Chapter 28: The A-Rank Rift

The black tactical SUV drove through the perimeter checkpoint into Sector 3 as evening settled over the city.

Sector 3 was a harsh, industrial area dominated by smelting plants, jagged black rocks, and active heat vents. The air grew hot, smelling heavily of sulfur and ash.

Ten minutes later, the vehicle pulled up to the makeshift containment camp set up by the Metropolis Guild Bureau around the active rift.

At the center of the secured perimeter stood the rift portal.

The thirty-foot portal was a swirling vortex of magma, heat, and amber lightning that lit up the entire camp with a fiery red glow.

The temporary outpost was crowded with armed Bureau guards, radar towers, and scouts from several local guilds. And along the perimeter were several large medical tents.

Evren adjusted the collar of his Glacial Wyvern Mantle, stepped out of the vehicle, and approached a field medic carrying a tray of burn bandages.

"Where are the survivors from yesterday’s failed expedition?" Evren asked calmly.

The tired medic pointed toward a large pressurized tent near the perimeter. "Main triage tent over there. Captain Marcus of the Crimson Shield is in bed three, but he’s barely in any condition to talk."

"Thanks," Evren nodded, walking directly toward the tent.

Inside, the air smelled heavily of antiseptic and cooling burn salves.

Lying on an elevated cot with thick thermal bandages covering his chest and arms was a burly, battle-scarred hunter: Captain Marcus.

Marcus was staring at the canvas ceiling, breathing with difficulty as an automated IV dripped restorative fluids into his arm.

When Evren walked in, his dark coat and blue dragon-scale mantle rustling softly, Marcus turned his head with a tired frown.

"If you’re another reporter looking for a quote on how my team got burned, get out," Marcus grunted.

"I’m not a reporter," Evren said calmly, stopping beside the cot. "I hold the solo clearing permit for the Solar Flare Caverns. I want your breakdown of what’s inside."

Marcus blinked in surprise. He looked at Evren standing completely alone without a team.

"A solo permit?" Marcus let out a dry laugh that ended in a cough. "Kid, you’re crazy. Don’t throw your life away in that slaughterhouse."

"I have my reasons," Evren replied. "Tell me about the rift, the monsters and the boss."

Marcus looked into Evren’s calm eyes. Realizing the young hunter was serious, the veteran sighed and leaned back against his pillow.

"The heat inside is over a hundred degrees," Marcus warned. "Standard thermal potions boil away in ten minutes. The ground has boiling lava rivers everywhere, and Level 48 Magma Golems hide beneath the surface."

Marcus held his bandaged chest.

"The Golems don’t die to normal physical attacks. If you break their rock bodies, the lava puts them back together in seconds unless you freeze and shatter their internal flame cores with ice."

"And the boss?" Evren asked.

"The Level 55 Molten Obsidian Behemoth," Marcus said, a shiver running through him. "A thirty-five-foot beast of rock and lava. Its obsidian shell deflects heavy weapons. But worse is its main skill..."

Marcus took a deep breath.

"Every sixty seconds, its horns flare with white light, and it unleashes a Solar Flare... a massive heat shockwave that burns everything within a hundred yards. That wave wiped out my front line before we could even put up shields."

Evren listened carefully, remembering every detail and timer.

"Thank you, Captain Marcus. That helps a lot."

Evren reached into his coat, pulling out a sealed white envelope and placing it on Marcus’s bedside table.

"What’s this?" Marcus asked.

"$50,000.00 in bearer drafts," Evren said softly. "To help cover the medical bills and recovery for you and your men."

Marcus stared at the thick envelope, then looked up at Evren in shock. In Sector 3, defeated hunters were usually forgotten. No one gave money to a failed team.

"Who are you, kid?" Marcus asked in a low voice.

"Evren," he answered simply. "Apex Guild."

Evren walked out of the tent toward the checkpoint gate beneath the roaring magma portal.

Standing at the scanner was a Guild Bureau proctor in a protective heat suit.

Evren held up his phone with his digital permit.

BEEP.

The scanner flashed with a green light:

[METROPOLIS GUILD BUREAU — EMERGENCY EXPEDITION]

[GUILD: APEX GUILD]

[RAID LEADER: EVREN (SOLO CLEARANCE AUTHORIZED)]

[HAZARD CLASSIFICATION: A-RANK VOLCANIC INFERNO]

The proctor stared at the screen, his mouth falling open behind his visor. "S-Solo clearance?!" he gasped aloud. "One person going into an A-Rank volcanic rift?!"

Around the gate, several scouts and guild members started laughing and whispering.

"Is this guy trying to get killed?!" a man in bronze armor sneered. "Crimson Shield just lost twelve men in there yesterday with a full twenty-man team!"

"Apex Guild? Isn’t that the new guild on the news?" another scout laughed. "Going in alone with no healer or tank... he’ll be ash in thirty seconds!"

Evren ignored them completely.

He rested his hand on the hilt of the Frost-Bane Cleaver strapped across his back.

With calm steps, Evren crossed the line and walked straight into the swirling red vortex.

—

SHUUUUU!

The blinding red light flashed, and a suffocating wall of heat slammed into Evren’s chest.

The air inside the Solar Flare Caverns was so hot it distorted his vision with shimmering waves. The temperature was well over 120°C.

Immediately, the Glacial Wyvern Mantle across Evren’s shoulders reacted.

HUMMM.

A layer of pale blue frost-mist enveloped his skin and clothing, neutralizing the scorching air and keeping his core temperature perfectly stable.

Evren took a slow breath, scanning the alien environment.

The terrain was a nightmare of black obsidian crags and smoking volcanic vents. Tall basalt towers reached toward the smoky ceiling, while glowing cracks lined the ground, pulsing with hot magma.

This was an A-Rank rift. Unlike the snowy forest of the B-Rank Frost Rift, every step here was hostile. The environment itself was an active weapon.

Evren began walking carefully across the cracked black stone.

CRUNCH.

As his right boot pressed into a thin patch of dark crust, he felt a sharp, sudden shift in pressure beneath his sole.

His S-Rank instincts screamed.

Without a second thought, Evren kicked off his back heel and leaped backward four yards!

PSSSSSHHH-BOOM!

A jet of superheated gas, up to eight-hundred-degree, erupted from the exact spot where his foot had been less than a fraction of second ago, blasting high into the ceiling with a deafening screech.

Evren landed lightly on the solid rock, his heart racing with adrenaline.

"Natural thermal landmines," Evren murmured, his senses sharpening to maximum alert. "One wrong step and the ground itself will incinerate you."

Evren advanced carefully, reading the subtle heat tremors and pressure in the stone as he walked.

After several hundred yards, the narrow canyon split into a wide crossroads. To the left lay a low, sulfuric swamp bubbling with toxic green gas. To the right, a rising basalt ridge led toward a towering volcanic peak with a gaping cavern entrance.

’Going right should be right,’ Evren thought, taking the mountain path.

As he climbed the ridge, the glowing fissures around him began to hiss.

SKREEE!

From the jagged cracks, a dozen Level 46 Lava Crawlers... four legged crustaceans with shells made of molten rock, crawled out. At the same time, a swarm of winged Flame Imps dived from the smoky ceiling, throwing small fireballs.

Evren drew his Frost-Bane Cleaver. Since this was an endurance fight, he didn’t waste energy on a massive mana wave. Instead, he sent a controlled pulse of raw mana into the hilt.

SHING!

The embedded S-Rank Wyvern Core flared blue, coating the steel edge in frost energy.

CLANG! SWISH!

Evren moved; he sidestepped a dive-bombing Imp, cleaving it in half in mid-air as sub-zero frost instantly extinguished its fiery wings.

A pair of Lava Crawlers lunged at his legs, their hot claws snapping. Evren quickly turned and hit the first crawler with his sword’s hilt, cracking its shell. Then, he swung his frosty blade down in a clean reverse slash, freezing both monsters instantly.

More beasts rushed out from the rocks, drawn by the scent of fresh blood and cool mana. Evren fought his way forward step by step, testing the weapon’s weight, timing the conversion of his pure mana, and adjusting to the rhythm of the volcanic monsters.

After about ten minutes of continuous combat, Evren reached the summit of the ridge.

Before him stood the mouth of the mountain: a massive, arched cavern opening leading straight into the hollow interior of the volcano.

Evren stepped inside.

The cavern was massive. Beneath its smoking, domed roof lay a huge lake of boiling, white-hot magma.

There was no solid bridge to the other side.

The only path forward was a scattered line of jagged basalt stepping-stones and glowing rock pillars rising out of the bubbling lava sea.

Evren leaped onto the first stone.

Sssss.

The intense heat from the lava below pushed his Glacial Mantle to its limit, causing frost mist to hiss violently as it met the rising temperature.

Evren took three rapid, balanced jumps, landing squarely on a wide, flat pillar in the middle of the magma sea.

The boiling lake around the pillar suddenly began to churn.

GLUG-GLUG-GLUG!

The lava parted with a deafening roar.

ROAAAAAR!

Rising from the molten depths on all four sides of his isolated pillar were six massive, ten-foot-tall Level 48 Magma Golems.

Their bodies were made of jagged black rock, with veins of white-hot magma pulsing through their limbs. Glowing with rage, all six stone giants raised their huge, burning fists, completely boxing Evren on the narrow rock.