Having gathered almost all the information I wanted, we spent the rest of yesterday preparing for our hunt. We shopped for magic items that reduced the damage from the intense heat that's a terrain effect. Starting early in the morning, we went on to challenge the dungeon we chose for this trip, [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain].
[Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain] is a dungeon near the Labyrinth City Radha Lo Dara. It's located around 30 minutes away by carriage. Unfortunately, we can't savor its magnificence today due to the bad weather.
During the night, it gave off a red shine because of lava that is continuously being spit out. Added to that are thick, black clouds enshrined in the sky with lightning shooting through it frequently. It's a spectacular sight.
We left Labyrinth City Radha Lo Dara by riding the Skeleton Centipede. In a rumbling fashion, it advanced by kicking up the snow, creating a ditch.
And after around 10 minutes, I'd say?
While I was having a small talk with the other 8 demons, we arrive at the Boundary Place that encloses the [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain].
If anyone went through the information that I collected, they'd understand it at first sight. We didn't only hear it, but we could actually see it. This certainly was the place.
The world of white we have been in up until now, transformed into one big wasteland filled only with barren rocks.
And as if the world changed, there's was not a single trace of the snow that kept on falling.
It's divided so clearly, that if someone ends up here by mistake, he must be quite the fool.
The temperature within the [Boundary Range] is also different. Outside, it's numbingly cold, inside it's hot and humid.
I'm thoroughly admiring one of the many mysteries in this world, safely outside of the [Boundary Range]. After that, we officially started to climb the [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain].
As soon as we started to climb the mountain, the temperature shot up. It goes past the stage of just being hot and humid, to the stage where feels like you're totally standing near the flames of hell.
Even the saliva inside my mouth has evaporated, making it hard to breathe. I began to feel a pain like my whole body is gradually being roasted. Surely this is a terrain damage effect.
If you don't prepare for it, your physical strength is being reduced over time *grinding sound (sfx)*. You might even be dead before you notice it.
The main cause of this can easily be seen; it's no doubt the lava that gushing forth everywhere. Even the radiant heat that's being emitted from the lava is no joke. Because of it, the Skeleton Centipede that's covered with my clones is gradually being burnt by the terrestrial heat that's not insignificant as well. *slowly happening (sfx)*
If it rolls over carelessly, it will certainly be burned. It really is [God] rank.
While we're not even close to encountering dungeon monsters, the motivation and physical strength of the challengers is constantly being gnawed at from the moment they entered.
If I didn't collect the information beforehand, Irofu-chan, who was vulnerable to fire, would have been whining incessantly 『I want to go back, I want to go back, I want to go back, I want to go back!!』.
It's so unpleasant that the others aside from Asue-chan might have wanted to return as well. Minokichi-kun and I don't really need any countermeasure against the heat.
At any rate, through [Fireproof Slime Secretion] and [Complete Heat Resistance], I was able to almost completely nullify the terrain effects.
While I could feel the heat to a certain extent, there don't seem to be any particular problems.
Minokichi-kun seems to be comfortable as his [Demigod of Fire's Divine Protection] seems to nullify the terrain damage. His condition looks a lot better.
While Asue-chan is not able to endure it completely, an [Earth Lord ・ Subspecies] is naturally able to mine in volcanoes. Her natural tolerance is the highest of our group.
There don't seem to be any problems for her as I prepared some heat resistant equipment as well.
For the other 6 demons that don't have the same benefits as us, I prepared the magic items [Ice-cooled Underwear], [Cooling Long Coats], and [Heatproof Combat Boots] for them to wear. I also had them drink the magic medicine [Cool Liquid] that creates an external cooling slime membrane.
The heat seems to have weakened considerably for them.
Though Irufo-chan is still weary, she'll just have to do her best.
Since all preparations are finished, shall we go on? We got off the Skeleton Centipede and advanced several meters. We got ambushed immediately.
The dungeon monsters "Lava Army Fishman" suddenly jumped out of the ground and attacked.
It can swim freely through the lava and magma. It looks like a shell fish of around one meter, wearing a red heavy armor glowing red because of the heat. Its charge has tremendous destructive power. On top, its solid, heavy, lava armor isn't even dented by an attack.
There are basically dozens of them. With only so many, they are able attack a large crowd of a several hundred people. They're known as the most difficult dungeon monsters of the upper layer of [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain].
I've heard mentions that around 30% of the deaths in the upper layer are caused by these fellows.
Of course, they all were delicious.
As expected, there was a difference in the amount of experience divided among the 9 members, but as the "Male Lava Army Fish" are coming in a dozen at a time, it's quite efficient. They were delicious in a lot of ways for our party. Grilled fish is naturally still the best.
[Ability learned [Magma Migration]]
Due to this ability, I'm now able to swim in lava. Looks like I can even use this in a place where lava doesn't exist. Obtaining this might be a lucky omen.
By the way, for now, we're currently standing around to see if there are any gaps in my brain map that I need to fill. Let's go rotate clockwise around the [Boundary Range]?