Chapter 215: The Nature of Magma

Upon reaching the entrance to the lower level, the vanguard came upon an unexpected sight: an swarm of mini lava golems was frantically crowding against the threshold, attempting to push into the passage. However, an invisible barrier or territorial restriction prevented them from taking a single step outside the central chamber.

When Kellar and his men had fled in haste the first time, they had assumed the creatures simply chose not to pursue them. Now the reality stood clear: it was not that they didn’t want to, but that they physically could not leave that area.

"I see..." muttered Kellar, observing the bottleneck the creatures created. "This changes things. We can do most of the work from right here and avoid the worst of their damage."

Kellar turned toward the silver wolf.

"Fenrir, step up to them and attack. I want to see what you can do."

Fenrir advanced a couple of steps, but halted a few feet from the glowing tide. The wolf tilted his head and answered out loud:

"Master... these are different. You never mentioned lava was flowing inside their bodies. I have never seen anything like this... I’m sorry."

"Don’t apologize, it’s fine," replied Kellar, keeping his rifle at the ready.

"I will try anyway," added Fenrir.

The wolf lunged forward in a silver blur. Instead of risking his jaws by trying to bite the scalding basalt, he delivered a swipe with his empowered claws. The blow struck the nearest golem in the chest, leaving three deep gouges carved through its armor. However, the scars in the stone immediately began filling with the lava flowing from within, cooling until the wound was sealed.

Fenrir let out a howl of pain as the heat seared his paw pads, limping backward.

"I underestimated them, Great Shaman..." panted Fenrir, keeping his burned paw lifted. "Their defense is high and their bodies regenerate... I cannot deal much damage to them, I’m sorry."

"Don’t worry about it," said Kellar. "Fall back to the tunnel so the healers can tend to you outside."

Ignis watched the wolf retreat with a look of disdain and let out a rumble that vibrated through the mine shaft:

"I will do it, Great Shaman. These are nothing."

Approaching the cave mouth, Ignis reared up and delivered a claw strike. His runic-engraved arm flared with light before smashing into the front line, sending a dozen golems flying backward. Although the physical impact didn’t shatter the creatures, the bear suffered no burns thanks to the runic protection woven into his hide.

"I can handle them, Great Shaman," said Ignis, resetting his stance. "They aren’t that strong."

"Good... I like to hear that," nodded Kellar with a faint smirk.

"Let me try one last thing," added Ignis.

The giant bear stood tall on his hind legs and opened his jaws wide. A surge of thermal energy gathered in his throat before he unleashed a jet of fire that engulfed the tide of living rock.

However, the outcome was disastrous. Instead of crumbling or burning away, the golems’ bodies began glowing incandescent white, absorbing the flames as their basalt frames expanded and grew in size.

"Stop! Cease fire, Ignis!" yelled Kellar, pulling at his fur. "They are absorbing your fire!"

The golems, now larger and with fissures glowing with incandescent light, began pushing forward with heavy steps.

"Don’t use your fire again, Ignis," warned Kellar, frowning as he watched them. "It seems anything related to heat doesn’t just fail to harm them—it strengthens them."

Bighorn, who had witnessed the wolf’s failure and the bear’s mistake, stepped forward with his eyes locked on the bottleneck at the entrance.

"May I try, Great Shaman?" asked the bull in his deep voice.

"Are you sure?" Kellar glanced at him, eyeing his bulky frame. "They are made of rock and scalding lava. Fenrir ended up with burned paws on his first strike."

"I want to be useful," answered the bull.

In the deepest recesses of his mind, Bighorn harbored a motive: he needed to earn standing and merit in the Shaman’s eyes to secure his trust.

Kellar studied him for a second and nodded.

"Go ahead."

Ignis backed up into a wider section of the passage with an annoyed huff, leaving the path open for the bull. Bighorn took a couple of steps back, scraped the stone floor with his front hooves to gather momentum, and launched himself into a charge straight toward the golems crowding the entrance.

The impact was brutal. His armored forehead slammed into the lead golem, pulverizing its basalt frame and shattering it into pieces on the spot. Unlike what happened with the windstone cartridges, the destruction didn’t trigger a chain reaction; it simply obliterated the direct target while incandescent fragments sprayed to the sides.

Slowing his charge and stepping back to reset his stance, Bighorn shook his head and said:

"I can handle them, Master."

Kellar stood surprised. He had expected the bull to suffer burns after slamming into a mass of magma, yet there wasn’t even the faint scent of singed fur. The dense coat of this beast resisted extreme heat without taking a single scratch.

Kellar raised his hand to gather everyone’s attention and nodded with resolve.

"Alright, then it’s settled: the three of us are going in," declared Kellar, tightening his grip on his rifle. "Ignis, do not use your fire under any circumstances. Bighorn, do not overexert yourself; if you feel injured or cornered, fall back immediately. Everyone else, hold and secure the perimeter. If whatever is holding these creatures back on this level fails, prepare to fight. We cannot allow them to reach the surface. Our job is to stop them right here, no matter what it takes."

"Yes!" shouted everyone in unison, staring back at him with resolve.

Kellar stepped to the front of the formation, facing the tide of magma crowding the threshold head-on. He raised his Spiral Rifle, aimed directly at the center of the mass of creatures, and pulled the trigger.

The cartridge infused with windstone powder shot forth, striking the lead golem square in the chest. A massive chain-reaction explosion was unleashed. The detonation shook the mountain from top to bottom, tearing through the cavern with a deafening roar that instantly coated the passage in a dense cloud of dust, debris, and falling rocks.