Chapter 188: Chapter 162: King of the Earth, the Clan’s "Ascension
The scorching heat made Han Ning’s head spin. If his skin weren’t purple right now, if he were still in his human form, it would surely be flushed beet-red.
’An Insect Master Family whose most powerful Soul Beast is predominantly lizard-shaped... This is just...’
Han Ning lowered his head, gazing at the Void Flame Fierce Lizard below as it seemed to breathe in and out with the flickering magma. The thought flashed through his mind unbidden.
The strongest Insect Dragon of the Taman Insect Masters wasn’t purely insectoid in appearance either; its form was predominantly draconic.
Then, he began to worry about his own predicament.
’What does the Void Flame Fierce Lizard’s strength have to do with me, anyway?’
With his head held down firmly by Xiu Lin, Han Ning could barely lift it. He had to strain to roll his eyes upward to survey his surroundings.
They were on a semi-circular rock platform jutting out from the inside of the volcano’s crater.
The platform was crowded with half-human, half-insect Flame Tribe People, a number of almost purely insectoid Insect Servants, and even more of a wide variety of Fire and Earth Attribute Soul Beasts.
The crowd gathered around a relatively slender male Insect Master who stood about two meters tall with fiery red skin. All of them stared with near-fanatical gazes at the Void Flame Fierce Lizard bathing in the magma below.
Just as Han Ning was wondering what on earth they were planning to do.
"ROAR!!"
A savage, ferocious roar, like a clap of thunder, erupted from the Void Flame Fierce Lizard.
The next instant, the dark red magma slowly churning beneath it suddenly grew violent, transforming from a placid lake into a surging, sky-high tidal wave!
BOOM!!
The magma inside the crater violently erupted, and the entire mountain range began to tremble violently.
Huge boulders broke away from the surrounding rock walls one after another, plunging into the magma.
Before Han Ning’s astonished eyes, a massive volume of magma surged into the sky, carrying the Void Flame Fierce Lizard with it.
An endless torrent of magma spewed upward from the volcano’s depths, and volcanic ash, thick enough to blot out the sun, spread across the mountains.
The surging heatwave even swept a few of the more fragile insects off the platform. Fortunately, a faintly burning Flame Shield rose just in time, protecting everyone from the risk of being engulfed by the magma.
A deafening, world-shaking roar echoed ceaselessly. Affected by the smoldering, crimson fragments of magma raining down from the sky, the entire mountain range, once cloaked in lush greenery, was instantly engulfed in a raging inferno.
In just a few short minutes, the dense forests around Trembling Peak were completely ignited by the rain of magma, transforming from a vibrant landscape into a scorching Purgatory of sky-high flames!
The perennial white mist in the sky seemed to have been completely incinerated, dyeing the entire grayish-white dome of the heavens a bloody red!
Astha, the slender Insect Master and Clan Leader of the Burning Fire Race, was wreathed in scalding hot flames. He raised his head, his burning gaze fixed on the distant canopy of the sky.
「Meanwhile.」
The Void Flame Fierce Lizard, riding the ascending pillar of magma, turned its twin, flame-wreathed pupils in the same direction Astha was looking.
The roiling magma, guided by an unseen force, gathered behind the Void Flame Fierce Lizard and instantly enveloped its broad insect wings.
Then, the omnipresent magma shrouded its entire body.
Before long, a giant, burning cocoon formed at an altitude of nearly several hundred meters, completely encased in magma and etched with swirling, dark-red molten patterns.
THUMP! THUMP!
A violent, thunderous heartbeat pulsed from within the giant cocoon.
Every one of the Flame Tribe People stared, nearly crazed, at the trembling cocoon in the sky. As if prepared, they raised their sharp, insectoid limbs in unison and plunged them into their own chests, toward their hearts.
Like fountains, streams of pale red blood gushed from their chests, levitating into the air. The blood coalesced, then, supported by an unseen force, drifted upward to merge with the left side of the giant cocoon.
Soon, streams of a crimson-gold liquid—resembling both blood and flowing magma—flowed out from the right side of the cocoon. It snaked downward, re-entering the bodies of the Insect-men who had just offered their blood.
The vast majority of the Insect-men who absorbed the crimson-gold liquid bizarrely burst into flames, turning into piles of blackened cinders in a matter of seconds.
But they paid it no mind, their fanatical, crazed gazes still fixed intently on the sky.
"Heresy! They’ve betrayed the Holy Race! Are they trying to purge all the Holy Blood from their bodies and transform it into Dragon Blood?!"
"...They dare to challenge the Queen’s Power and trespass upon the Domain of a King!!"
Although Xiu Lin held the Cyan Insect Master’s head in a death grip, veins bulged on the captive’s neck as he strained to look at the sky. Even though the Spiritual Power message contained no words, Han Ning could feel his terror and fury!
"Queen! Holy Race! Why haven’t you come to stop them!"
’The Burning Fire Race actually wants to purge the Insect-man bloodline from their bodies and convert completely to a dragon’s bloodline? This... This is insane.’
Han Ning listened to the Cyan Insect Master’s frantic shouts, his own expression turning to one of shock.
Time trickled by. The heartbeat within the giant cocoon slowed, yet each beat grew more powerful, filled with a terrifying Power that made one’s own heart pound in trepidation.
"ROAR!"
This roar was completely different from the last.
If the previous roars had been savage and fierce, this one sounded like a terrifying Giant Beast awakening from the primordial depths of time, carrying with it a desolate and ancient aura.
Suddenly, fissures ranging from several meters to over ten meters in length began to spiderweb across the surface of the giant lava cocoon, which hung in the air like a massive meteorite.
A dense, crimson-gold light spilled out from the fissures.
The magma erupting from the earth’s depths grew even more violent.
The earth shook, the air trembled, and the Gray Mist in the sky was utterly incinerated by the crimson-gold flames.
A sliver of azure blue appeared at the edge of the sky.
CRACKLE, CRACKLE~
As the massive fissures widened, the cocoon’s surface began to shatter, creating countless more cracks of all sizes.
An endless, crimson-gold radiance burst through the dense network of cracks, blooming across the ash-filled sky.
The crimson-gold flames burned intensely, faintly forming the shape of a ferocious Giant Beast a hundred meters tall, with four wings sprouting from its back and its body covered in sharp, bony spines.
"Come forth! Come forth, my child! The King of the Earth, the Golden Flame Rock Dragon!" Standing at the edge of the platform, Astha spread his arms wide, as if to embrace his child, and soared through the air toward the burning dragon silhouette in the sky.
’Golden Flame Rock Dragon... A King Level Soul Beast... Could it be...’
Just as the Cyan Insect Master’s eyes went wide as he stared at the sky...
CRACK~
From the distant horizon, there suddenly came a faint but exceptionally crisp cracking sound, like a mirror shattering.
Upon hearing that faint sound, the expressions of both Astha, the Clan Leader of the Burning Fire Race, and Xiu Lin, the Vice Clan Leader, changed drastically.
