Chapter 130 Tail Ascencion
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We arrived at the sticky cave a day later after retracing our steps through the glowing maze section with the help of Edelweiss' light magic. She was interested in the black goo and asked Niece to collect a barrel for her research. Niece obliged and brought back fifteen barrels for storage.
"Thank you for fulfilling my request, Princess Niece," Edelweiss said with a smile.
"Don't mention it. You've already spent more than a week helping us with our mission, so it's the least we could do. I hope this goo is useful to you, although I can't imagine how," Niece replied.
"It can catch fire, probably useful for smithing, no?" Mattheus chimed in, only to be shut down by Sig.
"We tried, but it was useless. The goo left a sticky residue that damaged our forge. We prefer to use traditional wood or magic stone for our smithing," Sig answered.
"Well, if we get closer, I might interest you with several of our plants that—" Alistar was interrupted by Edelweiss, who sensed magic below.
"Watch out, I sense magic below," she warned, tensing up and clenching her staff.
"Hey, that thing..." Alistar widened his eyes.
"Oi! You don't mean..." Mattheus trailed off.
The hydra emerged from the pool of black goo in the distance, but instead of the usual mana beam, it breathed fire.
"Edelweiss, water shield!"
"On it!"
"Shiro, cast your strongest fireball on it!" Lily ordered.
"But that means..."
"Fire is already spreading all around us. If we let that beast get away, it will interrupt us again above!"
"On it," I said, raising my mana and firing several fireballs at the hydra, which was busy lighting the entire cave on fire.
BOOM
The blast blew its head off, and the dungeon boss was finished unceremoniously. Its neck swayed down as the rest of its body floated lifelessly and was consumed by the fire. Soon, it turned into a mass of particles, and a huge feystone was left in its wake leaving us with three levels worth of exp. Mattheus slowly walked toward it, but the rest of the group held him back, and we left the burning area with Edelweiss' water shield raining down on us.
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Edelweiss's shield warded off the heat and fire from our group, and we sprinted toward the exits and stairs. However, her shield could not block the smoke, and soon enough, the smoke filled the entire room, blocking our view from top to bottom.
The smoke was intense, blocking even the raging fire that was now spreading throughout the sticky cave. All we could see now was a mass of black clouds with a reddish tinge at the base. We had to saunter or risk getting our feet roasted. Fortunately, Rhander saved the day. After a bit of thinking, he used wind magic to create a breeze outwards and clear our path. The law of conservation of mass didn't seem to apply here since magic could generate water out of thin air for drinking. There was no reason for mages to be unable to create a wind breeze for breathing.
"Damn it! I hate this fucking dungeon! That feystone was almost the size of my staff!" Mattheus shouted as we took a break in the cave above. We were almost at the top, but he was cursing at the malicious dungeon. The elves were practically disgusted at his greed, but the dwarves gave him a wry smile for it.
According to our clocks, night had approached us. However, we chose to continue backtracking our travels toward the gate, unwilling to waste even a few more seconds in this dungeon. The dark cave was followed by lava and another dark cave. The occasional monsters were obliterated, with Mattheus taking the lead as he vented all his frustration on the poor creatures.
"Feystones, Feystones, ores worth thousands of gold for each gram, ores, ores…" Mattheus chanted, lost in his greed, as we finally arrived at the gate.
"So, how do we call the guards?" Alistar asked.
"Just put a feystone in this hole," Sig pointed to the crevice beside the door. Rhander put his feystone in it, and the gate lit up.
“Hmm… they aren’t coming…” Lily muttered after waiting at the gate for more than an hour.
"Hey! What the hell! It's been an hour!" Mattheus shouted. His anger had been uncontrollable lately, and I could see that other members were also getting agitated.
"Relax, maybe we should camp here. We were late by more than a week for our planned ascension from Hell. Most likely, they thought we died, but the glowing gate should be apparent to the moving guard, who should be there each morning for a routine check," Sig said.
"Fuck it!" Mattheus kicked the gate with his boots. The other dwarves gave exasperated sighs as they sat down, heaving their breaths in exhaustion. Edelweiss whined at the inconvenience of this system. However, no matter how much they complained, the gate would not open, so Sig suggested that we camp there as usual.
Several hours later, the sound of gongs could be heard even through the thick gate door. It woke us up from our sleep, and not only Mattheus, but Edelweiss and Alistar were visibly annoyed by the racket. Then, a small window was opened in the gate, revealing a dwarf guard. Sig quickly came forward and asked him to open the gate, and everyone cheered.
"They could have provided us with a nice bed or food instead of this noise," Mattheus once again expressed his displeasure, but the dwarves cheered with each other as they hugged, celebrating their ascension from Hell.
"You will get your food, lad! We shall rest here, and then we will go to our capital to have a feast!"
"Sorry to interrupt your party, King Sig, but I must send an emergency letter to my home," Alistar said.
"That has been taken care of! We shall send our best messenger to your elven city!" Sig exclaimed.