Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 18 Hell Volcano
Wearing the "Phoenix Feather Cloak", I can finally step into the "Hell Volcano", which ranks third among the four forbidden areas of the "Dead Soul Space". However, except for Taotao and me, there are no other subordinates to escort me. Even the most powerful Red Star is unable to resist the negative impact of the harsh environment on physical strength, and its ability will be greatly limited. Moreover, the "Hell Volcano" is inhabited by very powerful monsters, and the weakest is equivalent to the Horror Giant Bear Knight. I don't know how many kinds of horrors surpass the Red Star. It is simply unrealistic to rely on force to break in. We have to fight not only powerful enemies, but also extremely harsh natural environments. It is not clear what effect the newly made "Phoenix Feather Cloak" equipped with enters the "Hell Volcano" for the first time. Moreover, the "Fire Feather Barrier" produced by activating the "Phoenix Feather Cloak" can only protect the surrounding area within a range of four or five meters. It is impossible to accommodate too many subordinates, and there is no ability to unilaterally limit the battle to such a small range. Therefore, even if I bring my subordinates with me, it will not be of much help. I am afraid that it will only be a sacrifice in vain when I encounter danger.
With the help of the "Phoenix Feather Cloak", my physical strength no longer lost for no reason, and I arrived at the foot of the "Hell Volcano" smoothly. The mountain was not only towering into the clouds, at least three or four thousand meters, but more troublesomely, there was no road on the top of the volcano. The ground under my feet was completely formed by the cooling of magma. The higher I went, the more rugged and difficult it was. Many times, I even had to use my hands and feet to move forward. There were often huge rocks in front of me, just blocking the way, so I had to spend time and energy to climb around. Taotao had plenty of physical strength, plus the innate advantage of being a skeleton horse mount, he moved around as if walking on flat ground, and he didn't seem to take the rugged mountain as a big deal. I was the only one who was in trouble. Unfortunately, I was not a member of the mountaineering team, and I had not received professional training in this area. From the perspective of this "mountain climbing" itself, it was purely a physical job, which made me miserable. My physical strength was consumed very quickly. Every time I climbed a certain distance, I had to stop and rest for a while to recover my physical strength.
I once thought about relying on Taotao's help and riding it up. As a hell skeleton horse, the volcanic environment had no adverse effects on it at all. Instead, it seemed even more excited and had plenty of physical strength to support me riding it as usual. At first it was relatively smooth, which made me sigh even more at the benefits of having a mount for transportation. However, I did not feel proud for long, as the terrain of the "Hell Volcano" became more and more rugged, this method began to fail. Taotao could jump up and down freely by himself, but it could not do that with me on it. It was not that it was unable to support me, but that I, a fake knight, could not sit steadily - after all, I was not a professional knight. I only relied on the "rideable" attribute of the mount, so my riding ability was naturally not very good. I had no problem dealing with ordinary terrain, but climbing such a steep mountain required very high riding skills, and finally the gap between me and professional knights was exposed. They might be able to ride their mounts as if they were walking on flat ground, but I could only "scrape forward" slowly like a snail on Taotao. If I went a little faster, I might fall off the horse at any time. After trying several times in succession, I had no choice but to give up the idea of using it to move forward. At that speed, it was not as fast as me walking, and the little energy I saved was not enough to make up for the several times I fell off the horse.
However, the road problem was only a nuisance. The extremely hot hell magma and the volcanic lava that splashed from time to time were the real threats to me. While climbing, the ground under my feet or not far away suddenly shook, and then a crack or a hole quickly cracked. The first thing that came out was a thick black smoke filled with a strong smell of sulfur. Then I could vaguely see the boiling and rolling black and red magma in the crack or hole, and bubbles of different sizes kept surging. I could also vaguely hear the "puff, puff" sound of magma bubbles bursting. If you fall into it without paying attention, you may be hurt. Although the "Phoenix Feather Cloak" has a very strong fire immunity effect, it is only a holy weapon after all. It cannot achieve complete immunity to fire damage like a divine weapon. There is a limit value. Once this limit is exceeded, you will still be hurt by fire. It's not a big deal if you're in a high-temperature environment or are just affected by a small amount of magma, but if you fall directly into the magma and take a "magma bath", the heat may be too high and exceed the standard. Not only will it cause harm to me, but even the "Phoenix Feather Cloak" itself will be damaged, affecting its effectiveness and requiring extra money to repair.
These "magma traps" that suddenly appeared were accompanied by a short and violent ground vibration before they appeared, so there were traces to be found. After becoming familiar with the way they appeared, as long as I was doubly careful and saw the situation clearly in time to make the correct judgment and reaction, I could barely cope with them, relying on my not-too-clumsy skills. However, the volcanic lava that erupted and burst from some larger craters really gave me a headache. There were many craters of different sizes on the "Hell Volcano", and inside were boiling and rolling black and red magma, but it could erupt at any time, flying into the sky, and randomly falling to other places according to the strength and height of the spray, forming a "magma fire rain". These boiling liquid magmas only caused damage by high heat. With the "Phoenix Feather Cloak" protecting my body, I was not very afraid. Even if I couldn't completely avoid it because the area covered when it fell was too large, the damage I suffered would not be too serious. But after these liquid magmas are exposed to the air after being erupted, they may condense into solid volcanic lava at any time during the flight. Although the heat is slightly lower, they have a huge impact force when falling from the air, which can definitely cause more serious damage once they hit. The smaller ones are only the size of a fist, and the largest ones are like a large house of dozens of square meters. They are mixed in the liquid magma and fly around. There is no sign before they appear, and there is no trace to follow, making it difficult to guard against. It seems that what is flying in the air is just a large piece of black and red magma that has erupted. When a "woo" sound or a low or sharp abnormal sound comes to my ears, the volcanic lava must be not far from the body, and the speed of the flight is extremely fast. I don't have time to react if I want to hide. In most cases, I can only leave it to fate and gamble on my luck. The smaller volcanic lava can be resisted with the "three shields to protect the body" and high mental strength, so it won't kill me all at once, but if I am hit by a huge volcanic lava of more than ten or even dozens of square meters, it will definitely be a sure death.
It took me four or five hours to climb a few hundred meters up the mountain. I was in danger several times and was "bombarded" by volcanic lava at close range. The most dangerous time was when a piece of volcanic lava of 20 to 30 square meters almost brushed my scalp and hit the ground next to my body. The huge vibration made me unstable and I fell heavily to the ground immediately. I felt dizzy and lay on the ground for a long time before I regained consciousness. Fortunately, I was climbing a relatively steep slope at that time. I almost stuck to the ground with my hands and feet , so I was lucky not to be swept by the flying volcanic lava. If I was standing upright, I would definitely be hit. In the face of such a huge impact, it would be impossible to escape. I was so scared that I kept climbing the mountain with my back bent, whether it was necessary or not, to reduce the range of attack. I felt that I was always on the verge of life and death. The danger of the "Hell Volcano" was far beyond my imagination. If it weren't for the "Phoenix Feather Cloak" that could completely prevent the extra loss of physical strength, and the fire immunity effect was beyond my original expectation, it would definitely be difficult to persist in such a harsh natural environment.
I have seen some undead monsters, which look quite ferocious. Skeletons of various shapes, heights, and sizes are all covered with different shades of hellfire. The darker the flames are, the stronger the monsters are. Perhaps because I haven't gone too deep, I haven't encountered many hell skeletons, and they are all slow-moving and don't like to cause trouble. As long as I don't get too close to them, they usually won't actively chase me and cause trouble, and they won't pose much of a threat. Otherwise, when I first started climbing the "Hell Volcano" and was not familiar with the situation, these hell skeletons would also come to join in the fun, and I would have to distract myself to deal with them, and my life would probably be even more difficult.
I was fighting against danger all the time. Before I knew it, it was time to revive. I hurriedly told Taotao to stay nearby and not run around, to pay attention to his own safety, and to wait for me to come back. Fortunately, although he couldn't help me, he didn't need me to worry about him. He could take care of himself. The boiling liquid magma would not cause any harm to him. Even if he jumped into the magma and soaked it, there would be no adverse effects. The huge impact of the volcanic lava could pose a threat to him. However, in an environment like a volcano, Taotao's senses seemed to be much sharper than mine. He could detect the upcoming danger in advance and dodge in time. I was in danger frequently, but he was always safe and sound. He moved around but was not injured by the volcanic lava that fell from time to time. It seems that unless the volcanic lava is extremely huge and covers a wide area that Taotao has no time to avoid, it is estimated that it is difficult to hurt him. Unfortunately, it doesn't know the way to the "Hell Lava Pool" on the top of the mountain, and it is impossible to establish long-distance spiritual communication above the "Hell Volcano". Otherwise, Taotao could have come here alone, and I wouldn't have to accompany it in the constant danger of fear.
After resurrection, I hurried to enter the "Dead Soul Space" again. As soon as I appeared, before I could see the surrounding situation clearly, I heard a sharp whistle of "Woo...Woo..." in my ears. According to my accumulated experience, there must be volcanic lava flying towards me at high speed. The sound of tearing the air is quite sharp. The volume of the lava should not be too large, but it sounds messy, and it doesn't seem to be emitted by one or two pieces of volcanic lava. Fortunately, I am no longer a new soldier on the battlefield. Especially in such a dangerous environment, I dare not be careless for a moment. I have been prepared. When I entered the "Dead Soul Space", I quickly used the "Three Shields to Protect the Body". I found that there might be danger coming, and I immediately activated the ability of the "Fire Feather Barrier" attached to the "Phoenix Feather Cloak". One more layer of defense means more protection. There was no time to observe the direction , and it was impossible to determine the specific location of the fall, so I didn't dare to dodge randomly. If I was unlucky, I might fall into the trap. I rushed forward and was hit by the lava. This was an experience I paid the price of blood at the beginning. I could only squat and curl up as soon as possible. The lava was falling from the sky. After a strong impact with the ground, some would remain intact, while others would burst. It was generally determined by the time it took for the magma to condense into lava, and it was impossible to judge. If I lay on the ground like dodging artillery shells in a war, I might be able to avoid some of the flying lava fragments and avoid some injuries, but the invisibly stretched body increased the chance of being hit directly, which could be fatal. Instead, it was safer to "squat".
The sound of breaking air became louder and louder. As I squatted down in reaction, countless small black dots flashed before my eyes. "Crackle", a series of ground-breaking sounds came, which felt like hail. The ground was immediately covered with a layer of fist-sized volcanic lava. I was also hit by two pieces. Fortunately, I was in full protection and did not suffer too serious injuries. This should be the "volcanic lava rain" rarely seen before. The liquid magma erupted from the crater basically condensed into lava of different sizes in the air, and the area covered was generally not less than dozens of square meters. Although the volume of lava is generally not too large, it is a great number. I would not be able to withstand two more pieces. This indiscriminate "bombing" can be said to be the most threatening attack method for me at this stage. Once encountered, it is impossible to dodge effectively and can only leave it to fate. I was lucky enough to be on the edge of the "bombing" and was only hit by two pieces. About two meters to the right, the lava hitting the ground began to become denser. If I was caught in it, I would have suffered serious injuries even if I didn't die.
I was lucky to escape the baptism of this "volcanic lava rain". As soon as I appeared, I was given such a "grand welcome ceremony". It was really a great honor for me. After calming down a little, I hurriedly looked around to find Taotao. There were thick black smoke all around, blocking my vision. I couldn't see far with my naked eyes. I couldn't see its figure in my field of vision. I didn't know where it ran to. This damn "hell volcano" greatly weakened my mental induction ability. I couldn't contact it for a while, and I didn't know what was going on with it.
