“So… you’re saying there are people kidnapping spirits?”
After hearing from the Salamanders, Felix repeated the story he had just been told.
“They said that they originally lived in this lava, but one by one, they started disappearing. They didn’t leave for the Spirit Realm or anything they just vanished without a trace. Thinking someone was behind it, they decided to abandon the lava entirely and go into hiding.”
—Scary…
—Ugh…
Even though the conversation had ended, the spirits clung to Rosaria, covering their eyes with their hands and mumbling in fear. It was clear to anyone that they were utterly terrified.
“In that case, do you know where exactly the spirits disappeared?”
“Hold on… Hmm… I see… They’re saying ‘the deepest place.’”
“The deepest place… You mean the very bottom of this lava pool?”
“Judging by the context, that seems to be the case.”
Rosaria’s group had now uncovered that the spirits were vanishing from the deepest part of the lava pool.
“But… then there’s no way to check, is there?”
Hearing that, Louis spoke up, his expression grim.
“This lava pool is connected to magma from the mantle. Even if we stuck a pipe into it, we’d only reach a few dozen meters at most! Beyond that, we can’t even observe anything how do you expect us to search through it?”
The place they were in, Karak-Zar, was already a massive underground city, dug about 130 meters beneath the surface.
The lava welling up from underground was a crucial resource for the dwarves, who used it in vast quantities daily.
But no matter how much they used, the lava level only lowered by a few centimeters a year, and whenever an eruption occurred, it simply replenished itself.
With no way of knowing how deep the lava extended or where exactly it led, searching for something based on nothing but the vague clue of “the deepest place” was an overwhelmingly difficult task.
“Can’t we solve this with magic?”
“My magic can make us resistant to lava, sure… but no matter what, searching through this vast, deep lava pool would be impossible. Forget magic reserves the sheer manpower needed would be a problem.”
“Then… don’t the dwarves have anything that could help?”
“They sometimes enter the lava in protective gear for pipe maintenance, but even then, they can only last about an hour, and they can barely reach a few dozen meters deep… Searching the deeper areas is completely out of the question.”
“Sigh…”
With both magic and technology proving useless, Rosaria’s group could only let out another sigh.
“Isn’t there someone who can survive in lava and move around quickly inside it…?”
“Right? That would make things a lot easier.”
“But where would we even find someone like that?”
“Exactly. So what do we do now?”
“……….”
“……….”
“……….”
“…..? Um… why are you all suddenly looking at me?”
At that moment, the three of them suddenly realized something. They exchanged startled glances, almost in disbelief that they hadn’t thought of it earlier.
Their gazes then all turned toward one spot.
Right beside them, a being that transcended both magic and technology was sitting on the ground, looking up at them with a puzzled expression, as if wondering what was going on.
“Y-you’re seriously making me do this?!”
Tene gulped as she stared nervously at the bubbling lava right beneath her feet, then turned around and shouted.
“There’s no one else who can do it but you!”
“You won’t die! Don’t worry!”
“I mean, yeah, but… I can’t even swim…!”
Seeing the mighty black dragon tearing up as she looked at them made the three feel a slight pang of guilt. But in the end, they steeled their hearts and began cheering her on.
“We’ve come this far we can’t just give up now!”
“Wait, but now that I think about it, I’m the reason we even got this far in the first place. Do I really have to do this too?”
“If you do this, we’ll make you a weapon of your own!!”
“Really?! Then I… Wait, no! That weapon’s just going to be made from my own scales anyway!!”
Tene had almost been tempted by their ridiculous offer, but the realization that she’d only be losing out made her snap back in frustration.
“Oh, come on! Just this once! You’re a mighty black dragon, aren’t you?!”
“Yeah! A black dragon like you should be able to handle this no problem!”
“Whoa! So cool! As expected of the black dragon! The strongest being on land, shaking the earth and mocking the heavens!”
“…H-hmph…! F-flattering me won’t work, you know…? H-hmph…!”
The three, desperate to convince her, resorted to shameless flattery. And despite pretending otherwise, Tene’s shoulders twitched ever so slightly with pride.
“Hah… but! It can’t be helped! In a situation like this, it’s only natural for me, Tenebrix Nox, to step in! Fine, I’ll do it!!”
“Yeah! That’s the spirit!!”
“Wooo! Tenebrix Nox!!”
“…Hey… she’s way too easy to manipulate. I almost feel bad.”
“Honestly, considering she got isekai’d, it’s a miracle she hasn’t been scammed yet. She’s never even fallen for one of those old MapleS**ry scams, has she?”
“Both of you, shut up and just cheer her on!”
Watching Tene puff up her chest proudly, grinning like she had no choice but to accept, Rosaria and Louis couldn’t help but think, thank god she is Tenebrix Nox.
If it were anyone else, things might have gone terribly wrong. But because she was the one who had become the strongest being on land, the world was still at peace. Even now, she was as innocent as ever.
“Alright… I’m going in.”
With the three cheering her on, Tene put on a determined face, took a step forward, and cautiously dipped the tip of her toe into the lava.
“Mm… ohh… hmm… Feels like the perfect temperature for a half-body soak…”
Mumbling to herself, she slowly let her foot sink in, then gradually submerged up to her ankles as she adjusted to the heat.
Gripping onto a nearby pipe for balance, she carefully lowered herself further into the lava.
“I’ll… be… back…!!!!”
With her chest now submerged, she turned to the three, gave them a firm nod, then dramatically raised a thumbs-up to the sky before sinking completely beneath the surface.
“…What was that even supposed to mean?”
“Just let her have her moment. She’s at that age, you know.”
“Yeah, honestly, if I had to dive into lava, I wouldn’t be able to resist either.”
Despite Tene’s best efforts to make her lava entry look grand and dramatic, all it left them with was a vague ‘Ahh… she’s doing that thing, huh?’ sort of reaction.
“Pwah!”
Moments later, Tene’s head popped back up from the surface.
“How is it? You okay?”
“Yeah! It’s just like the hot spring bath at a water park! I totally get why the spirits like it now!”
Just in case, they had asked but as expected, to the strongest being in existence, lava was nothing more than a pleasantly warm hot spring.
“Haha! As expected of me! The ultimate dragon, defying even the gods!”
“Hey, wait! Your clothes! Your clothes!!”
“Huh? …Kyaaa!?”
Caught up in her own excitement and shaking her body with pride, Tene suddenly realized her upper body was completely exposed.
Her body was perfectly fine, of course, but her clothes had been made of ordinary fabric, which had long since disintegrated in the lava.
“Oh. C-cup.”
“D-don’t say things like that!!!”
Despite the situation, Louis casually estimated her chest size, causing Tene to turn bright red and shriek in embarrassment.
“It’s fine. You’re still smaller than me.”
“Wait… I mean… that’s true, but still…”
Louis smirked, lifting and pressing her own chest together as if to prove her point.
And Tene realizing that, indeed, Louis was more than qualified to say such things, boasting a size that could even challenge Freya’s undisputed reign found herself unable to argue back.
“…Why am I suddenly feeling so annoyed?”
Meanwhile, Rosaria tilted her head, confused as to why she was getting an unexplainable headache and feeling a rush of irritation.
“Men… Anyway, Tene, listen carefully. Focus your vision and move through the lava. If you see anything even slightly unnatural, report back immediately.”
“Got it. I’ll give it a try.”
Leaving the three men’s ridiculous banter behind, Felix quickly redirected the conversation and gave Tene clear instructions.
Tene gave an okay sign then immediately dove underwater.
“…You think she’ll find anything? What if something happens?”
“Who’s worrying about who? Even if the world ends, she’ll outlive us all.”
“…Yeah, that’s true.”
Rosaria, despite feeling a bit uneasy about Tene’s airheadedness, had to admit that Felix had a point.
“Bubble, bubble, bubble… (I never thought I’d end up swimming in lava in my lifetime.)”
Tene, who had begun exploring the interior of the lava pool, found the situation quite fascinating.
Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined they would one day be swimming inside molten lava.
Despite the lava being highly viscous, swimming through it required no effort at all.
Pwoosh—
“Glub!? Bloop, bloop, bloop… (Whoa!? I-I need to be careful…)”
In fact, even the slightest movement caused massive ripples, making it difficult to control their own strength. Carefully, Tene paddled with their feet, swiftly navigating through the lava.
As they ventured deeper and deeper.
“Bloop? (Huh?)”
Before they knew it, they had descended to a depth where no impurities were visible. At that moment, an odd sensation washed over them.
‘Over there… The lava’s flow is strange.’
At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary pool of lava. However, having thrown themselves directly into it, Tene could tell, even this lava followed a certain pattern, flowing like a river with a distinct rhythm.
But from a distance, they sensed something off.
It was as if someone had pulled the drain plug in a bathtub, causing the surrounding water to be sucked toward a single point.
Sensing this anomaly, Tene kicked their feet even harder, propelling themselves toward the source of the disturbance.
“Still no response… There’s no problem, right?”
At that moment.
While Tene was submerged in the lava, the three companions had nothing to do but stare blankly at the surface, waiting.
Since Tene was a dragon, there wasn’t much concern for their safety, but Rosaria still felt a pang of guilt.
Had they sent Tene in with too little information? Was it really okay to let them go in with only vague clues?
“…But there wasn’t really another way.”
“But what if they still can’t find anything?”
“In that case… we just go back.”
For now, there was no alternative. The only thing they could do was wait.
And so, time dragged on,until suddenly.
Fwoosh!
“I found it! I found it!!!”
“You did?”
“Yes! Just like you said, if I focused, I could find it somehow!”
The once-still surface of the lava rippled wildly as Tene burst out, beaming with excitement.
“But… what exactly did you find?”
Despite their enthusiastic declaration, Tene was still floating with only their face visible, making it impossible to tell what they had discovered.
“Uh, well… it’s kinda big, so… I need to pull it out…”
“Then hurry up and bring it out so we can see.”
“Uh… that’s… a bit of a problem…”
“Why?”
“…Because.”
Tene hung their head, mumbling something almost too quiet to hear.
“What?”
“I’M NAKED!!!”
“………”
Flushing red, Tene shouted in response to Felix’s question.
If they climbed out of the lava now, they’d be completely exposed far too embarrassed to step out.
“…Just find some clothes.”
“I’ll look.”
After rummaging through their belongings, the trio finally managed to find a spare outfit.
Only then, after a long and eventful lava expedition was Tene finally able to return.