Chapter 461 - First Blood

Chapter 461: 461 - First Blood

The heat of the volcano was already noticeable from a considerable distance, the air carrying the smell of sulfur mixed with the rocky dust that covered the whole region around the base of the mountain.

Thin streams of distant lava glowed between the higher fissures of the mountain itself, tinting the sky around it with a soft orange tone that stood out against the dark, uneven rock of the terrain.

The sight of a volcano like that was beautiful, completely different from the volcanoes of Lohan’s previous world, where either the scene looked no different from an ordinary mountain, or it was a total cataclysm of the volcano erupting.

Lisa slowed her own pace as they got closer, her sharpened senses picking up human voices echoing from somewhere just ahead, hidden among a cluster of uneven volcanic rocks.

She raised a paw, signaling to Lohan that she’d noticed something, and the two of them started advancing more cautiously across the rough terrain.

"This is a joke," a male voice complained, frustration spilling into every word. "We took on this NPC quest with so much effort, spent hours doing that ridiculous sequence of preliminary tasks just to unlock it, and now we can’t even get close to the area where his belongings were lost."

"Those arrogant sons of bitches just won’t let anyone in," a second voice added, equally irritated. "It doesn’t matter that we only want to look for a few lost items, they treat any approach like it’s a declaration of war."

"We’re going to have to cancel the quest," the first voice concluded, bitter. "After all that work."

"And the worst part," a third voice added, an almost desperate tone slipping out from beneath the irritation, "is that the quest reward included a potion recipe we won’t be able to get anywhere else on the map. Just great... weeks of effort thrown in the trash because of these guys’ arrogance."

"We’re going to have to go back and explain to the NPC that we couldn’t even complete the simplest part," the second voice finished, resigned. "That’s definitely going to hurt our reputation with his group."

Lohan and Lisa exchanged a meaningful look, both quickly processing that new piece of information.

’So it’s not just us having this problem,’ Lohan thought, his certainty about the nature of that guild solidifying even further. ’If they treat even ordinary players trying to complete a quest from someone in this world this way, there’s definitely no real room for any kind of productive dialogue here.’

"I think we’ve heard enough," Lisa commented over the mental link, her voice growing steadier and more certain. "I don’t think it’s worth wasting any more time trying to talk to these people."

"Completely agree," Lohan replied. "Let’s get straight to the point."

Abandoning any pretense of a diplomatic approach, the two of them advanced openly across the rocky terrain, making no attempt to hide or disguise their own approach, Lisa’s footsteps echoing against the volcanic stones as they got closer to the entrance of a wide cave, clearly marked with black banners bearing the symbol of a curved horn.

Two Players stood guard there, both wearing light reinforced leather armor, one of them wielding a longbow, the other carrying a short spear resting against his own shoulder.

Behind them, deeper inside the cave, lit torches could be glimpsed illuminating a path that gradually sloped down toward the rocky depths, probably where the Whispers of the Abyss themselves made their home.

Lisa came to a complete stop, assessing the defensive setup with a calculating look before nodding to Lohan, confirming that this seemed to be the only guarded entry point.

As soon as they noticed the pair’s approach, the two guards straightened up, an immediate defensive posture taking hold of them.

"Hey, you two," the archer shouted with authority. "This area is exclusive territory of the Black Horn Legion. Back off now, or we’ll be forced to act."

"We’re Level 14 and 15," the spearman added, an arrogant smile forming on his face. "I don’t know if you two can do math, but that’s more than enough to handle any monster too dumb to recognize a clear warning when it sees one."

Lohan watched the two of them calmly, assessing their posture, their gear, the sheer overblown confidence spilling out of their every gesture. Neither of them seemed particularly worried about the possibility that this strange pair might pose any real threat.

’This is going to be quick,’ he thought, with no particular malice, just weighing the facts.

Then the archer laughed, a dry, contemptuous sound escaping him.

"Yeah, these monsters look pretty dumb too," he remarked, still laughing as he drew back his own bowstring, an arrow already nocked and ready to fire. "I’ll set an example so they get the message faster."

Without any further warning, he released the string, the arrow cutting through the air straight toward Lohan.

And it was exactly that gesture, that first hostile and completely unnecessary move, that made a satisfied smile form behind Lohan’s own consciousness.

’Perfect,’ he thought, his own jelly vibrating with anticipation. ’You’re the ones who started this.’

That left no remaining guilt, no trace of moral hesitation. They had attacked first, with no real provocation beyond the simple presence of two strangers approaching.

Lisa moved first, a white blur cutting through the space between them at a speed that made both guards’ eyes widen in instant shock.

The arrow, which moments ago had seemed like a reasonable threat, simply vanished, sliced clean in half by her claws before it had even covered half its original path.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" the spearman shouted, instinctively taking a step back.

Lisa didn’t give him even enough time to process that question.

She advanced at a speed that defied any reasonable expectation for creatures of their own level, her body moving like a liquid blade through space, the white spirit fire wrapping around her front claws in an almost blinding glow.

The first strike hit the spearman square in the chest, the force of the impact throwing him several meters back, his own body bouncing off the volcanic rocks with a solid, unpleasant sound.

"IMPOSSIBLE," the archer shouted, already backing away while desperately trying to nock another arrow, his hands visibly shaking. "You can’t just be regular monsters, what the hell are you..."

He never finished that question.

Lohan, who up to that point had watched Lisa’s opening with patience, finally moved forward, projecting dozens of thin, translucent filaments that spread across the rocky terrain like a living web, each one converging toward the staggering archer.

The first filament wrapped around his ankle, pinning him in place at the exact moment he tried to take another step back. The second and third coiled around his wrists, fully immobilizing his arms before he could even raise his own bow.

"Let go of me, you disgusting monster!" the archer shouted, struggling uselessly against those gelatinous restraints.

Lohan didn’t respond, simply advancing calmly across the terrain, with his gelatinous mass absorbing and redirecting every desperate attempt at physical resistance the Player tried to put up.

’Well... I definitely love this sensation...’