"Bleeeh! I'm gonna be sick!" Claire held her stomach before falling to her knees. Everyone other than her only experienced slight dizziness or was completely fine. But with the situation being so dire Ivan tossed her with no regard for how she felt onto his shoulder before calling out the APC from his Treasure Trove.
"We don't have much time. I doubt the lava will have an easy time getting through the storm but even if we get away from the base we'll still be within range of its debris. So hurry up and strap yourselves in!"
The group nodded firmly before entering the vehicle in a single file line. Ivan and Yue sat in the driver's seat respectively as Tio took her spot on a seat in the back of the cockpit. As for the rest of the group they were seated in another room equipped with enough seating for at least fifteen people. Each person strapped themselves into their seatbelts, Ari helping out Claire who was still a bit woozy from the spatial transportation.
As for why Ivan didn't even attempt teleporting them outside of the storm or even outside of the volcano's range for that matter, as confident as he was in his calculations he was unsure whether the eruption of the Gruen Volcano would have any effect on transforming the storm outside. If it somehow shifted or moved in any way there was the slight possibility they'd be teleported right into the storm. For that reason he only teleported them outside of the volcano near its base, another slight reason was that the storm provided decent cover from the falling rock the volcano shot out.
He wasn't too confident in his knowledge about the magic, however just this little teleport on its own consumed a sizable amount of mana. Its costs might equate to the number of people being transported, the accompanying objects, and distance.
Ivan was certain the APC could withstand a few hits anyway. As that thought crossed his mind he sent one last message to the crew before departing, asking that each one of them were safely strapped in.
"Yes, sir!"
With that Ivan let go of any reservations, pushing on the pedal with a stomp while allotting the tether to his arm a steady stream of mana to consume. For a second everyone in the vehicle was pushed back against their seat as the speed caught them off guard, it took them a few moments to adjust.
SKKKRRRTT!
The APC drifted through the storm dodging any of the debris that happened to make it past the impossibly thick and powerful sands. Though barely audible if one listened closely they would hear the sounds of gravel and earth smacking into the vehicle from each side, top to bottom.
"HAHAHA!" Ivan laughed out loudly as the swiftly moving magma became only a spec in the distance. Any monster that had been inhabiting the base of the volcano or sands of the storm immediately fled the moment the eruption happened so the group found themselves with a clean getaway free of interference.
There was a certain thrill about the situation they were in that made him laugh with glee. First, they explored a dungeon to obtain magic from the Age of Gods, to then fight the general of humanity's greatest enemies, to finally use that age of god magic to escape from an erupting volcano.
But with that Freid problem done with, Ivan realized that their goals would be less troublesome to complete. In Cattleya's own words Freid was the only demon to have conquered a dungeon, he was a cut above the rest that even the Demon Lord couldn't compete with. As far as Ivan was concerned he and his group just did humanity a huge favor, all that was left was to leave the remnants of the war to the 'heroes.'
With one less enemy, Ivan immediately thought of the gods. Gods as in plural, of course, Oscar mentioned that a whole group of them existed to solely play with humanity as their chessboard. He didn't know if that meant every god was his enemy, or perhaps only gods in that group, but at the same time he didn't even know if every god was a part of that group.
So far the only information he got of them was that they were assholes, from Oscar at least. With neither their appearance, name, nor strengths it would be dangerous to just throw themselves into a fight. Even with names so far they only got Ehit and Alva. Each being the god of humanity and demons respectively.
Oscar mentioned something about Asgard but left the location out of it. Seriously, if this guy truly wanted the conquer of the dungeons to fight the gods then he could have at least left them some information about their enemies!
Ivan cursed the ghostly apparition he met at the depths of the dungeon, and subsequently Mildei and partially the Gruen dungeon guy. Miledi herself was a useless troll that refused to say a word until she was certain Ivan and his group were capable. Gruen left a small message about wanting everyone to be free, yet left behind nothing to guide those that found it to that freedom, except some pretty busted ancient magic.
"Haaaaah—" Ivan could only sigh as the last option left for them was to wait for their enemy to show up. An option he would rather not wait upon as it meant allowing their enemy to conduct the first strike. Without a gauge on the other party's strength, besides that they were capable of eliminating the Liberators down to just remnants, Ivan was reluctant to do that.
"I think this should be good enough~" The vehicle came to a stop as Ivan judged that they made it far away enough from the volcano to watch its eruption safely in the distance. Everyone evacuated the vehicle, including Claire who walked around with embarrassment on her face.
"Whoa, so pretty!" Indeed, as destructive as the cataclysmic event was, there existed beauty in it. Lava shot from the spout to form what seemed like a lotus. The sky darkened to make a magnificent screen to show off the art like a painting in the sky.
Creatures made of magma fled in either flocks or herds, though Ivan wasn't there he could only imagine a scene like this only existed at the end of the dinosaur era. He took out a camera before sneaking a ton of pics for safekeeping. It wasn't like this scene was common in the first place, who knew when the next opportunity to see something like it would appear.
"... So… what do we do now?" Yue voiced out.
"Hmm, ~ Let us continue our ventures as is. With Freid dead, we have one less load on our back. Conquer the dungeons and monopolize their powers so that no one may disturb our peace. How does that sound?"
While the group didn't expect to accomplish the goal they set out to complete on the first dungeon they sought to conquer, it was good that it happened nonetheless.
"So if we mean to conquer the dungeons, our next goal should be— Dun, dun, dun, the Sunken Ruins of Melusine~!"
If Ivan remembered correctly, the requirements for the Haltina Labyrinth meant for the raiders to have completed four other labyrinths. As a prerequisite, the group only needed one more dungeon to complete.
Compared to the other two, that being the Divine Mountain and Frost Caverns, the Sunken Ruins of Melusine were much more accessible. Its location was near the town of Erisen, at the bottom of an ocean completely unguarded just because it seemed to be so hidden that no one even knew it resided there.
Ivan held the amulet that had been given to him for completing the Gruen Labyrinth, something he had also received from the other dungeons. Usually, they all took different forms with different designs but the one he obtained from Gruen was a little different, possessing a slit through the center of it that allotted light to pass through.
"And then when we clear that one—"
"We'll see Shea again…" Yue finished the sentence with a somewhat faint smile on her face. It wouldn't be an exaggeration for Yue to call Shea her first friend. Not only that but the whole Haulia had treated the two as family, something she appreciated from the race of what was once pacifist rabbit folk.
It had been a long time since Ivan and Yue saw Shea, as for the rest of the group they've only heard brief mentions of her when asking for stories of their travels. As they remember from the stories they told, Shea Haulia was a perverted, masochistic, and slightly annoying girl with blue hair. She cared very much for her family to the point that she would sacrifice herself, an emotion her family reciprocated as they rather allowed themselves to be kicked from their home than abandon Shea.
"I wonder how much closer she's made it to her goal~," Ivan said with a smile on his face. If he remembered correctly Shea desired to get the rabbitmen to become a respected force within Verbergen. She last strived to reach the top of that hierarchy to ensure that if someone similar to her (a beastman born with mana) were to ever appear, they wouldn't face the same discrimination she and her family went through.
"Mmm… I'm sure the perverted rabbit has been working hard… I was her teacher after all." Yue voiced out with a slight sense of pride. It seemed she held much faith as Shea's mentor that she didn't end up a disappointment. Though Ivan sort of wished Yue had bestowed Shea with diplomatic teachings and not just combative, her experience as the queen of the vampires probably would've served as an even greater mentor.
"But the ocean huh…" Considering that the map left behind by Oscar pointed to the Melusine Labyrinth in the ocean, it was safe to say that the group was going to the depths just to reach it. The APC doubled as an amphibious vehicle so it should be fine, all Ivan had to do was fly it right to where the map says, change its mode, and boom– Ideally they'd only have to drive on the ocean floor for a few minutes until they reached it. The weight of the vehicle should solve everything itself.
"The ocean!" Felis seemed rather excited about the prospect. So far she had only heard stories and such from Ivan or Tio, the former of whom had been living on an island surrounded by water for centuries. Not to mention that as a dragon she had to cross one to get here.
"Well, let's go!"
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