Re: Turning
Hellscapes
Shinnichi set foot on the 96th floor. The landscape of this floor was much different from the previous floor. If the previous floor was themed cold cave, this floor was a cave within a volcano!
The ground on the floor was red in color and the cracks on it glowed hot. It can burn anyone who falls. From the entrance of the floor, there was no wide road. Only a narrow strip of rock loomed over the exploding magma river. With a gaping chasm beside him, falling was definitely a slow and painful death.
With this high temperature, ordinary creatures were unlikely to survive. Their lungs would burn first before being able to take seven steps from the stairs. Hell may be the word that fits with to explain this floor.
Shinnichi covered his mouth. The hot air made his breathing cramped. His nose burns every time he breathes. He opened the [Storage], then took out the dragon mask then put it on. He could breathe as usual. But he was still worried about his shoes. I hope they don't burn.
“Your brother made this?” ask Shinnichi.
Schwarz replied. “She Dungeon Master, so maybe so.”
“You're not sure?”
“I wasn't born here, you know? You think I know everything?”
“Ah, true also.” Shinnichi nodded in understanding.
Shinnichi continued his journey. Withstand high temperatures that drain energy. Fortunately, he had a Schwarz robe. He could not imagine how adventurers could explore this part of the dungeon.
Boom! An explosion below blew a hot wind towards Shinnichi. Carefully, he looked down. There is a pair of strange fish, which has an antenna on its head similar to Anglerfish in its home world. The two creatures are fighting. Throw fireballs from their antennas that function like magic sticks. In the distance, Shinnichi could see other monsters. Fire lizards, perhaps those Salamanders that Shinnichi often hears. They were waiting for one of the fish to lose, an easy prey.
Shinnichi decided not to bother them. There is no point in taking unnecessary risks. He wanted to quickly leave this floor.
However, the Dungeon would not let it go so easily.
“””Kraa!”””
Three giant moths appeared before him. Their wings were made of a brilliant glowing fire aura. Although Shinnichi wanted to think about how creatures like them lived on the floor like this, he was not given a chance.
Woosh! A pair of fire moths flapped their wings towards Shinnichi. Creating a strong hot wind. The other threw a fireball at him. Joining in, the small fireball he threw suddenly grew bigger. Smouldering like a small sun.
“--!?” Shinnichi protects himself using the Scwarz robe. Receiving the fireball and withstanding the stinging heat and the strong thrusting force that almost dropped it from the narrow path.
“Damn it!” Shinnichi won't let them attack again. He directed the Dominator towards the moth in the middle
Exposed to Mana Shinnichi's bullet, the moth exploded. Pushing the two remaining moths, making them cuddle in the air. With a somewhat skewed accuracy, he shot the moth on the left.
“Kra!” The moth was chirping in pain. His body was half-destroyed, he fell down and received his death in the lava.
Seeing what happened, the last moth tried to escape. However, Shinnichi did not let it. He changed the Dominator barrel to be longer and smaller. Then, like a sniper, he created a hole in the middle of the monster's body. Falling down, his body did not even reach the ground. It was devoured by a lizard swimming.
“Fuuh..” Shinnichi breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his hood again and continued on his way.
❂❂❂❂❂❂
The path that Shinnichi took slowly began to decline. It forms an arch above the lava river. And he doesn't like it.
Up ahead, he could see the reason. A huge lava lake. Compared to the lake he saw in the kingdom, this could have been an ocean. Only lava and rock explosions melted because of it.
Shinnichi stood on the edge. Trying to resist his curiosity to touch the lava to know how sensational it is. He had already lost one hand, he did not plan to lose the other.
Shinnichi kicked a small rock deep into the middle of the lava.
“Groaa!” A great groan emerged from the lake, shaking his chest cavity. Simultaneously, a huge figure emerged from the depths of the lake. Jumping out of the lava gracefully.
Shinnichi swallowed his saliva. A whale. A whale swimming in lava. Somehow, Shinnichi really doesn't know.
The shape is similar to that of a small blue whale, with some differences. At the top, his skin resembled the hot rocks he was treading on, complete with glowing cracks. At the bottom, the color is bright white. Next to his head, there was a black mark, like the eyes of a killer whale with a red dot as his eyes.
Several other lava whales appeared shortly after the first, a group. In other words, the lava lake in this dungeon has an ecosystem that is able to support a group of whales even though it is made of magma that has temperatures above a thousand degrees Celsius.
Shinnichi needs to stop for a moment. He was massaging his forehead. Trying to swallow the fact that this is a real thing.
“I'm tired of this world,” he lamented. If this is Shinnichi back then, maybe the reaction is different. “The sauce in the water alone is already quite amazing. Now the whale in the lava? Next what? Whale in the sky?”
“Their name is Pyrowel, and yes. There are whales in the sky. Precisely around the Southern and Western Continents,” replied Schwarz, not reading the atmosphere. "Quite interesting, I think."
“.... I'm really tired of this world.”
Upset, Shinnichi put his hand on his forehead and narrowed his eyes. In the distance, there was another road across. Too far to jump. He turned there to find a way across and decided to walk along the edge of the lake. Find a way to continue his journey.
In the distance, he could hear the songs of the whales. Become his step-sitter. And if Shinnichi is honest, their “long” is really scary for him who has a phobia of the depths of the sea. Although there was hardly a drop of water on this floor, hearing such a huge one actually frightened him.
“Hei, Black. Can I kill them?”
“You want to die in lava or die hit by their tails then fall into lava?”
“Tch.” Picking his tongue, Shinnichi tried to ignore them.
After a few songs and while torturing later, Shinnichi sees something strange in front of him. Forget the whale song that disturbed him. There's a rock boat.
“....”
“....”
“.... Sister damn.”
“S-Shinnichi!?”
Ignoring the surprised Schwarz or the karma that might be approaching, Shinnichi approaches the boat. A pair of paddles made of iron with flexible handles that feel like rubber. I don't know who made it, Shinnichi thought it was a giant spatula. The end is even flat and a little sharp.
He put a little energy into bending it. However, the paddle jolted back to its starting position. Really like rubber. He tapped the end. Makes a satisfying iron sound.
This isn't a spatula?
“Ludic humor taste,” Shinnichi murmured.
Only able to sigh, he pushed the boat into the lava lake. Carefully, he climbed it. Float. Although the shake of the boat at the beginning almost made his heart stop.
Shinnichi calms himself. Using a strange paddle, he began to move the boat. He had never used a boat before, so he was a little stiff. Moreover, the thing he rowed was not water, but viscous lava.
But slowly but surely. The boat is moving towards the middle.
❂❂❂❂❂❂
Two hours later. More than half of the lake is already Shinnichi. Only a quarter of the way, about 100 meters away. Sweat had already flowed from his body pores, evaporating even. It feels like a sauna. Fatigue still struck him even after drinking the healing water of Emphiria. He also did not move from his place.
“This river is bewitched. I'm not moving from earlier.” Shinnichi looked at his red hands.
“You're the one who sucked in rowing.”
“Say that when you have a body, you lazy old Dragon.”
“Talk what are you boy!? I'm still young!”
“Whispering! Don't scream at people's heads! Have you lived that long to the point that your hearing is gone?!”
“Basic boy tengil!”
The shouting event looked like a madman who was screaming to no one. Shinnichi did not know. The loud sound also attracted attention.
“Grua!”
“--!?”
A ball of fire shot towards him. Quickly, Shinnichi lowered his head. Dodging him barely, he fired the Dominator towards the incoming fireball.
“Crua!” horrified screeches appeared. A fish monster that Shinnichi saw earlier lost the left part of his eye. And now, the inside of his body was burned by lava.
Not only the fish, Shinnichi could see several fire lizards, a group of giant fire moths, a dozen fire Anglerfish and a number of fire frogs. Everyone looks after Shinnichi.
“The frog is amphibious, how can he live here!?”
“Think of more important things, stupid. We're surrounded!”
“Ah!” Shinnichi. “Schwarz, we're surrounded!”
“I JUST SAID IT!”
“Tch, you don't know comedy.”
Trying to lighten the mood, Shinnichi directs Dominator and starts shooting him. The mana bullet pierced through the heads of the monsters like tofu. Quickly kill them. However, their numbers coupled with limited moving space quickly overwhelmed him.
He tried to avoid some fireballs and received them several times. The moths are annoying monsters. The combination of their wind flapping as well as the fireball was a devastating attack. Plus, other monster fireballs also joined in. Several times Shinnichi almost fell into the lake.
Shinnichi clicked his tongue. So, is this finally? Shinnichi decided to fight until the end. But before he said anything stupid. He saw the silhouette behind the monsters.
Giant silhouette.
Behind the monster, a fire whale, Pyrowel, was speeding towards him at a speed that did not match his size. Like a giant train from hell. Lava waves started to form on his side. The monsters that attacked him woke up. They stop attacking Shinnichi to look back and dodge.
“Exposure!”
Shinnichi doesn't want to wait for death to pick him up. He took a paddle and jumped off the boat. Then stepped on a moth, then another moth, and another. He used them like stairs. Then, in the last two moths, he jumped as hard as he could.
“GROOAAA!” Pyrowel's roar rumbled beneath him, smashing the boat. Directly smash it to pieces.
Hovering above the air, Shinnichi was spared from that terrible fate. Some monsters unfortunately were not as lucky as him. A 15-ton fire whale crashed into them, what choice did they have other than to be thrown and die?
Shinnichi twisted his body. Paddles still in his hands, Shinnichi pays his attention to a fire frog below. His head was large and slightly flattened, a perfect target. Looks like he managed to dodge the Pyrowel's lunge. Unfortunately, his life is not safe. This time, death will come from above.
Shinnichi threw his paddle like a spear. It was traveling at a speed that almost matched the first cosmic speed. It didn't take three seconds before the oar hit his head.
JLB! The sound of pierced flesh, muscles, and bones was able to make anyone grimace in pain sound. The throw was on target. The fire frog did not even realize he was dead.
Shinnichi smiled confidently. Whether he can or not, he doesn't know. What is certain is that he will die if he fails.
Gravity is pulling back. Below, there was a lava lake capable of burning anything it touched. All that stood in his way was the carcass of a fire frog with a paddle stuck in its head.
Shinnichi directs his body. Feet are down. Then, tread the flexible handle of the paddle.
Thanks to the force of gravity as well as the weight of the body it carried, the handle flexed behind it. Then, using his elasticity, Shinnichi was thrown forward. Like a pebble thrown with a slingshot, it sped towards the edge.
80 Meters, 60 metres, 40 metres. Looks like he'll reach the edge. But, his speed started to decline. It started to fall.
Shinnichi didn't lose his mind. He formed the Dominator barrel to be as large as possible. With a barrel diameter of 75 cm, Dominator transforms into a cannon that rivals the giant Dardanella cannon. He gathered up Mana and before he fell into the lake, he shot him down.
DUM! Cracks! The sound of explosions echoed across the floor. A lava wave capable of countering the Pyrowel-made was created because of it.
Shinnichi was thrown upwards due to the impact. Gave him more than enough distance to land on the ground. He rolled over on the hot pebbles.
“Uhuk! Uhuk!” Shinnichi breathed with great difficulty. The beat was a little too strong. Stripped his chest like a sledgehammer.
However, a moment later. His pain was changed. “Hah... Ahahaha! HAHAHA!” Shinnichi laughed satisfiedly. He avoided death once again.
Shinnichi. His shoulder hurts, it looks like it's being dislocated. Sure oes. The knock almost severed his arm, or perhaps the rest of his right arm. Still smiling, he fixed his almost dislodged shoulder.
Crews! The sound of the shoulder returning to its place made Shinnichi slightly grimace in pain. He sighed.
“So it was fun. Wanna try it again?
“You are crazy huh?”
Shinnichi just laughed. Finished with his joke, he took out the Emphiria crystal and started drinking the water. Moisturizing his dry throat. The energy that was lost bit by bit returned.
Shinnichi breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped away the water that was still soaking his mouth. He opened the [Storage] then took out a piece of meat.he put it near the edge.
Shinnichi lying. Feeling the warm ground on his back. He took off his mask. Immerse the water of Emphiria on her face. Trying to cool down.
After a few minutes, Shinnichi got up. He took the meat and began to eat the bitter meat. Do not forget to drink Emphiria water to launch a trip to his stomach.
“Crua!” A fire moth came to attack him. A ball of fire shot towards him.
Shinnichi is too lazy. He raised the crystal of Emphiria and shot water at her. Emphiria's flow of water defeated the fireball. Not stopping there, Shinnichi continues to drain the Mananya. Shinnichi flaming the fire moth.
The moth of fire fell to the ground. Can't move because his wings are petrified. “Crua! Crua!” The moth was chirping in panic.
“Oh, useful also.” Shinnichi looked at the blue crystal, smiling happily. Then, Shinnichi wakes up. His smile disappeared immediately.
“Wait, why didn't I realize it earlier!?”
“You can be quiet one minute no!?”
❂❂❂❂❂❂
‘Groa!”
“KRAA!”
“Rroa!”
The shriek of the monster's death echoed on the 96th floor. Countless monster carcasses scattered in its path. Shinnichi no matter who was in front of him, Dominator's bullets kept perforating the head of the monster that tried to attack him.
“You're still upset?”
“Hmm? Me? Pissed off? Impossible,” replied Shinnichi with a small smile while kicking the carcass of a fire moth. “I'm calm kok.” Shinnichi implanted four bullets into his head and kicked him down a lava river.
Shinnichi breathed out. “Hah, this world is so beautiful,” he said sarcastically. “True. Is correct. Beautiful!”
Dor's! Dor's! Dor's!
“Kroa!”
“Tchra!”
“Grua!”
“Mati. Die. Damn it.” Under his breath, Shinnichi cursed.
Shinnichi's rampage stopped forty monster carcasses later.
❂❂❂❂❂❂
Shinnichi continued walking down the narrow, rocky path. Climb a cliff, defend yourself from monsters, and cross a lava river. The path he took began to rise. And he doesn't like it.
“This again,” muttered Shinnichi. His pessimism is beginning to show. But he kept walking.
Shinnichi arrives at a plateau. Give a little space to move around. Although the temperature still stung the skin and the dangerous narrow path earlier, he felt a little happy. Even more so when he saw the exit of this floor at the end.
But, a moment later he realized this pattern. A flat area that stood towering above the lava lake? And again, the exit at the end?
“Oh shit.” Shinnichi sighed. “This is the boss area huh?”
Accurate throws.
A crack formed in the middle of the plateau. It's like a spring spider web. And from the crack, magma began to sink in. Gather together and begin to take shape.
A pair of hands and a faceless head. A three meter tall humanoid monster with no legs. Shinnichi judged him using [Appraisal].
『Species : Fire Elemental
Level 102
Stats
Agi 17
Atk 673
Int : 431
Vits :802
Skill
[Fire Magic lvl.9] [Magma Manipulation] [Summoning lvl.7]
Title
[Floor 96 Boss] [Vulcanic Lord]』
“HHRAAAA!” The monster roared loudly. Marking the fight begins.
“Yes, I don't want to waste time.” Shinnichi took out an Emphiria crystal and then started spraying water towards the Fire Elemental.
“GROOAAA!” The monster screamed in pain. As long as his body is broken.
“Silence ah. Noisy.”
Shinnichi increases his Mananya's power out. He turned his body to stone and froze it. One shot from Dominator and the 96th floor boss was defeated in a highly anti-climactic manner. Moistened and shot.
“....”
“... At least fight him fairly so he can calm down there.” The Dragon Emperor gave his sympathy