[Chapter 223. Living Fire]

At the far side of the chamber, beside the dark maw where the tunnel entrance led deeper into the dungeon, a massive crater adorned the wall. The rock had split and cracked, glowing red with residual heat that made the air waver and distort like a desert mirage. The floor before the crater became a patchwork of shattered obsidian; the walkway had been utterly destroyed, leaving a treacherous landscape of razor-sharp volcanic glass and unstable footing.

In the center of this destruction lay the mangled corpses of the two Salamander squads. Their bodies lay burned and torn beyond recognition, their obsidian weapons melted into slag that pooled around the charred remains. The stench of burnt flesh was overwhelming—a thick, acrid odor that clung to the back of his throat and made his eyes water.

Searanox turned his head toward the entrance of the chamber. The squad stationed there had already gotten to its feet and was on the move, their scaled forms gliding with purpose. Their ember eyes burned with renewed aggression as they advanced toward the destruction.

He lowered his rifle and ran toward the end of the cavern, his boots crunching on the shattered obsidian as he moved. Just as he reached the mouth of the tunnel, the other squad came into existence right next to where he had taken his break, their materialization accompanied by a flicker of system energy. They turned and followed the other Salamanders, their movements synchronized.

He leveled his rifle once again and sent his assault and defensive drones forth to intercept them, their metallic forms cutting through the blistering air. He and his six offensive drones needed a few more seconds to recover from the last overcharge, their beam emitters still glowing with residual heat.

Within moments, a fight broke out between the four assault and two defensive drones. The shield-bearers roared, trying to draw his drones wrath upon themselves, the guttural sounds echoing off the cavern walls like the grinding of stone. The lesser warriors slashed their weapons against the hexagonal barrier with futile desperation, their obsidian blades sparking against the energy field.

The heavy skills of the Greater Salamander clashed against the flickering wall, causing the barrier to ripple and warp with each impact, the air crackling with discharged energy. While this transpired, Searanox stood near the exit, preparing the next overcharge to clear them out in a single attack.

He did not know if they would follow him into the tunnels, and he had no interest in finding out. Inside the narrow tunnel, he would face a huge disadvantage against them, even more so with his resources stretched thin and his recovery incomplete.

Seconds later, another bright beam from him and his offensive drones wiped them off the surface of the dungeon, their bodies dissolving into motes of light that vanished in the flash. He breathed out as he lowered his rifle, dismissing his drones in the same breath. This left him with only five of them.

`This dungeon is no joke. I had to use all my tricks and I haven't even seen the boss yet.`

The thought echoed in his mind as the acrid smell of burnt sulfur filled his nostrils. His enhanced senses picked up the subtle tremors rippling through the rock beneath his boots. The cost of clearing each chamber climbed exponentially; his resources drained faster than he could replenish them.

He checked his Tech-Points and saw they were once again below five hundred. Searanox clicked his tongue, the sound swallowed by the cavern's heat. He turned toward the exit tunnel, his boots crunching on glassy obsidian that had cooled from molten rock moments before. His drones formed the familiar formation around him before he ventured inside, their metallic bodies reflecting the hellish glow of distant magma pools.

To his pleasant surprise, he encountered only more turtles and singular groups of Salamanders consisting of no more than three at once inside the tunnels. The air grew thicker as he advanced deeper, the tunnel walls closing in around him like the throat of some ancient beast.

Every time a Guardian appeared in their group, the fight drew out far longer than it had any right to be. But the limitations of the tunnel placed both groups in a stalemate for a moment. The confined space turned each encounter into a brutal chess match, with neither side able to gain a positioning advantage. Since both sides used barriers to block incoming attacks, it ended in a test of endurance.

The Guardians shields proved particularly problematic, their thermal barriers absorbing his drone attacks with frustrating efficiency. Their obsidian weapons sparked against his drones energy fields, creating a staccato rhythm of combat that echoed through the narrow passage.

Dozens of fights later, he reached another open area. It gave off the same vibe as the last but remained fundamentally different. The tunnel opened abruptly into a vast cavern whose ceiling disappeared into darkness far above. Within lay a crisscrossing path of stone arches suspended several meters in the air. An orange glow emanated from below, painting the underside of each arch in shifting patterns of light and shadow. The arches connected in various ways, forming an elaborate clusterfuck of paths of different thicknesses and heights.

Some proved wide enough for a few people to walk side by side; others were just wide enough for one. The wide arches had smooth, worn surfaces suggesting frequent travel, while the narrow ones showed jagged, newly formed rock, as if they had materialized recently. Some stood higher while others hung lower, weaving above and below each other as the cavern went on. He could not make out the end of the chamber; the maze of arches disappeared into the distance like a spider's web spun from volcanic stone.

`What are the chances that I can simply zip over to the other side with my travel drone?`

The question hung in his mind as he studied the architecture before him. His eyes traced the intricate network of pathways, searching for patterns in their design. Below, the glow intensified periodically, suggesting magma eruptions that could swallow any unfortunate traveler who fell. The air here felt different too—colder somehow, despite the visible heat below, as if some ancient magic manipulated the physics of this space.

He sent a single reconnaissance drone to scout ahead. The small orb glided through the air. The drone had traveled a good hundred meters when a massive orb of fire from below struck it.

Its connection vanished in an instant.

Searanox stood there staring at the empty space where the drone used to be. `So much for that idea.`

He stepped onto the first arch; the heat radiating from the chasm below was enough to make his skin crawl. His drones arranged themselves in a protective formation. One defensive drone hovered just above the walkway, its barrier shimmering with a faint blue light that provided some relief from the oppressive heat.

The arches consisted of a dark, porous rock, glowing faintly from below. They looked sturdy enough, but Searanox couldn't shake the feeling that one wrong move could send him plummeting into the magma. He moved with a slow, deliberate pace, placing each footfall with precision.

Suddenly, a creature emerged from below the arches, flying up from the orange glow. Its form consisted of flame and embers. A humanoid mass of pure fire, it stood at least three meters tall. Its eyes burned with an intensity that seemed to pierce through Searanox's soul. The creature let out a roar that sounded like the crackling of a thousand fires, its form pulsing with an inner heat that threatened to melt the air around it.

His defensive drone's barrier flickered under the intense heat, the hexagonal patterns dimming as the Elemental's radiant energy washed over them. Searanox ordered his assault drones to attack; their crimson beams lanced out at the creature. To his surprise, the beams passed through the Elemental's body without any effect, as if it were nothing more than a hologram.

The Fire Elemental responded by raising a hand and conjuring a fireball, which it hurled at Searanox. The projectile streaked through the air, leaving a trail of particles in its wake. The defensive drone's barrier took the brunt of the impact. The hexagonal patterns glowed brighter as they absorbed the energy, while the air around them shimmered with intense heat.

He realized that conventional attacks were useless against this creature.

`What can I even do against a living flame?`

The thought echoed in his mind; the word flame bounced around his skull. As it did, another ball of flames hit the drone's barrier. The shield flickered before stabilizing, its hexagonal patterns dimming. The air around him shimmered with thermal distortion, the heat so intense it felt like standing before an open furnace. His enhanced senses detected the subtle shift in the creature's energy, a pulse that seemed to draw power from the very air.

`A fire, extinguish the flame... but how?`

He crept forward behind the cover of his drone. Each step brought him closer to the dancing inferno shaped like a humanoid. The arch beneath his feet seemed to vibrate with the creature's heat, and he felt the warmth through the soles of his boots. The Fire Elemental remained motionless, its form pulsing with an inner light that grew brighter as he approached. Its glowing eyes remained fixed on him, tracking his movement with unnerving intelligence.

In a flash, a bottle of soda appeared in his hand as he closed to within a meter of it. The bottle's plastic had already begun warping in the intense heat, its contents starting to bubble. With a twist, he took the cap off, placed his thumb over the opening, and shook the bottle vigorously. The liquid inside churned, bubbles forming rapidly as the carbonation reacted to the movement.

His thumb slipped slightly off the opening, and the soda pushed out in a spray of liquid. It hissed as it traveled through the heated air, and hissed even louder as it made contact with the body of flame. The creature sizzled as if a bucket of acid had been thrown over it. Its form flickered violently, the flames dimming from brilliant orange to dull red as the liquid evaporated upon contact. Steam rose from where the soda struck, creating a temporary veil between them. The Elemental's roars faltered, its movements becoming erratic as the liquid disrupted its form. After a brief moment, the flames that had dimmed under the spray burst up once again.

It took on the same intensity as moments ago, its form solidifying back into its humanoid shape. The glowing eyes burned brighter with renewed anger, its body swelling as if drawing heat from the surrounding air. With a quick toss, he chucked the entire bottle into the flames. The plastic container soared through the air, spinning rapidly as it closed the distance. With a pop, the bottle burst open, its contents spraying outward in a wide arc. The flames began to extinguish once again, this time more dramatically as the full volume of liquid made contact. The living flame wavered violently; parts of it dissolved into smoke before reforming. This was followed by a roar that sounded like thousands of cracking, charred logs inside a fireplace—a sound filled with both pain and fury as the creature fought to maintain its cohesion.

Suddenly, a series of roars answered from the depths of the chasm. A shiver ran down Searanox's spine as he peered over the edge of the archway. He saw not one, not two, but at least a dozen more rising from the magma below. Their forms glowed with otherworldly intensity as they ascended toward the arches.

"You must be fucking kidding me," Searanox muttered, the words escaping through gritted teeth as he tightened his grip on the rifle, the metal cool against his sweat-slicked palms.

He turned and sprinted down the archway, the sound of approaching fire spurring him on. His drones followed in a tight formation.