At the entrance of the lava cave, five or six hundred players were caught off guard and plunged into the scorching lava flow before they could even figure out what was happening. Their screams of agony echoed as they were engulfed in the molten stream, turning into streaks of blinding white light.
The searing lava surged forth like a fierce fire beast, rapidly spreading and devouring everything in its path. Given a few hours, the entire Molten Flame Forest would become a sea of fire.
The seven exits of the lava cave spewed magma like volcanic craters. Countless streams of molten rock shot into the air, flying hundreds of yards before crashing down like meteors. Boom after boom, the magma struck the ground, instantly creating massive craters and erupting into blazing flames.
At the moment the magma erupted, more than two thousand players from Triumph Empire and Zongheng Tianxia perished. The lava moved too fast; many were swallowed before they could react, and others who just noticed the lava had no time to flee, let alone use recall scrolls.
“Recall! Recall!” Some players desperately shouted in their guild chat while fleeing the lava.
Many hadn’t even figured out what was happening when they asked for clarification in the guild chat, only to be met with silence.
The magma quickly gathered together, transforming into a colossal beast, towering dozens of yards high, as massive as a small mountain. Even the Order Warden that Naiyan had first encountered was nowhere near this level compared to the lava titan.
A level 200 boss, the Lava Titan, with three million hit points. Its skills included “Lava Domain,” which turned the ground within a 500-yard radius into magma, instantly consuming players with less than 120 fire resistance and causing continuous damage to those with higher resistance. Another skill was “Lava Surge,” creating a massive wave of magma that engulfed all nearby creatures.
But its most terrifying skill was “Lava Roar!” When magical fluctuations in the Molten Flame Forest became too intense, it could use Lava Roar to disrupt the magical energy. This ability rendered all mages unable to cast spells for a short time, disabled magical items, and even interrupted teleportation. It was like a magical silence field, making the Lava Titan the absolute ruler of the entire Molten Flame Forest!
Back in the previous life, when players were only around levels 40 to 50, they had already discovered its existence. However, it wasn’t until many players reached over level 100 that they dared to attempt challenging the Lava Titan, and even then, it required thousands of players to even consider it. Back then, very few shield warriors could withstand the Lava Titan—Cui Lan Dao Guang (Cui Landao Guang) was one, and there were two others: one in the Holy Roman Empire and another in Guangming Sheng Yan (Guangming Shengyan). Thus, conflicts arose over the Lava Titan. According to official reports, the Lava Titan was connected to the Grimald set, capable of breaking the seal on the Grimald Staff, and could also drop items like the Core of the Inferno, a material used for forging legendary items.
Across the continent of Atlantis, both discovered and undiscovered boss-level creatures were numerous, each extremely difficult to defeat. The Lava Titan was undoubtedly a boss that players under level 100 could not even dream of challenging.
This ferocious Lava Titan pursued Naiyan in the direction he fled, determined to reclaim the Grimald Staff from Countess Alicia.
Naiyan sprinted rapidly through the Molten Flame Forest.
“Gu Huai, can you confirm which area in the Molten Flame Forest has the highest concentration of Triumph and Zongheng players? Hurry, I need it now,” Naiyan messaged Gu Huai at the guild headquarters.
“Give me ten seconds,” Gu Huai replied, immediately gathering information.
Naiyan dashed through the Molten Flame Forest, while around him, many players who had spotted the Lava Titan scattered in panic. They had little time to use recall scrolls, and some foolishly ran toward other entrances of the Molten Flame Forest, directly into the oncoming lava.
Soon, Gu Huai replied with the information: “Coordinates 328, 108, and 028 all have thousands of players. The leader of Zongheng, Hei Zhuo, is at 2385.225.132, along with a high-ranking member of Triumph Empire named Yu Long.”
Hei Zhuo, huh? Naiyan’s mind sharpened as he sprinted in that direction, estimating arrival in two or three minutes.
Yu Long and Hei Zhuo were chatting among a group of over a thousand mages. The mages stood in clusters, surrounding the two leaders like stars encircling the moon. The warriors and paladins had escorted the priests to search for Naiyan and his allies, leaving only two or three hundred warriors to guard the outer perimeter of the mage group.
Although the earlier tremors had subsided quickly, Yu Long still felt uneasy, though not enough to raise serious alarm.
Soon, the guild regional chat exploded with frantic shouts.
“Boss, there’s lava!”
“Speak clearly, what’s going on?” Yu Long frowned, asking in the chat.
“Magma erupted from underground in the Molten Flame Forest, and hundreds of our brothers have already been killed by it,” the player shouted. What he saw was only a small part of the truth; in reality, more than 3,000 players from Zongheng and Triumph had already perished.
Soon, Yu Long received reports from various locations: two or three hundred dead here, five or six hundred there. The total had already reached two or three thousand.
“All Triumph players, recall!” Yu Long realized this might be the work of the Bull Tribe, sensing impending disaster, and quickly ordered his men to retreat, turning to Hei Zhuo. “Tell everyone to recall immediately!”
“Why?” Hei Zhuo asked, having not yet received reports from his subordinates.
“Just do it!” Yu Long almost roared, his heart filled with a strong sense of unease.
Hei Zhuo frowned, seeing Yu Long’s panic, he also sensed something serious might be happening and quickly messaged his subordinates.
In the Molten Flame Forest, one after another, teleportation circles activated. Thousands of players used the portals, creating a spectacular scene as streaks of white light flashed, with many Triumph players retreating first.
The intense magical fluctuations resembled the grand spectacle before a forbidden spell.
At that moment, deep within the Molten Flame Forest, a deafening roar erupted, accompanied by powerful shockwaves spreading outward.
It was as if proclaiming its dominion over this territory, establishing the rules of this domain.
Numerous teleportation circles had barely activated when they were disrupted by violent magical surges. Players’ health bars displayed damage values in the hundreds. Those closer to the source of the sound were instantly swept away by the shockwave.
The casualties of Triumph Empire and Zongheng Tianxia immediately exceeded ten thousand, with corpses littering the Molten Flame Forest.
Hei Zhuo’s teleportation was interrupted, and he staggered from the impact, his health bar displaying a -378 damage value. Startled, he quickly drank a basic instant recovery potion and a mid-tier slow recovery potion.
Yu Long’s teleportation was also interrupted, his face darkening. That roar, seemingly from the depths of hell, heralded the arrival of doom. Around him, over a thousand players had fallen—five or six hundred already down. The casualties elsewhere were unknown but certainly no less severe.
“Everyone, get out of here now!” Yu Long shouted. They had to escape quickly, or face total annihilation.
Naiyan was sprinting toward Hei Zhuo and the others when a shockwave hurled him backward. He landed and steadied himself, his health bar showing over a hundred points of damage. He was slightly surprised that the Lava Titan had used Lava Roar so quickly.
The Lava Titan wouldn’t normally use Lava Roar unless certain conditions were met.
If the Lava Roar could deal over a hundred points of damage to him, then ordinary Triumph players would likely be instantly killed. He wondered how many Triumph players had died this time.
Naiyan ran through the forest, encountering countless fallen corpses—a grim spectacle. Those who survived were mostly high-defense, high-health classes like warriors and paladins. Mages were heavily decimated, and priests were practically wiped out. He had been recording the entire time.
Naiyan appeared atop a high ridge, gazing down at the crowd below, his eyes finally locking onto Hei Zhuo and a paladin beside him. These two were clearly the leaders of the group.
“It’s that rogue!”
Before Naiyan could enter stealth, a sharp-eyed warrior spotted him on the ridge.
Instantly, all eyes turned toward the ridge, locking onto Naiyan.
Caught, Naiyan calmly stood atop the ridge, under the gaze of seven or eight hundred Zongheng and Triumph players. He pointed his dagger at Hei Zhuo, gave a downward thumb, and mimed slitting his throat, a cruel smile curling his lips.
This was Naiyan’s provocation toward Hei Zhuo and a declaration of war and contempt from the Bull Tribe!
Cui Lan Dao Guang, brother, I’ll avenge you, Naiyan thought. If he succeeded, Cui Lan Dao Guang, the top-three shield warrior in the server, would finally be won over!
“Damn! Kill him!” Hei Zhuo’s face turned pale with rage, his expression nearly twisted.
Yu Long looked at Naiyan’s smile and inexplicably felt a chill. Was Naiyan declaring Hei Zhuo’s death? Did he intend to assassinate Hei Zhuo in front of seven or eight hundred players?
That was simply impossible!
Yu Long gripped his greatsword, his silver-white armor making him look like an iron tower standing beside Hei Zhuo. A rogue? Come and try if you can get past me.
Players from Zongheng and Triumph rushed toward Naiyan, but in the blink of an eye, they found the ridge empty, with no trace of Naiyan left!
Naiyan had vanished into thin air. The priests were mostly dead, and the only ones capable of dealing with Naiyan now were the high-level paladins who had learned Divine Sight.
“Protect Boss Hei Zhuo!” a player shouted urgently, and the players quickly gathered around Hei Zhuo’s location.
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