Chapter 414: Chapter 413 Escape from the Tiger’s Mouth
Logically speaking, once ashore, the Lava Lord shouldn’t intervene, but attempting to reason with a powerful being is a foolish act, and there’s no rule saying the Lava Lord can’t slay creatures on the shore.
“Respected Lava Lord, I indeed am a sorcerer from the human race, and at the same time, I am a Saint Son under the shrine of the Dark Night Mother Goddess. If I have offended you in any way, please be magnanimous.”
Ivan always assessed his chances carefully, hesitated for a few seconds, then drew the Silver Moon Blade, and spoke some words in a humble tone.
A malicious wind whirled above the Dark River, stirring the dense, pungent black smoke on the surface of the water.
Swamp ants and others tightly shut their mouths, remaining alert without daring to reveal any movements, as the only sounds came from the seething molten river bubbling with heat.
“So, it turns out you bear the aura of the Dark Night Mother Goddess.” The dark gold face paused for a second or two before speaking, its tone shifting mid-sentence:
…
“Humans are the most deceitful of sorcerers, I don’t believe your words.”
“——”
Hearing the words of the Lava Lord, Ivan felt a jolt in his heart; which sorcerer had done such a misdeed, tarnishing the reputation of their race and affecting him who came after.
This was disastrous!
“Great One, I swear upon the Mother of Earth Core that my words are truthful, and furthermore, I have a tribute to present to you—-” He still didn’t give up and tried to salvage the situation.
“Hmph! Don’t think I’m unaware of the power you’re secretly amassing. Take one of my palms first, and if you survive, we can talk.” The dark gold face wasn’t willing to provide an opportunity and initiated an attack directly.
As its words fell, a golden lava giant hand suddenly emerged from the surface of the Molten River, containing an alarming level of energy.
“Run!”
Now, the tables had turned; in the past, it was Ivan who wielded flames to strike others, but now he was on the receiving end.
The feeling was terrible.
As the opponent had said, he was indeed accumulating power in secret, subtly connecting to a certain offensive arcane scroll.
However, this began before the arrival of the Lava Lord—it was a Level 4 General Arcane Scroll gifted by Speaker Hotter, difficult to activate and even harder to suppress, which took a certain amount of time, and he didn’t expect the Lava Lord to detect it.
Facing the incoming lava giant hand, Ivan knew he couldn’t end this well, and with a low shout, he fully activated the General Arcane Scroll.
Instantly, wind and thunder raged.
The Level 4 Spell ‘Wind-Thunder Twin Serpent Arrow’ revealed its boundless might, forming two closely intertwined wind and lightning pythons lunging for the lava giant hand.
After Ivan completely activated the arcane scroll, he didn’t even glance at the commotion behind him but directly fled towards the underground passage in the back.
“How brave!”
“Cunning little human sorcerer, I will remember you,” the dark gold face announced, not having taken his brewing attack seriously, but taking any excuse to be difficult, not expecting it to be a Level 4 Spell attack.
Flames clashed with wind and thunder, creating vibrations around the area that didn’t cease and disturbing the peace of the lava.
By the time the dark gold face reacted, Ivan had already escaped. It could only angrily spit out a ball of lava, allowing the molten sphere to break through the energy collision and chase after him, while it stayed to quell the turmoil of the lava.
“Boom boom!”
Meanwhile, within the underground passage, Ivan’s party ultimately couldn’t escape the pursuing lava sphere, as one black and one red light shone, with layers of defensive powers forming under the enhancement of the Domain Aura.
An explosion resounded.
Flame scorched rock burned the ground, and several figures were blown away.
Shortly after, one of them stood up first, pouring a healing potion into his own mouth and casually tossing a few to the others around him.
“If you’re not dead, keep retreating.”
“I’m not dead yet.”
The enemy was a genuine Level 4 creature, and even though it was just a projection of strength and merely a casual strike, it had dealt Ivan and the others a severe blow, with varying degrees of injury suffered by each.
Among them, it was Angela who wasn’t part of the defense and ended up the most severely injured, accidentally knocked unconscious by the blast of flames.
Ivan and the others dared not linger and joined the Centaur Knight in continuing their retreat.
Once they had moved a significant distance and ascertained that the Lava Lord would not catch up, Ivan ordered a halt to regroup, then sat down on the ground, exhausted.
‘The consumption of the General Arcane Scroll is indeed massive, and it poses the risk of detection. This thing is truly not very practical.’
His recent attack and defense had drained most of his spiritual power and mana, as well as a good deal of Combat Energy and a portion of his lifeforce, leaving him in quite a predicament.
Luckily, these could all be recovered.
This venture was indeed a loss, not only had he used a valuable arcane scroll, but now being targeted by the guardian of the lava layer, it was impossible to travel to the underground world anytime soon.
…
Time flowed like water, and two days passed.
Ivan’s party finally exited the subterranean passage, arriving at the valley plain beyond Ancient Tree Ridge’s underground fortifications, where they breathed a sigh of relief under the glow of the Sun Bird.
The underground’s dimness, although not affecting visibility, was oppressive, nothing like the liberating feeling of being in the sunlight.
After awakening, Angela gazed blankly around her, the place resembling the Centaur town in some ways, and it was inevitable that nostalgia set in.
“Stop looking, up ahead is a Sorcerers Academy, and past the academy is the surface. Welcome to the surface world, Miss Angela Coverdale!”
“Thank you for sheltering me and bringing me here, my dear lord.”
Angela did not speak the common underground language—Kegilru—but instead used the ancient Centaur Race tongue, full of ancient charm, further influenced by her knightly education, giving her words a unique flavor.
Crossing the fortifications, Ivan found the former camp deserted, as if abandoned.
Continuing upward, he discovered that the Ancient Tree Ridge Academy had relocated, with only a few sorcerers left, and Dean Lai Te just happened to be there.
Upon seeing Ivan, Lai Te kept apologizing profusely.
He was almost prostrate with gratitude because when Ivan had previously been attacked by a Death Soldier from the Hidden Guard, it had happened right in the camp at Ancient Tree Ridge, and the assailant had jumped out from within the camp buildings, for which Ancient Tree Ridge could not shirk responsibility.
“How come you’ve moved away?” Ivan didn’t really blame them; those Death Soldiers were after him anyway.
“This place has too much strife; our academy couldn’t bear the burden, so we had to move elsewhere,” said Lai Te, his lifted heart settling a bit as he followed up with an explanation whilst smiling wryly.
After the assassination attempt, Dean Adolf immediately made it clear to everyone that they couldn’t stay in this wretched place any longer.
They had to move on, they had to relocate!
The other deans, reflecting on a series of recent incidents that several times pushed the academies to the brink of destruction, reluctantly chose to compromise.
“This place does have its connections to both the surface and the underground, so it indeed has its share of trouble,” Ivan acknowledged with a slight nod, then casually asked, “Where have you moved to?”
“To the former campus of the Night Forest Academy,” replied Lai Te truthfully.
Somewhat unexpected, but within reason.
It wasn’t easy building a new academy from scratch; utilizing an existing one was of course the first thing to consider and, with the capabilities of the deans of Ancient Tree Ridge, overtaking the defunct Night Forest campus was not a difficult feat.
Ivan wasn’t particularly interested in the affairs of Ancient Tree Ridge; after all, he wouldn’t be able to travel to the underground world again for many years.
Not lingering in Gangster Rift Valley, after leaving Ancient Tree Ridge Academy, the group set out on the road back to East Capital on Chanay Continent.