Chapter 125 Chapter 124-Twin Volcano, the Search（1st update, Cheer me with Power Stones!）
Hearing John's calm words, everyone lifted their heads in a daze.
After a moment of stunned silence, they came to their senses, followed by cheers of joy.
They had finally arrived.
Everyone had been on their toes the entire journey, under constant tension due to the dangerous gazes of those boss-level creatures.
It was a torment.
John glanced back and was surprised to see exhaustion written all over everyone's faces.
"Why do you all look so weary? We didn't engage in combat along the way, did we?"
Adam stepped forward and chuckled bitterly, "I'm afraid you're seeing us at our worst, Galewind. The thing is, we've never been on such a non-stop journey before. Add to that the unnerving gazes of those bosses, and no one dared to relax. A prolonged period of high tension is bound to tire us out."
John nodded understandingly.
To him, this journey was nothing more than a leisurely stroll.
His mental fortitude, forged unbreakable by The Devil Azazel in the Godslayer Temple, had made him oblivious to the others' feelings.
After a moment's thought, John suggested casually, "In that case, why don't we all take a moment to consume some potions and regain our stamina? We've already arrived at the entrance to Twin Volcano. There's no need to rush."
John's proposal was exactly what everyone wanted to hear, so they didn't waste any more time.
They hurriedly pulled out potions and food from their backpacks to aid their recovery, then sat cross-legged to gather their energies.
Their current location was a safe zone, nestled between two secret realms, and with John on watch, they didn't have to worry about monster attacks.
Aside from John, the two who seemed least affected by the journey were Adam and Blue Sea, both guild leaders.
Perhaps due to their higher levels, Adam even had the strength to cast auxiliary skills like Holy Light Blessing to accelerate everyone's recovery.
Noticing John standing listlessly by the entrance, Adam approached him and asked quietly, "Brother Galewind, we're about to enter Twin Volcano. Do you know anything about this secret realm?"
John shook his head lightly and replied, "Not much, I just know that a wounded deity once took refuge here. Likely Akris, the Flame God who wields the authority over fire and magma. Perhaps he left something behind here. That would explain why the abyss creatures fear this place so much..."
John didn't mention anything about the accompanying dragon Fias or the hidden class "Fire Dragon Mage", but his words were enough to make Adam gasp.
"The Flame God Akris? A high-ranking deity? Deities can be wounded?"
At this point, Blue Sea also joined them and was equally astonished by John's statement.
John said calmly, "What's so surprising? Although Akris is high-ranking, he isn't invincible. Have you ever wondered why Sunset Mountain is known as the Battlefield of the Gods?"
Adam and Blue Sea exchanged glances, both feeling a sense of unease.
So, they could only say to John, "It seems we'll have to rely on your assistance again once we enter Twin Volcano, Brother Galewind."
John replied with a slight smile, his tone casual yet exuding an aura of dominance, "No need for formalities. I'm actually quite interested to see what exactly the Flame God Akris left behind in this secret realm..."
His gaze fell on the massive swirling red portal in front of them.
Without any effort, John could sense the residual divine power radiating from it.
It appeared that the Shadowcrawler Matriarch was right.
After a while, everyone had fully recovered their strength.
As usual, John took the lead, charging headfirst into the entrance of Twin Volcano.
The moment they stepped in, they were greeted by a wave of scorching heat.
John frowned, the pungent smell of magma in the air was rather unpleasant.
He looked up.
A massive volcano, tens of thousands of feet high, towered quietly before him.
The mountain was reddish in color, covered with huge cracks from which lava rolled and flowed, sending up billows of hot air.
Atop the volcano was a large crater, with lava spurting out, hardening quickly into red volcanic ash upon contact with the mountain.
Not just the ground, even the sky was a fiery red.
In a word, it was hot - incredibly so!
As John stood on the scorching ground, a burst of energy generated under his feet, instantly isolating his soles from direct contact with the searing earth.
By this time, the others had also entered the secret realm.
The waves of heat in the air instantly humbled everyone.
Sweat poured down their foreheads the moment they stepped into the area, evaporating the instant it hit the ground, creating a puff of white smoke.
"Holy moly, it's scorching here. Feels like it's at least sixty degrees..." one groaned.
"No kidding, I feel like I'm about to have a heatstroke," another grumbled.
"Oh no, I can't stand the heat, this place is a nightmare for me," a third complained.
...
The group didn't have the luxury to admire the awe-inspiring view of the volcano, their complaints about the heat were unending.
The game Godslayer was forever meticulous in its control of details, simulating real-world temperatures to a tee.
Being in such a sweltering environment was bound to make anyone restless.
The worst part was they couldn't take off their heavy clothing.
Those were their armor, not meant to be casually removed.
At this point, Adam's face was flushed from the heat.
The silvery full-body armor he wore, along with the silver giant sword he carried, was part of the "Divine Blessing Set" and couldn't be taken off.
Without the armor's protection, his defense would drop significantly.
So, he had to grit his teeth and bear it.
Sharing Adam's misery were two heavily armored warriors.
Their armor was even thicker...
Seeing the group struggling in the heat, Blue Sea quickly stepped forward.
He raised his staff and began to chant quietly.
As Blue Sea chanted, a light blue mist appeared over everyone's heads.
The mist fell, enveloping everyone. The air instantly felt cooler.
The cool mist was quickly evaporated in the hot air.
The heat was so intense that the duration of water-based spells was significantly reduced.
Fortunately, Blue Sea's spell reminded everyone that they had a water mage among them.
Wasn't this the perfect time for the mage to step up and cast some water support spells?
At Adam's signal, the water mage lifted his staff and started chanting.
A mist of water formed again above everyone's heads, albeit smaller than the one conjured by Blue Sea.
It was clear that there was a significant power difference between the two.
With the cooling spells from the two water mages overhead, the party began to climb the volcano.
They didn't know the exact location where the local minor faction had met their demise, so they had to search slowly.
John was still leading the way, hands behind his back, moving with easy and steady steps.
Unlike the others, who were sweating like pigs, there wasn't a single drop of sweat on John's forehead.
It was as if he didn't feel the heat waves in the air at all.
"Johnny, aren't you hot?" Emma, while wiping the sweat from her forehead, asked curiously.
She was struggling with the temperature.
However, as a fire mage, specifically a "Pyromancer", her heat resistance was maxed out, so she was just about managing.
She wasn't fighting over the scant mist with the others.
John chuckled, "Maybe I just have a high tolerance for heat. I'm doing okay."
After casting another mist spell, Blue Sea frowned, "The water elements here are too scarce. I can barely cast spells by depleting my own mana. At this rate, my mental and magical energies will be exhausted soon."
The other water mage nodded vigorously in agreement.
He was already feeling his mental and magical energies draining rapidly...
Adam grumbled, "Where on earth did that damned minor faction die?"
He looked around, only seeing barren volcanic rocks, which just stoked his inner flame.
John, walking at the front, turned around and laughed, "Adam, if you're too hot, why not take off your armor? Wearing all that is like wearing a steam box!"
Adam responded with a bitter smile, "I can't. If I take off the armor, the set's passive abilities won't activate..."
"We better find that damned minor faction fast. Let's hope they didn't die in the volcano's crater."
Blue Sea also leaned in, curiosity written all over his face, "I'm more curious about how they got here than where they died. This is deep into the Sunset Mountain territory, which is teeming with abyss lord level bosses. It makes no sense for a minor third-level faction to have made it all the way here."
John, stroking his chin, put forth his guess, "There's only one possibility. They used some sort of long-range teleportation item to teleport directly here."
John paused and laughed, "I have a question too. This place is called Twin Volcano, so there should be two volcanoes. Where's the other one?"
Everyone shook their heads in confusion, clueless about the answer.
John led the group, searching towards the top of the volcano.
As they passed a crevice, John suddenly stopped.
His eyes were fixed on the deepest part of the crevice, where lava flowed and heat rose.
John's stopping had nothing to do with the lava.
He had detected subtle movements beneath the lava, as if something was trying to emerge from the depths of the thousand-degree lava.
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