The treasured lava chamber was silent, save for the sound of bubbling from the aforementioned lava, and it appeared as if nothing could disturb this odd tranquility.
*Thump!* [Careful!] [Sorry, milord.]
That was until, Nepherage and Zhen Liu came leaping in and began to make their way to the Ifrit Fire Heart Crystal in the middle of the room. Unusually, the rest of their teammates weren't behind them.
[Milord, are you sure this is a good idea?,] Nepherage asked, a small hint of concern in her eyes. Zhen Liu wasn't sure if she had a mouth, but her eyes were plenty expressive.
[Pretty sure, why? You doubting me?,] Zhen Liu lightly chided.
The two of them were currently leaping from islet to islet, making sure to do so quietly and in a circular manner, just in case a certain snake monster suddenly woke back up.
[No milord, it's just that...couldn't we have used your bloodthirsty cousin as bait? Why are we just rushing towards the crystal?]
[I wanted to see something, plus I'm pretty sure you're the only one here I can trust who can deal with...whatever that thing is if shit goes south.]
[Oh! ...very well then, milord. You can count on me.]
The two of them eventually made it to an islet that was close to the Ifrit Fire Heart Crystal, but wasn't the exact same islet.
"Damn, this thing is more impressive looking up close," Zhen Liu commented with a low whistle.
As Zhen Liu admired the treasured ore, an oh-so familiar voice in his head decided to pipe up.
[Not right now, no.]
As soon as Zhen Liu refused, another message played out in his head.
'I swear this voice sounds like a freaking smartphone voice assistant...is that how it would sound to everybody or just me?'
[Milord,] Nepherage interjected, [I believe your allies are in position now. Are you ready to begin?]
[Mostly, just uh...please make sure to grab me quickly,] Zhen Liu stated as he took a baseball sized rock from his pocket and readied his bone club. He then proceeded to catch and throw the rock a few times upward.
'I may have come up with this plan...but I really freaking hate this idea.'
Once he had a decent idea on the heft and timing of the stone, Zhen Liu tossed the rock up one last time, and then whack it towards the crystal ore with his bone club on it's way down.
*Fwwsssh!*
The rock flew straight like an arrow and slammed into the Ifrit Fire Heart Crystal.
*Crack!*
"Uh...hold up..."
A surprisingly loud cracking sound echoed throughout the cave as the rock made contact with the crystal ore, followed by an even more surprising chunk of the crystal ore suddenly breaking off of the main part and falling to the ground.
Both Nepherage and Zhen Liu looked absolutely shocked at this turn of events.
[Uh I... must've gotten a lucky hit,] Zhen Liu observed in a deadpan manner.
"ROOOAAAARRRR!"
"Well, at least I can now confirm that thing was guarding this crystal and wouldn't do shit unless I did that. Nepherage, grab me!"
In a blink of an eye, Nepherage grabbed Zhen Liu and proceeded to place him on her back. Just in time too, for the strange serpentine beast dropped down at this moment and attempted to bite down in the spot that Zhen Liu was standing in just moments before.
Grrrrrr.
Evidently, it did not like having its prey somehow escape.
The serpentine beast began to turn it's head towards Nepherage and Zhen Liu, a low growling sound emanating from its mouth.
[GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!]
At Zhen Liu's command, Nepherage quickly began to dash from islet to islet once more. Not one to let prey escape, the beast began to move, a horrible skittering noise echoing through the room.
As Nepherage attempted to outpace the snake beast, Zhen Liu began to pray just a little bit.
'Please for the love of heaven be done when we get there!'
_________________________________________________
As Zhen Liu and Nepherage were now running around for their lives, Zhen Hai, Zhen Yue, Sullivan, Gianna and her team were doing something a bit more...tactical. Namely, drawing things on the ceiling.
"Last array is set, everyone into position."
The Zhen Clan and Corrada Family teams proceeded to leap off of the ceiling and hide within the doorway entry of the lava room.
"Are you sure this is going to work?," Gianna whispered, "I've never heard of this kind of hunting technique before and we burned up at least five aether beast cores to set this up."
"Well duh, this is a Zhen Clan trick" Zhen Hai whispered in a blunt manner, "This is how the elders would hunt the Giant Hangmen Centipedes of Grave Valley. This thing may not look like a centipede, but it sure moves like one."
Gianna was about to retort/criticize Zhen Hai for his cockiness, when the sound of a screaming Zhen Liu pierced the air.
"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIIIIIITTTTTT!"
"Here it comes!," Zhen Yue called out, "Zhen Hai, you ready?"
In response Zhen Hai just made a hand seal.
"Let's drown this asshole."
_________________________________________________
[Holy shit this thing is persistent!,] Zhen Liu observed from his spot on Nepherage's back. He had been keeping an eye on the serpent-centipede thing on their run back to the planned spot and couldn't help but notice how weirdly persistent it was....alongside a weird clicking noise, but he assumed it was it's legs hitting the stone ceiling.
[Wasn't that the point milord?,] Nepherage asked as she dodged the serpent's bite yet again, [To piss off it and trap it?]
[I know that, I'm just having volunteer's remorse,] Zhen Liu answered, [Speaking of I think we're almost there.]
Zhen Liu shot a glance upward to check on the ceiling. Once he saw his family's array, a smile formed on his face. He then threw his gaze back to see the serpent's progress.
"Not yet, not yet...now! Zhen Hai, fire it off!"
As Zhen Liu and Nepherage shot through pass the threshold of the entrance, a surge of humidity suddenly filled the air as Zhen Hai circulated his aether to the limit. A dazzling blue array began to glow alive at the same time, illuminating the serpentine centipede that was standing on it.
"Damn that thing is huge! But it doesn't matter, [Roaring Geyser Blast]!"
The moment Zhen Hai said those words, a huge geyser of water shot out from underneath the serpent beast's feet and slammed it into the lava below.
A massive cloud of steam formed as the water and lava collided with a monster in the middle.
"And that's how you drown a snake!"
"Centipede"
"Whatever."