Chapter 398: Hell of Molten Lava
Seeing the five humans suddenly appear before it, confusion first flashed in the Black Diablos' eyes.
But in an instant, the desire for slaughter and wild instinct regained the upper hand.
Driven by that beastly instinct, the Black Diablos made the decision it would regret the most in its life.
It was also the final decision of its life.
"Roar!"
"Why are you roaring so loudly?"
The moment the Black Diablos opened its mouth to roar, Iwanaga Kotoko summoned two ghost hands.
Pale fingers reached upward, and pitch black nails pierced directly into the flesh inside the Black Diablos' mouth, making it unable to close its jaws even if it wanted to.
Meanwhile, Yuuki Asuna, wearing a crimson cloak, aimed at its soft inner mouth.
From a slanted upward angle, precisely targeting the inside of the Black Diablos' head, she thrust out Shimmering Light.
"Sword Skill, Space Killing Art!"
No matter how hard the Black Diablos' outer shell was, the inside of its mouth was soft and fragile.
Facing the dozens of spatial slashes Yuuki Asuna unleashed in an instant, the Black Diablos did not even have time to let out a miserable howl before the inside of its mouth turned into a mass of mangled flesh.
The spatial slashes erupting from within pierced directly through the roof of its mouth and completely pulverized the brain inside its head.
"Bang."
[You have killed the monster "Black Diablos" and will receive bonus points upon clearing the Dungeon.]
[You have assisted in killing the monster "Black Diablos" and will receive bonus points upon clearing the Dungeon.]
Hearing the notification sounds from their phones, neither Yuuki Asuna nor Iwanaga Kotoko rushed to check them.
Nor did they pay any attention to the Black Diablos' corpse lying on the ground.
Instead, like Utsunomiya Asagiri, they immediately turned around and cast their gazes toward the five Players not far away.
"No way..."
Seeing the Black Diablos' massive corpse lying powerlessly on the ground, having completely lost all signs of life, along with Utsunomiya Asagiri and the others standing in front of its head, the five Players could not help showing expressions of horror and shock.
What was this situation?
From the moment those five people inexplicably appeared to the death of the Black Diablos, less than three seconds had passed in total.
The Black Diablos, which had made them struggle bitterly for over ten minutes and had cost the lives of two of their teammates, had been killed just like that?
Since the skin was too hard, attacking from the soft interior of the mouth was a logic anyone could understand.
But given the Black Diablos' terrifying bite force, just how terrifying did one's power have to be to make it unable to close its mouth?
Furthermore, the moment those two ghost hands appeared, the swordswoman in the crimson cloak had already approached the Black Diablos' wide open mouth.
Without the slightest hesitation or doubt, as if she was not worried at all that her teammate's ability would fail to buy enough time.
There was no fear.
Only trust in her teammates and ruthless decisiveness.
Just from this point alone, it was clear that the other party was not a Player team on the same level as them at all.
"Um..."
Seeing Utsunomiya Asagiri and the others watching them, a male Player, ignoring the notification sound from his phone, hurriedly forced a smile and said,
"Thank you for your help. Don't worry, we'll leave immediately..."
"Hand it over."
"Huh?"
Seeing the five people opposite him looking confused, Utsunomiya Asagiri shook his outstretched hand and spoke slowly.
"I saved your lives. Shouldn't you give me some gratitude as a reward? Or..."
Utsunomiya Asagiri scanned the five Players and smiled.
"Would it be better if I just killed you all and took your phones?"
"No, no, no, there's no need for that!"
Hearing this, the five Players showed expressions of terror.
Looking pained, as if suppressing heartbreak, they took out a spear surrounded by a faint purple glow and even knelt down in a kowtow position to beg Utsunomiya Asagiri.
"This is all we have on us..."
"Put that junk away."
Utsunomiya Asagiri knew that these five Players definitely did not have any high quality weapons or equipment.
After all, although the Black Diablos was huge and had an impressive aura, in terms of real strength, it was inferior to a Furious Rajang.
Being driven into a desperate situation by this guy was already reverse proof of their actual strength level.
"Do you have any drinking water or items that can create ice or cooling effects?"
"Eh? Items... Oh, yes, we do."
The female Player, who seemed to be the logistics manager of the team, immediately took out a few bottles of drinking water from her inventory.
Then she produced an ice blue crystal ball and carefully placed it on the ground.
[Frost Domain Orb (Purple Quality, Consumable Item): Using this item will create a movable frost domain with a 200 meter radius centered on the user. The temperature within the domain will drop significantly. Maximum duration is ten minutes. The user will not be affected by the frost domain.]
The effect of this consumable item was actually just okay.
If it did not have the point that the user was immune to the effects of the frost domain, it would be at most Blue quality.
The reason Utsunomiya Asagiri wanted this type of item was to prepare for the high temperature lava area they were about to reach.
From this perspective, the user being immune to the frost domain's effects was actually a negative trait, since the user themselves could not utilize the frost domain to avoid the high heat.
"Alright, go."
"Eh?"
Seeing that Utsunomiya Asagiri, after picking up the item and drinking water, did not say anything else and simply waved his hand, the five Players could not help looking astonished.
That was it?
Just a few bottles of drinking water and a Purple item with a lackluster effect, and the other party was satisfied?
If it were most other Players, they would definitely continue to extort them at this point.
Unless every bit of value was scraped from them, they would not stop easily.
They might even kill them after collecting the protection fee to take their five phones.
"Wait a moment, are you..."
One of the five Players saw Utsunomiya Asagiri wearing a black trench coat, Yuuki Asuna wearing a crimson cloak and holding a crystal rapier, and Iwanaga Kotoko wearing a dress while leaning on a cane.
It seemed he realized something.
With an expression of disbelief, he said,
"The Shadow of the Ashikaga Budo Association, the Crimson Blade... and the Petite Sorceress?"
"Hmm?"
Hearing the other party's words, Yuuki Asuna and Utsunomiya Asagiri did not react much, but Iwanaga Kotoko was instantly triggered.
"What does that mean? What does that mean? The first two get such cool nicknames, and when it gets to me, it's body shaming, right?"
"Who came up with this nickname? Who on earth came up with such an outrageous nickname?"
"Stop complaining."
Kato Megumi reached out and gently placed her hand on Iwanaga Kotoko's shoulder, speaking in a soft tone.
"At least they mentioned you. Nobody remembers me at all..."
"It's fine, as long as I remember."
Noticing Kato Megumi's somewhat melancholy look, Utsunomiya Asagiri immediately spoke up.
"Then you are the Nonexistent Assassin! How about that, cool enough?"
"It is quite cool."
"Alright, let's go."
Utsunomiya Asagiri said this first, then raised his finger and pointed in a certain direction, smiling at the five Players who were still in a daze.
"That way is the direction of the evacuation point. It's probably at the junction of the snowy plains and the dense forest area. About forty kilometers away."
"Oh... okay, thank..."
Before the five Players could finish, they saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
They saw Utsunomiya Asagiri first pick up Yamauchi Sakura on his back.
Then Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi each grabbed one of his wrists, while Iwanaga Kotoko grabbed his left ankle.
"Harem Christmas Tree, take off!"
Amid this abstract yet inexplicably cool shout, the five Players watched as Utsunomiya Asagiri's body took off directly into the air and then began flying rapidly into the distance.
The five of them were left standing there in a daze.
Was this the strongest strength at the current stage?
What the heck was that?
Manned space flight?
Powerful strength, an aura that was not brutal yet exuded a sense of oppression, and most importantly, a style that was cool yet tinged with a bit of chuunibyou abstraction.
Was this the strongest Player at the current stage?
...
Twenty minutes later, under a cliff at the edge of the snowy plains.
"Is this the lava area..."
After leaving the snowy plains and entering the lava area, Sakura Yamauchi and Iwanaga Kotoko took the chance to rest and adjust their states.
During this gap, Kato Megumi crouched on the ground.
She reached out and gently touched the black red ground, rubbing the granular black red gravel with her fingers, then turned her head to look at Utsunomiya Asagiri.
"The material on the surface of the Black Diablos we just encountered is very similar to the ground here. It's highly likely to be the same substance, but..."
Asagiri nodded.
Feeling the heat in the air that made it nearly impossible to breathe, he said calmly,
"The traces left on the Black Diablos' body prove that it lived in the lava volcano area for a long time, long enough to change its body structure."
"However, when we encountered it, it was in the snowfield area. Its black red body is far too obvious in the snowfield, which would make hunting extremely difficult."
"But even so, it migrated to the snowfield area. I'm afraid this was not its own choice, but a forced migration born from helplessness."
"Just like the Furious Rajang."
Yuuki Asuna pursed her lips, looking at the endless black red ground in front of her, as well as the viscous liquid still flowing like magma.
A serious look appeared in her eyes as she spoke slowly.
"Judging from the fact that the four evacuation points are all located at the boundary between the snowfield and the dense forest, the normal completion path for this Dungeon does not require crossing the snowfield."
"Starting from the lava area, this is already considered entering the high difficulty hidden completion route."
"Let's search and see first."
Asagiri scanned the lava cave in front of him and spoke slowly.
"Besides the hidden quest, the recorded intelligence left behind by Blackwatch members is also very important to us."
"Through the investigation of this Dungeon, we might be able to learn what kind of existence the final boss of this death game is."
.....
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