Hibiki seemed surprised but her questions had to be put on the back burner as they all sensed presences rapidly approaching.
A group of lava-horned sharks erupted from the nearby magma sea, launching themselves onto the pathway. Their jaws snapped open, spewing lava breaths towards the group.
Arthur blocked the breaths from the front, while Beatrix froze the ones behind in time. Immediately, Crim dashed forward and unsheathed her blade, splitting three horned sharks in two with a single slash.
They fought back as best they could, but the overwhelming heat sapped their strength, making their movements more sluggish than usual.
Their bodies were not responding with their usual sharpness, and it was clear something was deeply wrong. Every swing, every step, felt heavier, slower.
But amid the battle, Artemisia noticed something strange: Arthur and Evan were fighting without any hindrance.
Arthur wasn’t moving much to begin with, as he just blasted things to dust with destruction energy, but Evan moved without falter as he kicked off energy-generated platforms to fight the sharks in the lava around them.
Neither seemed to be suffering from the heat at all.
Just then, Evan felt his Mental Resistance increase and a theory quickly formed in his mind.
"Guys, this heat...what if it’s not just physical?"
The others, having just dispatched the last shark, paused, blinking in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Beatrix asked, wiping sweat from her brow, her breath coming in laboured gasps and Evan’s eyes narrowed as he spoke.
"What if the heat we’re feeling is partly mental? If the heat is attacking our minds just as much as our bodies, it explains why you guys are so worn down."
Hibiki’s eyes widened in realization, her gaze snapping to Arthur. She recalled how he’d once claimed to be immune to most mortal status effects.
Once again, his claim gained more weight as he didn’t seem bothered by the heat at all.
The ’heat’ had been messing with their focus, making them sweat, making them exhausted and they kept expending more energy to block out the ’heat’.
But even so, knowing it was mental didn’t mean they could do anything about it. They were still stuck in the sweltering environment, their minds weighed down by the illusion of unbearable heat.
Arthur scanned the surroundings before explaining.
"This might be the dungeon’s challenge. It’s forcing you to fight while your minds are being suppressed by the heat."
Just as his words sank in, the ground rumbled once more, and salamanders emerged from the magma around them. They were larger than the sharks, their thick, scaled bodies glowing red-hot as they hissed and opened their jaws, spewing streams of molten lava.
But instead of attacking the whole group, the Salamanders focused on Arthur and Evan, launching lava breath after lava breath at them.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed and he unleashed a small pulse of destruction energy, disintegrating the lava streams mid-air before they could even reach him.
The Salamanders didn’t even have a chance to retreat—Arthur’s destructive power lashed out again, reducing them to nothing in an instant.
He then turned back to the group and added a second remark.
"It also seems the dungeon knows we’re not affected."
And it seemed this knowledge was going to cause a lot more stress for the group. Evan, however, saw it as a blessing.
"So, I’m pulling all the aggro now? Perfect. Let’s hit 785 before we’re out of here. Aim for that skill slot."
With that, the boy bounced ahead, moving with an almost childlike skip. His sword flashed as creatures burst from the magma to attack him, only to be frozen solid in an instant, before shattering into shards of ice that were quickly melted by the heat.
As they delved deeper into the dungeon, the monsters grew increasingly diverse.
Bats swooped overhead, their wings dripping molten lava that rained down like liquid fire. Eel-like creatures slithered through the dungeon walls, leaving trails of bubbling stone in their wake. Porcupines bristled with flaming spines, chameleons blended into the molten rivers, lashing out with whip-like tongues from within the lava, snakes swam in the magma rivers and could ignore gravity...
The list went on.
Conventional spells and attacks no longer sufficed after a point, and they had to use skills and special techniques for each kill.
Not only did their magma coating provide an excellent defence against most attacks and spells, but they could also use the magma as camouflage to launch surprise attacks.
And because they could utilize the magma in their surroundings, everything was a weapon; they used the magma to ambush, attack, and even retreat when the battle didn’t go their way.
