"There is too little information! At least give us some clues!" Stefan yelled.
Yet, there was no one in the direction he was yelling at. He looked around. Aglea had already gone from this place. They were left to deal with this round alone.
"Damn it!" Stefan cursed. He then said to Naomi, "Hold my hand!"
Naomi complied. Stefan leaned forward by the edge of the hole. His arm stretched forward to grab Richard. Naomi held his other arms and kept him from falling into the lava pool.
The hole in the floor was large but if Stefan could lean forward enough then he should be able to grab Richard. He could then pull Richard to safety instead of letting Richard fall into the pool as the chain lowered him.
Jack, who saw what Stefan was trying to do, tried jumping. If he could do his super jump, he should be able to grab Richard. He couldn't. His jump was a simple regular human jump. This place had also locked away their passive abilities.
So, Jack came forward and helped in another way. He helped Naomi hold Stefan, allowing Stefan to lean at a lower angle and thus covered further distance.
"Yes, I should be able to reach him once he is lowered enough," Stefan said.
Richard's position was still high at the moment. Because Stefan was leaning low, he needed to wait until the chain lowered Richard enough for him to grab Richard's feet.
"Don't let go," Stefan told Naomi and Jack.
"Don't worry. We got you!" Naomi replied. Jack could only nod since he couldn't speak.
While waiting, Stefan looked at the lava below. He could feel the heat. Since he was hanging on top of the lava, he felt as if he was being roasted. But he endured. This discomfort would not stop him from saving his friend.
While his eyes were on the lava, he saw movements. He thought he imagined it at first. Then, something that looked like the back of a snake swam across the surface of the lava.
"What the…," Stefan muttered.
A round thing emerged. Stefan at first had no idea what that was. It then wiggled around. Stefan knew then that whatever it was, it was alive. Then, the center part of that round thing opened up. Inside the opening, Stefan saw that it was filled with numerous sharp teeth.
The thing then disappeared into the lava again.
When Stefan was still trying to make sense of what he had just seen, the lava burst, and those sharp teeth he had seen a moment before were now right in front of his eyes. He then felt extreme pain in his face.
"Pull me up! Pull me up!" Stefan screamed frantically. He now also felt pain from his other body parts.
The others, who were watching, saw numerous snake-like creatures jump out of the lava pond and bit Stefan. Jack failed to detect the existence of those creatures inside the lava because the lava itself was full of mana. The mana from the lava pond obscured the creatures inside. Hence, Jack was only aware of these snakes at the same time as the others when they jumped out from the lava.
Damage numbers came up above Stefan as he was bitten. Jack and Naomi hurriedly pulled him away from the pond.
Some of the snakes fell back into the lava as Stefan was being pulled away. Some remained on his body, biting ferociously, not letting go.
"Ahh…! Get them off! Get them off…!" Stefan screamed.
Jack accumulated mana onto his arms and slashed them as if they were swords. The impact damaged the snakes and forced them to let go of Stefan. The snakes fell onto the ground and slithered their way back to the lava pond.
Some of the parts bitten by the snakes were burning. Damage numbers were still appearing above Stefan's head. His HP bar had lowered to half.
"Put them off! Put them off…!" Stefan yelled in panic.
'Those were lava worms,' Jack heard Peniel's voice. 'Their bites have a chance to cause burn effect, but the effect doesn't last long.'
Jack couldn't speak, so he couldn't convey the message. He could only make gestures to Stefan to calm him down.
"Quit your yelping!" Master scolded. "Those were just lava worms. Their burn effect didn't last long. You won't die."
Jack glared at Master. He wanted to say, 'Come on, dude. The guy is in pain.'
The others were crowding at the hole's edge. Now that they knew there were lava worms inside, they could better see the creatures. These lava worms swam to the surface once in a while. They saw a lot of them. The whole pond was filled with them.
"Good lord… You would think the lava is enough. Do they have to add those things? This is simply overkill," Winson remarked.
The flames around Stefan's bite wounds soon died down. Stefan was able to calm down once that happened.
"What should we do now?" Naomi asked.
Jack was still unable to say anything. He slumped his shoulders.
"You know martial arts?" Dina asked Jack.
Jack answered with a nod.
"I came with someone who was also a martial artist. Unfortunately, we got separated once we entered the mist. I never see him again. I wonder if he was also trapped here."
Jack made some hand signals to tell her that he also came here with a companion and got separated. He wanted to tell her not to worry. Their friends must be on the other teams. They could see their friends again once they got to the end match.
Jack didn't use proper sign language because he didn't know any. He simply flailed his arms around and hoped to God that the other side understood. This, of course, just confused the hell out of Dina.
"Can you maybe use your martial arts to deal with those worms while Stefan tries to grab Richard again?" Naomi asked Jack.
"I am not hanging over that lava again!!" Stefan shouted. He wanted to save Richard, but he had been traumatized by what just happened.
Nobody blamed him. When everyone was looking around for a volunteer, Glover came forward.
"I will do it…," Glover said.
When he saw how the others looked at him, he explained, "He is in this situation because of me. I was afraid, but I never meant him any harm. If it is possible to save him, I would like to do so."
"All right, let's do this!" Naomi exclaimed.
"Just… Don't drop me!" Glover said to Naomi.
"Don't worry, I have confidence in my strength. I won't release my hold," Naomi assured him.
Glover turned to Jack. "You truly are good?" He asked.
Jack nodded.
"Don't let any of those things bite me!"
Jack nodded again.
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