Chapter 119

Boiling Breaths (II)

It was a strange feeling, group quickly realized, 'swimming' in lava; it was like swimming in mud, except the mud was on fire, and without several layers of Mana coating, they would be too. Moving through the immensely dense substance was beyond agonizing, doubly so since they couldn't even chat. They formed a train of sorts, with everyone latching onto Cain who led them through the colorful and depressingly dull depths of lava.

About a minute in, however, the strangest of phenomena transpired before their eyes, transfixing them instantly. The pressure they felt seemed to vanish into thin air abruptly, the lead-heavy limbs suddenly freeing up, and the temperature dipping slightly. Looking around, a strange sight welcomed them; they were still ‘floating’ inside the lava, so to say, except it wasn't lava -- it was an actual fire.

It weaved about like thin waves, occasionally roaring out like a beast. Furthermore, the distance at which they could see things improved from a few feet to a good few hundred yards. The bottom, or at least what they could see it, was eerily reminiscent of the seabed, with coral-like creatures bubbling over what appeared to be sand. All manner of grasses grew and swayed wildly in the burning 'currents', and save for the distinct lack of chill and blue hue, everything was almost akin to an ordinary lake.

They still couldn’t talk, however, exchanging their shock with the widened eyes and wild gestures. Only Larua and Cain remained calm, the latter looking down and around with a frown. Where is everyone? Even if the very entrance wasn’t exactly the most popular place to hang out, it was never this abandoned. Usually, there’d be at least a dozen or so creatures, usually youngsters doing this and that away from home.

Larua and he similarly exchanged glances, though theirs were mostly of confusion and questions. Just as he was about to shrug it off and move on, a Quest notification appeared in front of him, causing him to groan. Of course...

//Quest: Tears of a Kingdom (S+)

Type: Emergency

Requirements: None

Context: Queen of Albadesh, Ryza, had been found dead in her chambers two days ago by her husband, King Albadesh the 6th. The Physician had determined her cause of death to be poisoning, enraging the King who immediately summoned his armies and is preparing to launch a full-blown invasion onto the City of Stars, Edur. Due to his actions, the entire Infernal Caprice had been upturned, with alliances birthing and dying on the daily.

Content: Either help King Albadesh with the invasion and ensure it is a success or determine the actual murderer of Queen Ryza.

Rewards: Dependent on the choice and completion rate//

Cain sighed as he looked to the side, realizing everyone else had also gotten the notification. Well, we can’t discuss it here, looking around, he spotted a small cavern to the side. Though it wasn’t free of the fire, he could isolate the small space long enough for them to discuss what they should do.

As will be the case in the future, Cain didn't have the answer ready since he wasn't even aware there was an 'event' like this. He quickly signaled the others and had them follow him downwards as they all nudged into a small and somewhat cramped cavern. It was well lit at first, but as soon as Cain drove out flames with his Mana, it turned pitch-black, forcing him to light up a sphere of light above him.

“Sheesh, that was something,” Jamal immediately commented. “So, we are definitely going to war, right?”

“What? Why would we go to war?” Daniel asked. “Isn’t it better we figure out who killed her?”

“Yeah, but if we go to war,” Senna argued. “We’ll be able to earn more experience and loot.”

“We... we also risk a lot,” Diya voiced out. “I mean, we don’t know this place. Or who is fighting.”

“She’s right,” Lukas added, too. “Maybe if we first see what we’re dealing with and then decide?” Larua and Emma turned to Cain instead of saying anything, prompting him to smile.

“No.” he shook his head.

“’No’ what?” Emma asked.

“I ain’t making the decision.”

“... why not?”

“’cause it’s more fun this way.”

“C’!”

“What? My voice is just one,” Cain said. “We’re all in this together. This is good, actually -- I’ve been hoping you guys would start chatting with each other instead of immediately just looking at me like ‘the heck we be doin’, old man?’.”

“Alright then,” Emma smiled. “Voice your opinion.”

“... do you think I’m five?” Cain asked.

“Sometimes, yeah.”

“Ouch.”

“Blah, who cares about him?” Senna exclaimed. “Why are you so afraid?”

“It’s not... fear,” Lukas said. “I just think we should be sure.”

“Y-yeah,” Diya nodded.

“I’m an Assassin,” Daniel shrugged. “It’d look much better of me if I was sneaking around and sniffing out secrets instead of fighting in the literal lake of fire.”

“We’re never gonna get anywhere like this,” Emma said, sighing. “I think we go with Lukas’ idea -- go to Alba-whatever city and scout out the situation. Daniel can sneak into the palace or whatever and see if he can dig something out while the rest of us look for information about the cities that would go to war.”

“... a’right,” Senna nodded faintly. “That makes sense.”

“You on board?” Jamal asked Cain.

“On board? I’ve already left the port, my man!”

“...”

“Hey, that’s literally my first bad pun today,” Cain said. “You gotta give me at least that.”

“How the hell’s that a pun?” Senna said. “It’s not ‘on board’ but ‘aboard’.”

“Well, yeah, but they’re kinda similar. Which is why it’s a bad pun.”

“Ugh...”

"Lame jokes and even lamer attempts to cover up the fact that she liked the lame joke aside," Emma said, ignoring Senna's burning gaze. "How long will it take us to get to the city? Rather, where the hell is it anyway? And if you make any pun linked to 'hell' or 'city is in the fire', I will tape your mouth shut.” she immediately added and looked at Cain, who merely grinned back.

“... she’s reading you like a book, huh?” Larua crackled. “A read man is a dead man.”

“Is that why you’re single?” Cain fired back.

“... yup, walked right into that one.”

The group rested for a few more minutes and chatted a bit more about the contents of the quest before heaving up and departing the cavern.

Most of the ‘seabed’ of the lake was hilly rather than flat, but it was still much easier and less exhausting to ‘walk’ on top of it than it was to swim through the fire. Nobody even bothered coming up with how it was possible, even Diya and Emma, since, really, the only possible answer was ‘magic’. How else would the flames behaving like liquid despite maintaining their ‘flamey’ appearance be explained?

A great deal of sights like these would eventually entirely break mankind's concept of physics and the laws of the universe. Most of the things thought impossible were, in fact, very much possible; for instance, traveling faster than light was actually possible, though not very common. Though Cain had no clue what the rules and laws behind it were, as he'd never done it himself, he'd witnessed with his own eyes someone traveling that fast. Well, 'witness' would a bit of a stretch as he merely saw a blur and a distortion for the briefest of moments, if that.

Furthermore, the first step to this complete collapse of understanding of the reality would start here, on the second floor -- on top of the Mirrored Lakes. Though the city itself was a marvel, as were most of the surrounding areas, what would ultimately break everyone’s minds were the central lakes themselves. Cain glanced stealthily at the group and wondered who would be the first to realize that something was simply... off. Gosh, I really wish I could place a bet or something... aah, the woes of the time traveler...

Roughly half an hour later, the group came to a halt in front of a twin set of statues framing a staggering dip further down into a beyond massive crater, home of Albadesh city. The two statues were exact copies, depicting topless women bowing at each other, their right arms cradled under their breasts and their left wrung out at their back. They each had a tiara on top of their heads, though one was made of silver and the other of gold, the sole distinction between the two.

The laws of gravity didn’t seem to apply to the women’s breasts, though most guys in the group seemed to care little for it, enjoying the sight for a moment before they realized they were being looked at strangely.

Cain chuckled and walked up in-between the statues, glancing down; the first marvel of the Fiery Lakes, Albadesh city, stood at approximately two-hundred-and-fifty square miles, coated in a faint sheen of red and surrounded by a ‘bubble’ of sorts that kept out the fire. It was hard to pinpoint the universal architecture, though it did sport a fair share of wrung spires that extended like spearheads at the sky as well as temple-like buildings that stood at elevations and near the major road crossings.

The way to the city was down a bridge -- one slanted at an insanely sharp angle. Despite that, there would always be streams of people and creatures going in and out of the city... except for now. There was nobody, Cain realized, save for the cluster of guards at the very bottom staring at them warily, weapons drawn. Oh boy, Cain sighed. This is gonna be fun...