Chapter 155: Ancient Crimson Flame Ruins! The Third High Purity Fire Element Core! [1]

Inferno Prison Secret Realm, Edge of the Deep Region.

Ancient Crimson Flame Ruins.

RUMBLE!

A dull, thunderous noise echoed from the distance as several enormous black boulders broke loose halfway up the mountainside and tumbled down the steep slope before crashing into the river of lava below, sending a massive spray of scorching magma into the air.

Victor raised his head and glanced toward the source.

Ahead of him stood an enormous volcano thousands of meters tall, towering beneath the crimson sky, with several massive rivers of lava winding around its slopes, resembling giant burning crimson pythons when viewed from afar.

At the foot of the volcano stretched an extensive complex of ancient black buildings.

Most of these structures had already fallen into ruin, with some reduced to nothing more than a few enormous stone pillars. However, judging from the towering walls and broad roads that still remained standing, this place had clearly once been magnificent.

"Ancient Crimson Flame Ruins..."

Victor stood on a hill overlooking the scene before him.

"Much more impressive than it looked on the map."

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would never have imagined that such an enormous complex of buildings could exist deep within this secret realm filled with fire-element magical beasts.

Moreover, these structures clearly weren’t something ordinary magical beasts could have built.

Whether it was the stone pillars towering dozens of meters into the air or the stone monuments covered in runes along both sides of the roads, everything suggested that a fairly advanced magical civilization had once existed here.

However, Victor wasn’t particularly interested in the origins of these ancient buildings, at least not right now, since he hadn’t come here to study the history of some ruins.

"Let’s see if there’s anything worth taking first."

Holding the Crimson Flame Fang, Victor descended the damaged stone steps ahead and reached the outskirts of the ruins before long.

The ground here was paved with enormous black stone bricks, many of which were already cracked, with a faint crimson glow occasionally visible through the gaps.

Numerous collapsed buildings lined both sides of the road, and several areas were littered with the rusted remains of ancient metal objects.

Victor approached a half-collapsed stone monument.

Several lines of ancient writing were engraved across its surface, and although parts of the inscription had been worn away beyond recognition, the characters at the very top remained relatively clear.

[Crimson Flame Hall]

"So this place actually has a name."

He brushed the dust from the monument and continued reading.

Unfortunately, the remaining inscription was too badly damaged, and he could only make out a few scattered words related to fire elements and earth veins.

Victor didn’t bother examining it further.

Just as he was about to leave, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from nearby.

"Hurry!"

"Don’t look back!"

Accompanied by several panicked shouts, four professionals rushed out from a broad stone road ahead.

One of them had a visible wound on his shoulder, and his armor had been shattered, while the other three weren’t in much better condition, having clearly just been through a battle.

Victor stopped walking.

The four also noticed him.

Their leader was a young man carrying a longbow on his back, and judging from the mana fluctuations surrounding him, he was a Second Tier professional.

Seeing Victor preparing to continue forward, the young man quickly shouted, "Don’t go in there!"

Victor looked at him. "What’s inside?"

"A guardian!"

The young man caught his breath and pointed toward the buildings behind him.

"There’s an ancient guardian inside Crimson Flame Hall! We don’t know why, but it suddenly awakened! The moment we approached the central hall, it attacked us!"

"An ancient guardian?" Victor’s interest was immediately piqued. "What level?"

"Level 49!"

Hearing that number, Victor finally became a little more serious.

Level 49!

And it was a magical guardian left behind by an ancient civilization.

Something like that was completely different from an ordinary magical beast.

Although some ancient magical constructs weren’t truly alive, they could continuously draw energy from mana formations, allowing their combat abilities to surpass even those of magical beasts at the same level.

Seeing that Victor had no intention of leaving, the young man couldn’t help warning him again.

"That thing’s stone armor is ridiculously tough! Even with all four of us attacking together, we couldn’t break through its defenses. You’d better stay away!"

"Thanks."

Victor nodded, then walked straight ahead without another word.

"Hey!"

The young man froze.

One of his companions quickly grabbed his arm.

"Forget it. Leave him alone. We need to get out of here."

The young man watched Victor’s departing figure before eventually shaking his head.

"What a reckless bastard..."

...

Ancient Crimson Flame Ruins, Central Plaza.

Victor followed the broad black stone road for more than ten minutes, and the farther he advanced, the more intact the surrounding buildings became.

Numerous well-preserved stone sculptures began appearing along both sides of the road, most depicting towering humanoid figures wearing heavy armor and wielding various weapons.

However, these statues had long since lost their mana fluctuations, and thick layers of dust covered their surfaces.

What truly caught Victor’s attention was the enormous black stone hall at the far end of the plaza.

The entire structure had been built against the mountainside, with its towering entrance standing more than twenty meters high, while two rows of gigantic stone pillars flanked the doorway, their surfaces engraved with intricate flame patterns.

At this moment, heavy footsteps could be heard coming from inside.

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

With every footstep, the surrounding ground trembled slightly.

The next moment, an enormous figure slowly emerged from the stone hall.

It was a stone guardian standing nearly six meters tall!

Its body resembled that of a human, but it was covered from head to toe in thick black armor, with large dark-red crystals embedded in its shoulders and chest, while both hands gripped a massive black halberd more than seven meters long.

Most striking of all were the two eyes beneath its helmet, burning with dark crimson flames.

As it stepped forward, the previously dormant stone pillars began lighting up one after another, while crimson runes spread rapidly across the plaza floor.

A panel of information appeared before Victor.

[Name: Crimson Flame Hall Guardian]

[Level: 49]

[Life Tier: Second Tier]

[Type: Magical Construct]

[Characteristics: A combat guardian powered by an ancient mana formation. Possesses extremely powerful defenses and physical strength. Can replenish its energy through the earth veins.]

...

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