Chapter 81 – The Weight of Silence and Brute Force.

The entrance to the fourth sector of the Volcanic Glass Gorges opened into a natural black rock fork.

The canyon to the left descended toward an isolated subterranean rift, where obsidian walls gleamed with concentrated veins of Pure Dragon Glass and untouched arcane ores. The canyon to the right, on the other hand, stretched into an incandescent gravel plain infested by nests of Black Glass Salamanders (Level 39).

Diana stood at the split in the paths, her left hand resting on her black steel dagger's hilt.

The Commander maintained an upright posture and a firm countenance, but the dull pulse behind her eyes hadn't vanished completely. The mana flow of Intelligence 151 kept pressing against the channels of her Level 36 body, like a raging current attempting to widen the banks of a narrow river.

Diana knew that if she entered a prolonged heavy magic artillery combat right at that moment, the mental strain would accelerate her soul friction, risking a critical spell of dizziness right before the boss chamber.

The Commander made the strategic decision in that very second.

“We are going to split the squad at this fork.” Diana declared, her voice issuing with her customary cold, natural authority.

Kael adjusted his Volcanic Shield strap on his back, curious. “Split up again, Commander?”

“Yes.” Diana pointed at the two routes with her dagger. “The right-hand canyon has three ordinary salamander nests that must be eradicated to clear our escape route. Kael, Aurelia-Elysia, and Seraphina will take the east sector clearance.”

She turned to the left:

“The west rift contains dense dragon ore deposits requiring careful manual extraction. Rhea and I will head down to harvest the raw ore. We rendezvous at the boss arch in two hours.”

Kael struck his gauntlet against his heavy dragon armor chestplate with enthusiasm. “Leave the salamanders to us, Commander! We'll clear the east sector in an instant!”

Aurelia-Elysia wielded her Mana Crystal Staff with an excited smile, and Seraphina opened her silver grimoire, ready to summon.

Rhea, however, didn't celebrate.

The hybrid girl remained standing beside Diana, her silver ears angled slightly toward the Commander, her amber eyes inspecting Diana's contained breathing with quiet insight. Rhea had realized full well the real reason for that split: Diana wanted to step away from the main firing line to give her mana channels time to rest.

But the wolf girl didn't say a single word so as not to expose the Commander in front of the others. She merely took half a step forward and placed herself beside Diana, her tail swaying gently.

“Let's go down, Diana.” Rhea said softly.

The two teams parted at the stone fork.

***

In the west rift, the obsidian cave's silence was broken only by the distant dripping of thermal water onto stone.

Diana descended to the gallery bed and sat down on a smooth basalt block. She pulled the flask of fresh water infused with ice mint she had prepared in the lab and took two long swigs, closing her eyes and letting her breathing slow in the cool cave air.

Rhea asked no questions.

The silver-haired girl pulled the runic iron pickaxe from her spatial bag and walked over to the black glass wall Diana had pointed out with [Vision of Hidden Treasure].

With Strength 49 and the precision of her Agility 103, Rhea began striking the rock at a steady rhythm. The pickaxe blades cut through the stone effortlessly, dislodging flawless blocks of Pure Dragon Glass that gleamed in a brilliant dark-blue hue.

After filling two transport bags with the rare ores, Rhea dropped the tool onto the gravel and sat on the basalt block beside Diana, leaning her shoulder against her friend's.

“Is the mint tea helping with the headache?” Rhea asked in the gentlest voice in the world, without looking directly at her so as not to embarrass the Commander.

Diana looked at the wolf girl beside her.

Diana's calculating coldness disarmed for a second. Rhea's calm, non-demanding presence possessed the gift of slowing down the frantic rhythm of her brain in a way no magic potion could replicate.

“It's helping.” Diana admitted in a low voice, handing the canteen to Rhea. “The mana channels are settling down. Expansion friction decreased by half since we stopped casting heavy spells.”

Rhea took a sip from the canteen and returned it, resting her head against the curve of Diana's shoulder with her silver ears relaxed. “You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your back all the time, Diana. If you need a break… I can smash the rocks and watch the entrance.”

Diana gave a small, calm smile, resting her hand gently over Rhea's silver hair. “I know you can, wolf girl.”

***

While peace reigned in the west rift, the east canyon was a spectacle of pure chaos, noise, and brute force.

Without Diana's presence to dictate firing angles and the exact seconds of every rotation with her Intelligence 151, the synchronization among Kael, Aurelia-Elysia, and Seraphina ran with the elegance of an iron cart careening downhill with no brakes.

The squad encountered a nest of eight Black Glass Salamanders (Level 39).

Seraphina opened her grimoire and summoned the [Level 37 Quartz Titan] right in the middle of the path.

The Titan materialized with a stone crash right in front of Kael, blocking the vanguard's line of sight at the exact instant Kael slammed his Volcanic Shield into the ground with [Iron Taunt]!

“SERAPHINA! I CAN'T SEE THE SNAKES BEHIND YOUR GOLEM!” Kael yelled from behind his helm, trying to peer over the creature's rock shoulder.

“OH MY GOD, SORRY!” Seraphina screamed in panic, hastily flipping through her grimoire pages. “I'LL MOVE THE TITAN TO THE RIGHT!”

In attempting to reposition the golem, the Titan took a heavy step back and nearly stomped on Kael's foot.

The Level 39 salamanders seized on the confusion and pounced along the sides. Two of them slammed against Kael's chestplate with hot glass claws.

But that was where the mathematics of absolute stats spoke louder:

Kael had 870 HP POINTS and Dragon Armor that reflected 35% of all physical damage.

The strike from the two salamanders didn't even make Kael's body wobble! The beasts' claws shattered against the volcanic chestplate, and the reflected fire from the armor scorched the monsters' snouts in a reddish flash.

“Ah… you know what? Fuck the formation!” Kael laughed out loud, gripping his shield with both Strength 54 hands and plowing forward like an armored bulldozer, crushing two salamanders against the stone wall through the raw weight of iron.

Aurelia-Elysia raised her Crystal Staff backed by her 790 MP points.

Desiring to help Kael rid himself of the monsters, the priestess channeled mana and fired a [Blinding Light Orb] with full force.

FLASH!

The blast of glowing lilac light was so absurdly bright that it didn't merely blind the salamanders, it blinded Kael, Seraphina, and the stone summons all at once!

“AURELIA! I CAN'T SEE A FUCKING THING!” Kael yelled, swinging blindly with his shield in midair.

“I CAN'T SEE EITHER!” Seraphina screamed, slapping her hand onto her grimoire and summoning three crystal wolves that began biting the salamanders in the dark out of pure instinct.

“SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!” Aurelia was screaming, covering her face with her dragon robe.

Despite the absolute lack of elegance and the mess of overlapping spells, the trio's power disparity was so overwhelming that in less than ten minutes all eight Level 39 salamanders were obliterated on the chasm floor by the raw power of Kael's 870 HP, Seraphina's Level 37 summons, and Aurelia's giant barriers.

Kael wiped soot from his helmet visor with his gauntlet, blinking his eyes until vision returned to normal, letting out a booming laugh:

“That was awful… but it worked perfectly!”

***

Two hours later, the two teams reunited at the entrance of the canyon's final chamber.

Kael carried his shield covered in ash marks and a wide grin on his face. Aurelia-Elysia adjusted her robe hood with flushed cheeks, and Seraphina put away her grimoire still laughing over the light mix-up.

Diana and Rhea ascended from the west rift carrying five reinforced bags packed with high-density Pure Dragon Glass.

The Commander's posture was completely restored. Two hours of light manual work and quiet rest beside Rhea had allowed her mana channels to settle thoroughly, dissipating the burning at her temples and leaving her Intelligence 151 clean and sharp for the decisive battle.

The loot harvest from both work fronts totaled 16 Pure Silver Coins with the [Commander's Loot] bonus.

The accumulated balance in the faction vault adjusted to the exact mark of 350 Silver Coins (35 Gold Coins) untouched.

Diana looked toward the grand natural arch of incandescent obsidian opening ahead of them, from where the Volcanic Glass Gorges' Final Boss's heat emanated like an open furnace.

The headache was gone. The rare ores were secured. And the Arcane Greed Faction was united and ready for the Level 40 battle.