Chapter 177: Flames That Cover the Sky

Although it was merely a semi-artifact, essentially a mimicry of the artifact “Tree of Life of Kabbalah,” the “Void Trace Blade,” a power from Vilyric’s old friend, was indeed the most suitable to deal with the current situation.

Wielding the silver short dagger, I scanned the surroundings. Although Vilyric, who didn’t understand spatial magic, couldn’t sense traces, the “Void Trace Blade” specialized in this.

The method of detection was quite simple; the closer one got to where spatial rifts or passages had appeared, the brighter the silver light on the blade became, and conversely, it would dim. Using this method, it was easy to pinpoint the specific area where such traces were located.

“Hmm… it should be around here.”

After a brief search, the priestess had successfully locked onto the target area. If all went well, there were two spots nearby that still held remnants of spatial teleportation.

One location was near the scattered remnants and dust — undoubtedly left behind when Sylvester had directly transported himself from far away to the Fire Element Region using an item not long ago — while the other…

Crossing over three scattered islands amidst the lava, the priestess stared at the short dagger, which was growing increasingly bright, then looked up at the sky, momentarily dazed.

“Up there, huh… tch, these dimwits sure have a never-ending grievance, showing up so quickly again.”

Fire elementals weren’t typically afraid of high temperatures or lava like conventional beings; instead, the hotter the place, the stronger they became. Thus, many powerful fire elemental creatures lived directly within the lava.

While it was manageable standing on the islands, Vilyric had just nonchalantly leaped across several lands, effectively hopping around on the heads of those creatures, which, naturally, only intensified the anger of the already low-intelligence and irritable flame elements.

“If I had known, I would’ve sent Snow Wing back later… I don’t have time to play house with you guys right now. Slash!”

With a casual wave of her hand, several beams of silver light cut through the air, instantly tearing apart the almost-approaching fifth- and even sixth- and seventh-tier fire elementals, dark twisted voids opened where they had been, and a powerful sucking force sucked them in and erased them, quickly restoring the space back to its original state.

Though she had cleared a wave of enemies using the “Void Trace Blade’s” inherent ability, Vilyric knew that this could only buy her a few seconds of respite. She didn’t have Snow Wing’s large-scale clearing ability at her disposal; it wasn’t worth spending too much time and MP dealing with these low-level foes, fighting them was virtually meaningless.

“Boom!”

Long, white wings spread like shields, blocking dozens of fireballs and fiery rays flying in from a distance, as the priestess spun to disperse the remaining flames and shot straight up into the sky!

At that moment, the world suddenly changed color!

A blazing tide of energy surged forth like crimson flames, nearly igniting the entire sky, and the sea of lava instantly boiled!

Hundreds of lava columns, each over a thousand meters in diameter, shot up into the air, the chaotic and furious heat rising at a terrifying speed. As the fire columns spread apart, they revealed a host of eighth-tier pseudo-god-level flame destroyers, with several towering figures among them.

Over a hundred pseudo-gods, even demigods!

For ordinary people, it was an almost indescribable apocalyptic scene that abruptly descended upon the priestess, but what was truly frightening was not just that.

This spectacle seemed merely a prelude to disaster; after that…

Giants of fire slowly rose from beneath the earth and lava.

They were truly worthy of the title “giants.”

Towering thousands of meters high, even surpassing the grandeur of the creature known as “Son of Leviathan” that Vilyric had once encountered, like mountains rising from the ground, their red bodies pierced the sky, shattering the burning clouds of flame, and stood atop peaks revered as “sacred lands.”

Unlike any fire element, their bodies were not mere ethereal flames or red mist; their massive forms had almost solidified into horror, draping the sky and the temperature around them skyrocketed by over tenfold, reaching thousands of degrees hot enough to melt iron!

“Blazing… Lord? No…”

Vilyric shook her head silently, dismissing such thoughts.

At this point, it was impossible to define the creatures here using common sense from games; that would have been absolute arrogance. Such arrogance had led to the demise of the team of traversers who had come here, and Vilyric did not wish to repeat their mistakes.

The nearly ten-meter-long white wings unfurled in the air, a surge of golden light radiating from the black-haired girl’s body, blocking the frenzied incoming heat and flames. Just as Vilyric was considering whether to fight this unknown entity or use the “Void Trace Blade” to tear open a space passage to escape and quickly track down Sylvester and the others…

A voice, like thunder, echoed in the sky, commanding and deafening.

“【Outsider, why have you come?】”

“Huh?”

Just as she was about to bolt or throw down, Miss Vilyric froze for a moment, realizing that the voice came from that terrifying flame giant.

This thing was trying to communicate with her?

Honestly, this was indeed a surprise for the priestess, given that since entering the illusory realm, everything she encountered, aside from those she didn’t bother with, entities that had avoided her like they’d seen a ghost, she hadn’t met anyone she could converse with.

Moreover, with the information she gained from the outside world, the concept that “elemental beings are non-sentient life” was ingrained deeply in Vilyric’s heart, so the wisdom suddenly exhibited by the giant astonished her even more.

Notably, since the fire giant’s appearance, all levels of fire elementals that had just been hounding her had somehow all prostrated on the ground, remaining humble and daring not to make any movements, while the pseudo-god-level elemental beings merely hovered in the air, observing coldly; this was one reason why the priestess did not act immediately.

Another reason was that when the giant spoke those brief words, it seemed to use the almost lost “ancient divine language” — the Gynir language?

Only one type of existence typically communicated in ancient divine language.

“【You are… a deity left over from the age of myths?】”

The girl enveloped in light floated upward, breaking through the fiercely intense elemental storm that seemed deadly to mortals, reaching a height almost face-to-face with the giant, and in the same language, she countered with a question.

“Boom!!!”

The terrifying face of the flame giant, constantly burning, spewed forth a fierce breath, but this was akin to the heated wave of a sixth or seventh-tier magic impact; however, it seemed to be merely the frustration of its emotions bubbling up.

Vilyric remained still, the light radiating from her body easily holding the flames at bay, just waiting for the giant’s response.

Soon, another thunderous roar erupted.

“【A foreign god familiar with the ancient divine language… you have yet to state your reason for coming here.】”

   

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