Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 23 God Helps Me
"Hurry up, run faster!" I was so anxious. Originally, I hoped that Ludi could run slower, or even better, stay on the spot, so as not to waste time avoiding its attacks. But now I wish I could lend it a few legs so that it can quickly increase its speed. It would be best if it could keep a similar pace with us and lead us out of danger as soon as possible.
The "lava storm" is becoming more and more frequent and fierce, and the volume of the lava is also gradually increasing, especially in the core area covered. Almost every piece can be described as "huge", most of which are more than ten square meters. Even at the edge of the storm, basketball-sized lava is basically gone, and the volume has at least doubled. It may not be a big deal to hit the big Ludi, but Taotao and I, who are relatively fragile, can't bear it. Looking around, the sky is full of pieces and groups of red lava flying, and my ears are full of shrieks that break through the air, one after another, and it is impossible to tell which ones are coming for us. Not to mention me, even Taotao is helpless in the face of such a chaotic situation, and everything can only rely on Ludi. However, its slow speed has become the biggest obstacle. It seems that it has tried its best, but it is still not much faster, so Taotao and I have no spare energy, so we can only "stroll" with it in the "lava storm", and we can't help but feel anxious.
Fortunately, Ludi is a strong man who is qualified to practice in the "Hell Magma Pool". Although he is in extreme danger, he has shown a stable psychological quality and a high perception ability. He made an accurate judgment of the external environment, running and shuttling in the gap of the "lava storm", sometimes stopping to wait, sometimes turning around, brushing against the lava falling from the sky countless times, and avoiding one death trap after another. Taotao and I can only pin our hopes on it, following it closely, almost moving close to its body, which is also helpless. Although we have avoided most of the lava, there are still some scattered ones. It may be that the power is too small and Ludi disdains to waste time to avoid it, or because of its slow speed, it cannot completely avoid it and has to be affected by the "lava storm". These are serious threats to the safety of Taotao and me. Many times, we have to use Ludi's relatively large body to shield us. Anyway, it is now too busy to take care of itself. As long as it does not affect its actions, it is estimated that it will not come to trouble us for the time being.
We ran for several more hours. If Taotao and I had exerted our full strength, we should have reached the top of the mountain by now. Unfortunately, we were dragged down by Ludi. After estimating the distance, we only ran halfway at most. It seems that the "Hell Volcano" has officially entered the "violent period". The situation is getting more and more critical. There are lava falling everywhere around us. Sometimes several large pieces fall at the same time, covering almost all the areas. Only the dozen square meters where we stand at the junction are not affected. I fully experienced the horror of the "Hell Volcano". It was all thanks to Ludi's perception ability and the correct position that we were lucky enough to escape the disasters again and again. Without it, Taotao and I would probably have died countless times.
However, the might of heaven and earth cannot be easily dealt with. At least, Ludi's current strength is not enough to fight against it, because my "Touch of Death" affects his perception ability, which delays the time of dodging. As the "lava storm" becomes more and more violent, the space available for dodging becomes smaller and smaller. Ludi's speed seems to be unable to keep up with his consciousness. He is often affected by the falling lava halfway. Fortunately, he avoids the larger ones. His body is also strong enough. Although he is often knocked down by the lava, he can get up quickly and finally keep running. Thanks to his tall stature and obvious target, he took a lot of impact on behalf of Taotao and me. We would rather be pressed under him than confront the flying lava head-on.
Ludi's speed gradually slowed down. After enduring too much lava impact, it finally couldn't hold on any longer. Its originally smooth and shiny bones had become dull and full of scars. Its body was trembling slightly. Its ability to resist blows had obviously decreased a lot, and it was knocked over more and more frequently. If it continued like this, it would be difficult to lead us to the top of the mountain safely. However, in such an environment, Taotao and I couldn't help much. We could only give it some spiritual encouragement and cheer it up in our hearts: Don't fall down, you must hold on. If you want to die, at least wait until you send us to the top of the mountain!
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Another round of "lava storm" erupted violently. After being knocked to the ground by several pieces of lava, Lu Di struggled for several times before getting up, probably because of his serious injuries and exhaustion. This delayed him a little, and as a result, he was unable to get in time to avoid another wave of attacks. Moreover, his luck was particularly bad, and he was hit by a huge piece of lava of twenty or thirty square meters that accidentally deviated from the core area. With his poor injured body, how could he withstand such a heavy blow? He died tragically on the spot, and his body pressed under the lava gradually turned into white light, and turned back into the original soul energy and dissipated.
Taotao and I saw the opportunity early and found the huge lava flying towards us in time. We immediately judged that it was impossible for Ludi to dodge the attack with his speed. We were in sync and subconsciously made the most correct response immediately. We left Ludi and fled forward alone, narrowly avoiding this disaster. After calming down a little, I looked back and saw that the big guy Ludi was no longer in sight. I only saw a familiar white light slowly drifting from under the lava to the surroundings.
Suddenly losing Ludi, the "guide" and "safe haven", my heart sank and I couldn't help but feel desperate. Without its guidance, how could Taotao and I avoid the increasingly fierce "lava storm"? The ending is still the same, just a moment later than it. Next, even if Taotao and I run at full speed, it will take at least two or three hours to reach the top of the mountain. Looking around, the situation is extremely chaotic. Lava is constantly falling, and it is quite dense. I don't know where is safe. I don't think I will have such good luck and can pass safely by rushing around. This is probably harder than winning the first prize in the Mark Six Lottery. Recognizing the current situation, I groaned in pain and immediately lost the courage to continue. I sat down weakly leaning on the huge lava that killed Ludi. Facing the violent "hell volcano", we don't even have the most basic perception ability. How can we fight against the "lava storm"? Doing anything requires certain objective conditions. It is impossible to achieve success just by relying on enthusiasm and persistence. It is better not to make unnecessary struggles, as you are just wasting time.
I can persist longer than some people, but I am not blind. I am just an ordinary person. When I know clearly that the situation is hopeless, I will not be so strong from beginning to end. Alas, we indirectly killed Lu Di, so it is reasonable to be buried with him. However, in this way, the three of us can be regarded as dying together. I don't know how to judge the victory or defeat of this challenge. However, Lu Di died first anyway, so we should not be judged as losers. The loss of 8% of the upper limit of mental power seems to be unavoidable. If Tao Tao can obtain the qualification to enter the "Hell Magma Pool", it can be regarded as a consolation prize, so that I will not lose everything. After paying such a heavy price, it would be too disheartening if there is no gain at all.
I sat on the ground calmly waiting for death, and at the same time gave an order to Taotao, asking it to go to the top of the mountain alone. If it doesn't have to worry about me, it can use its full speed. It is much more agile than me, and it has a little perception ability. If it is lucky, it may be able to escape from danger successfully and save me 3% loss of my mental power limit. This is the only way out. I should try my best to recover as much loss as possible.
The strange thing is that no matter how I urged him, Taotao, who was always obedient, disobeyed my order for the first time. He stood near the lava with his eyes closed and was actually absorbing the soul energy of Ludi. This action surprised me. Although the soul energy of a strong man like Ludi is definitely a "ton of food" and is very helpful for the growth of a weaker guy like Taotao, don't you think it's time now? His life is under serious threat at any time. Even if he absorbs all of Ludi's soul energy, if he dies immediately and doesn't have time to transform it, it will still dissipate and will not benefit him at all. Taotao should understand this truth, but I don't know why he disobeyed my order and did this. Is there any other intention? Seeing that he was concentrating on absorbing Ludi's soul energy, he couldn't communicate with me for the time being, and couldn't ask the reason immediately. I smiled bitterly. Anyway, even if he did what I said, he might not be able to successfully escape this disaster. Let him go. Maybe there will be a miracle.
I was waiting to die, but the flying lava didn't hit my head. Although it missed me by a hair's breadth several times, we were both safe until Taotao absorbed Ludi's soul energy. Taotao opened his eyes and quickly jumped to my side. I felt that he was quite excited. He eagerly conveyed a message to me through mental connection: "Master, Ludi's death has made me win the challenge. Absorbing his soul energy is the proof of victory. Now I have obtained the qualification to enter the 'Hell Magma Pool'. At the same time, my perception ability has been greatly improved. I can already perceive the trajectory of the erupting lava."
This was such a pleasant surprise. I jumped up from the ground excitedly and hugged Taotao. Although I knew it wouldn't lie to me, I still couldn't help asking, "Are you serious? Has it really improved its perception ability and can it lead us out of trouble?"
After getting confirmation from Taotao again, my previous frustration was swept away and I became excited. Giving up and waiting for death is just a helpless act when you know you can't survive. As long as there is hope of not dying, it is naturally better to be alive. As long as the most basic conditions are met, I have the courage to fight for it.
Taotao and I were united in mind and spirit, and the situation was even more critical. If I could not understand Taotao's intentions in time and accurately and keep up with its actions, I might be buried in the lava if I delayed for a moment. Under Taotao's leadership, I braved the chaotic lava and started a full-scale sprint, trying my best to find a way out in this hellish "lava storm".
Although Taotao's perception ability has just been enhanced and improved, he is still a little unfamiliar with it. Facing such a chaotic complex environment, it is relatively difficult for him to make judgments. We don't have much buffer time, but Taotao and I are much faster than Ludi. In addition, our bodies are thin, so the area affected by the impact is small. We can find a glimmer of space to survive in the cracks between several pieces of lava. We also have experience in cooperating when going up the mountain. We are two-in-one and act in unison. Although we are in danger many times, we finally avoided the attacks of lava again and again and continued to advance towards the top of the mountain.
Feeling the flight path of the lava that Taotao had transmitted to me, I urgently bent over and lay on the ground. With a sharp "hiss", a piece of lava of five or six square meters flew past my scalp and hit a place not far away from me, less than one meter away from my body. I had another close call with death, which scared me out of my body in a cold sweat. However, I had no time to think about anything else. I quickly got up from the ground and continued to rush forward after Taotao. In this increasingly crazy "lava storm", if I couldn't keep up with it, I would have no choice but to die. Similar scenes have happened many times. Taotao's not very skilled perception skills could only barely allow it to avoid the attack of lava in time. When the information was transmitted to me, it would be half a beat slower. Under normal circumstances, it was still in time, but facing some attacks that were too fast, or collided with other lava in the air and suddenly changed direction, it seemed a bit hasty, and it was difficult to completely avoid the danger . If I wasn't quite agile, I would not have had time to react even if I knew what to do.
Taotao and I were like a small boat in the sea, struggling under the harassment of the raging waves, and in danger of capsizing at any time, but as long as I believed that there was still a chance of success, I would never give up easily. In my eyes, there was only Taotao's figure, and the only thought was to follow it closely, shuttling through the chaotic lava group, always hovering on the edge of life and death, and a wrong step might mean death.
With the blessing of God, we finally broke through the layers of harassment of the "lava storm" and survived. When Taotao and I rushed to the top of the mountain, we found that it was quiet all around, but not as empty as before. Many undead creatures gathered here to rest, but they were all very honest. Even the few guys with particularly hot tempers I had seen did not dare to cause trouble. They lay quietly on the ground and only glanced at us casually, showing no concern at all. There was only a small slope between us, but the environment was completely different. Below was a hell full of death, but here was a safe refuge. No wonder the Hades Dragon King claimed that fighting was strictly prohibited on the top of the mountain. It turned out that it had such a purpose.
