[Chapter 307. Coordination]

A shrill shriek filled the tunnel, the raw sound echoing off the walls and mingling with the bubbling of nearby magma as Sarah's twin daggers burrowed deep into the neck of one of the Salamanders. Its scales were hard, but not harder than the natural armor plating she had pierced before. With a violent twist and a sideways pull, she tore the daggers out, carving deep into the flesh and muscle of the creature. Dark, steaming blood sprayed across the tunnel floor, sizzling as it hit the heated stone. The creature's shriek choked off as its life force rapidly drained away, its yellow eyes clouding as it stumbled forward.

Before the beast could even collapse to the ground, Vanessa's next bolt of arcane energy slammed into the other Salamander—the one she had attacked prior. With its scales weakened from her earlier spell, the bolt broke completely through its armor, punching a clean hole through its chest and killing it on the spot. The Salamander's forward momentum carried it another few steps before it pitched forward, its obsidian sword clattering uselessly against the stone.

The third Salamander, now alone against four opponents, brought its blade down on Lana's barrier with all its strength. Enraged by her taunt, its entire focus lay on her, completely ignoring the death of its companions. The obsidian sword struck the pale white barrier with a sound like cracking thunder, sparks flying as the magical energy absorbed the devastating kinetic blow. Lana gritted her teeth, her muscles straining as she maintained the ward against the creature's furious assault. The impact reverberated through her arms, the sheer force of the attack threatening to overwhelm her defenses as the Salamander raised its weapon for another strike, its yellow eyes burning with pure hatred.

As the second Salamander crumpled to the floor from the synchronized attack, Searanox nodded and turned his head slightly toward Iris, who was analyzing every small movement of the battle. "Look at that. Almost perfect." The satisfaction in his voice was subtle but unmistakable—a rare acknowledgment of their progress.

"They still have work to do. They've killed them, but it was far from efficient. Sarah was wide open after her first attack—if Lana hadn't forced their attention onto herself, or if the group had been larger..." Iris stopped her analysis before continuing, her silver eyes never leaving the battle. "Yes, much better than before. They work as a team now, which makes the fights simpler and more manageable."

"I would say they could clear this dungeon by themselves, given enough time," Searanox mused. "If we look past the boss, that is. I'm not sure about them beating that one." He adjusted his gauntlet, the faint hum of his armor barely audible over the tunnel's ambient sounds.

"Is it that difficult to fight?" Iris asked, turning her eyes away from the four women and fully onto Searanox, her curiosity now piqued.

"You will see."

Instead of just standing there and taking the blows like a static wall, Lana shifted her weight with practiced agility, pivoting on her back foot as she turned her body into the impending strike. With a surge of strength that sent tremors through her arm muscles, she angled Wavebreaker to deflect the Salamander's obsidian sword to the side. The shield's magical barrier flared brighter as the weapon scraped violently across its surface, the sound of metal grinding against magical energy creating a discordant shriek that competed with the tunnel's natural rumble.

In one fluid motion, Lana didn't just block—she redirected the force, using the creature's own momentum against it. The rim of her shield connected squarely with the side of the Salamander's head with a wet, cracking sound that sent dark blood spraying onto the tunnel floor. The beast staggered sideways, its yellow eyes momentarily losing focus as it struggled to recover from the unexpected counterattack.

In her free hand, a short sword materialized—a simple but sturdy blade Searanox had given her back in the early days, when everything was still overwhelming and terrifying. She drove it forward with all her strength, aiming for the soft spot between the Salamander's armored plates. Unlike Sarah's daggers that pierced scales with ease, her blade scraped fruitlessly across the creature's hardened exterior with a grating sound, failing to find purchase.

Undeterred by the failed attack, Lana used her forward momentum to twist her body, slamming the broad side of her massive shield against the Salamander's upper body with tremendous force. The impact sent the creature reeling backward half a meter, its clawed feet skidding across the heated stone floor as it struggled to maintain balance.

In its disoriented state, the Salamander was simultaneously struck by another bolt from Vanessa's Starfall Matrix and stabbed right in the back by Sarah, who appeared as if from nowhere behind the creature. The combined assault was devastating. The Salamander collapsed with a final, wet gurgle, its body falling on the tunnel floor.

"Well done. Carmen, any thoughts after watching your team fight?" Searanox asked without looking at her, his eyes remaining fixed on the three women as they caught their breath. He knew she had followed the entire fight with sharp eyes, absorbing every detail with her analytical mind.

Carmen paused for a moment, her fingers tracing the carved engravings on her Golden Chanter's Staff as she processed what she had witnessed. "They've improved significantly," she began, her voice measured and thoughtful. "Their coordination has tightened, and they're compensating for each other's weaknesses more effectively than before. However, there are limits to what they can handle."

She stepped slightly forward, watching the cooling bodies. "We would be able to take on twice as many at once, but that would result in Lana getting overwhelmed and forced to fully focus on defense. Her shield may seem impenetrable right now with its size and capabilities, but with increased numbers, the beasts would quickly learn to encircle her. From multiple angles, her defense would become unsustainable, and she would suffer grievous wounds in the process. We need to develop strategies that don't rely solely on Lana's shield-wall formation."

"That is exactly the reason you are standing behind her—to aid her the moment they break past her defense," Iris spoke out, her voice echoing slightly as she took steps further down the tunnel. Her silver eyes glanced down at the corpses that had begun to dissolve into shimmering blue particles of light. The motes danced in the heated air for a moment before fading completely. "I see that my training did bear fruit after all." A rare, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips as she acknowledged the improvements in the team she had once dismissed as complete liabilities.

Searanox walked up behind Carmen and laid his gauntleted hand on her head, the metal cool against her hair despite the surrounding heat. He said nothing, but she knew that he was pleased with her assessment, despite her not being directly involved in the fight. Her shoulders relaxed under his touch, a small reward for her sharp analysis.

As Searanox walked past Sarah, she playfully bumped into him and leaned her head against his shoulder, muttering a soft thanks before pulling away. Her eyes met his for a brief moment with gratitude and something more complex—a deep trust that had been earned through blood and battles.

Iris and Searanox fought through the turtles and Salamanders further inside the tunnel with ruthless, practiced efficiency, their movements complementary and deadly. The volcanic heat pressed heavily against them, but they moved as if entirely unaffected.

Not long after, they reached a massive chamber filled with crisscrossing arched bridges suspended over a vast pit of molten stone. The air shimmered with heat distortion, making the bridges appear unstable and illusory. Instead of stepping onto the bridges like last time, Searanox moved toward the side, walking directly to the edge of the cliff. His boots crunched on the volcanic gravel near the precipice.

"The bridge is this way," Lana pointed out, her voice uncertain as she gestured toward the first of many bridges that connected to the large platform they stood on. The stone structure seemed solid enough, though the way it warped in the heat haze made her question its stability.

Searanox looked over the edge and saw the narrow pathway leading down along the cliff face—barely wide enough for a single person. Jagged rocks jutted out at odd angles, and the entire path seemed precariously attached to the wall.

"There is no way I'm risking walking down there," he muttered.

In the next moment, three Travel drones appeared beside him with a soft hum, their metallic bodies reflecting the orange glow of the molten pit below. He mounted the ATV-like drone, its hover drives adjusting automatically to his weight. He looked back over at the women, his expression serious as he gestured for them to do the same. "The bridges are fake. They are only there to lure you in. The real path is down below."

As he spoke, Iris had already taken her place behind him, her body pressed close against his back with an instinctive possessiveness that made the four women watch with varied expressions of discomfort and envy. Lana and Sarah hesitated only a moment before mounting one of the drones. Sarah perched behind Lana with her arms wrapped tightly around the woman's waist. Vanessa and Carmen shared the other one, their movements more awkward as they settled onto the hovering machine.

They initiated a short flight over the pit. The rising heat from below was agonizingly intense, a suffocating blanket of air that threatened to boil them alive as it seared their lungs and made their skin burn with every exposed inch.

They reached the hidden opening in the lower wall, and each of them—except Searanox—gasped for air, their chests heaving as they tried to draw breath that didn't feel like swallowing raw embers. The drones vanished right out from under them the moment they cleared the threshold, sending them all into a short tumble.

"Who the hell would look for an exit down here?" Vanessa asked through ragged breathing. Her face was flushed and dripping with sweat that immediately began to evaporate in the ambient heat.

"Imagine how I felt after running up there for hours, looking for a way out," Searanox said, waiting for them to recover from the scalding heat. His tone was almost amused, despite the memory of his own intense suffering in this very dungeon.

Iris poured clear water over her head. The water evaporated almost instantly as it hit her dark armor with a loud hissing sound. The flow of water from her Endless Spring didn't stop, nor did it slow down, creating a small puddle at her feet that disappeared just as quickly as it formed.

"You could have warned us... How are you completely unaffected by this heat?" Lana managed to ask between breaths, her blue eyes wide with a mixture of awe and sheer frustration.

Searanox gave a short chuckle. "Ring of Intermediate Fire Resistance." He tapped his gauntleted finger over the band that sat beneath his armor, which protected him from the absolute worst of the volcanic chamber's wrath.

Vanessa glared at him, but there was no real anger in her eyes—only the weary acceptance of yet another reminder of the vast gap between his capabilities and their own.