Scorching lava dripped from Guledon onto the volcano's interior, splashing magma several meters high.

Guledon's appearance shrouded the volcano's sky with burning black clouds, with ash and sparks floating in the air.

Long-term exposure to high temperatures had turned its hard armor a dazzling red.

Its thousands of fangs seemed ready to devour everything on the volcano.

The magical beast roared to the sky, causing Mount Vesuvius to tremble.

"Vega! Establish a link with me!"

"What? Establish a link? Are you joking? Do you really intend to fight it?"

"I don't want to die!"

Vega flew in the air, screaming at Viktor with all its might.

Inwardly collapsing, if it had known Viktor was this crazy, it would never have made a contract with him.

One day, following Viktor might lead to its sudden death. Still thinking about rising again?

Dream on!

"We've come this far. I guess there's no other way but to establish a connection with you."

Vega reluctantly extended a wing to touch Viktor's forehead.

Instantly, a clearer connection appeared in Viktor's mind.

[Establishing link with Evil God 'Habika', synchronizing.....]

[Synchronization successful]

Viktor saw a crow icon appear under his status bar, immediately realizing the link had been successfully established.

"Why don't you use this connection to enhance your teleportation magic and get out of here? Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Vega flew back and forth by his ear, chattering incessantly.

Viktor ignored Vega's pleas to escape, instead feeling excited despite the scorching heat at the volcano's mouth.

"Run?"

Viktor's face showed an arrogant smile. To Vega, he had definitely gone mad.

But Viktor wasn't crazy. He had long wanted to challenge this 'Calamity'.

Ever since he heard the name Mount Vesuvius, he knew he had to come.

Just as he had imagined, the Furnace Beast Guledon was sealed at the bottom of the volcano's crater.

This was a separate dimension. No matter what scale of battle they engaged in here, it would hardly affect the outside world.

It was a perfect natural arena.

After Guledon was first defeated, it was resealed in this space, becoming something like a dungeon for players to challenge.

So its current sealed state wasn't much different from its dungeon version in terms of strength.

Looking at the beast that blotted out the sky, Viktor felt extremely confident.

He had defeated this creature countless times before.

And now, he was using Viktor's even more powerful body, with superior skills.

Moreover, he had Vega as a cheat code.

He wasn't lying when he said Vega was an indispensable and powerful aid for Viktor.

Infinite mana - this cheat was advantageous for any class, but none more so than a mage.

Vega's single eye began to flicker with a blue glow. Viktor felt his body filled with magical energy vast as an ocean, his status bar's mana value skyrocketing.

Ten thousand... twenty thousand.... completely breaking the limit.

Viktor knew this was the maximum mana value the game could handle.

[Viktor] lv39

hp: 1000

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mp: 999999\999999

With this much mana, it should work.

Guledon was still moving its body. The long sleep had covered it with a layer of giant rock armor, but this also restricted its movement.

It would take a long time for it to break free from its constraints.

This was the perfect moment Viktor had been preparing for.

He raised both hands, constructing magic arrays in the air.

Layer upon layer of intricate magic arrays filled the surroundings.

Vega, watching from above his head, saw endless formations begin to revolve and arrange themselves, amazed at Viktor's arcane prowess.

Viktor didn't stop after setting all this up. Instead, he threw out several transparent crystals, embedding them in six directions around the volcano's mouth.

"Viktor! Are you planning to use this entire volcano as your formation site?"

Viktor didn't speak, but when Vega saw the smile on his face, it knew it had guessed correctly.

The volcano was covered with abstruse runes, countless array wheels revolving in the sky.

The six crystals gradually linked up, runes beginning to appear on them, countless patterns starting to connect, bend, and leap.

A huge magic array covered the volcano's mouth like a lid.

With a flick of his fingers, various colored and differently shaped spells formed wheel-like formations surrounding Guledon.

Viktor glanced at the status bar below Guledon.

Frozen, Poisoned, Vulnerable, Agitated.....

Countless negative status effects began to attach to the magical beast.

He lightly stomped his foot, and dozens of faint lights burst from the formation, injecting into Viktor's body.

Attack increase, Water attribute attack enhancement level 7, Fire resistance.....

Viktor felt various powers coursing through his entire body.

"So this is the effect of the buffs....."

He felt his muscles grow stronger, his reactions more nimble.

He could even clearly see the lava dripping from its body.

Having done all this, Viktor looked up.

At this moment, Guledon, already towering to the clouds, now had a health bar appear above its head.

But its length would make ordinary people despair, easily over a hundred meters long.

Viktor, with his enhanced perception from the buffs, could see the end of the health bar.

lv50!

In the gaming world, there's a saying often used to praise top gamers:

As long as you dare to show your health bar, even if you're a god, I can kill you.

A red light flashed in Guledon's eyes, illuminating the horizon.

It had activated.

Everything around became even more perilous. The heat rose dramatically, flames could even intermittently self-ignite in the air, and heat waves swept across everything on the volcano.

"This is the natural disaster caused by Guledon! Scorching Earth!"

The crow warned from Viktor's shoulder.

Viktor naturally knew what was happening, but he still nodded symbolically to Vega.

Ten identical blue magic arrays appeared on his ten fingertips, moving slightly.

An azure castle slowly flickered into existence in mid-air, waves of energy bursting forth from its center, sweeping across heaven and earth!

"[Third-tier Magic: Tidal Sanctuary!]"

......

Gwen led the knight group up the mountain path, casually cutting down a monster.

She looked at the fallen monster's corpse. It looked like a crab, carrying a scorching rock shell on its back.

Even after death, its two pincers kept snipping at the air.

Soon, the shell suddenly cracked open, and a red crystal rolled out.

Gwen, quick-eyed and quick-handed, picked up the glowing red crystal and examined it carefully.

She immediately recalled that Viktor had mentioned needing these crystals to make magical items, which piqued her interest.

"Everyone, when you encounter these monsters, remember to collect these crystals!"

She displayed the red crystal for the knights to remember its appearance.

"Yes!"

The knights responded in unison.

After all, Viktor had helped her quite a bit last night, and she didn't want to owe him any favors, so she thought of helping Viktor collect some items.

A rumbling sound from the mountain top reached every knight's ears.

Gwen suddenly raised her head, looking towards the volcano's mouth. A plume of black smoke slowly rose from the summit.

Suddenly, a terrifying roar came from the mountaintop, echoing across the land.

She looked seriously at the summit and asked:

"Did you... hear that? That huge roar?"

Gwen couldn't be certain; it just sounded like a roar.

The knights looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Knight Commander, you must have misheard. It's probably just the noise of the volcano spewing ash."

Gwen shook her head at his words, disagreeing. She thought to herself:

"Could it be that only I could hear it?"

"What on earth was that?"

As Gwen pondered, a sudden flash of insight struck her.

Viktor had said he was going to the volcano's mouth.

Could he have discovered something there?

"All knights! Quickly head to the volcano's mouth! Find Viktor!"

Upon receiving the order, the knights quickly organized their ranks and advanced uniformly towards the volcano's mouth.

But even after the knights had circled the volcano's mouth, they found nothing.

The knights told Gwen that the surroundings were getting increasingly hot, with temperatures rising to abnormal levels.

"Split up and search!"

Seeing this, Gwen immediately ordered the knights to divide into five teams and begin searching for Viktor.

After a long time, the knights gradually returned, one by one exhausted and drenched in sweat.

"Knight Commander! All five teams couldn't find a trace of him! The horses can't stand the temperature anymore and are resting on the mountainside."

Gwen, her forehead covered in sweat, was also feeling dizzy. How had this dormant volcano suddenly become so scorching hot?

"Could this dead volcano really be about to erupt?"

She shook her head, not having the energy to think further.

Neither the horses nor the knights could withstand the rising temperature any longer and had to retreat down the mountain to rest.

Even though her own armor was specially crafted with a level one heat resistance effect, it was still unbearably hot.

Gwen waved her hand, just about to lead the knights away, when she saw a pillar of fire suddenly shoot out from the volcano's mouth towards her.

"Everyone, get down!"

The knights, not knowing why, quickly laid on the ground upon receiving the order. Even the horses obediently knelt on the mountainside.

Gwen turned her head. The fire pillar gradually dispersed into sparks, falling to the ground. The shocking temperature made everyone present feel chest tightness, their breathing labored as if their airways were burning.

The volcano's mouth? How could it spew out such a thing?

The more Gwen thought about it, the more confused she became, but there was no time for further contemplation.

"The volcano is likely to erupt. Quickly go and evacuate the people at the foot of the mountain!"

She waved her hand, issuing the order. The knights hurriedly descended the mountain, rushing towards the town.

Gwen looked at the increasingly agitated volcano, her heart filled with worry:

"Viktor... where on earth have you gone!?"