After finishing everything, Sierra approached Evelyn and lowered her head to rub Evelyn with her nose. "We can go whenever you like now, Evelyn. Thank you for everything."
Evelyn chuckled and hugged Sierra's snout, "I promised, so I delivered. I've gained the powerful you in the way, so I'm more than satisfied~."
Sierra licked her once with her big tongue, licking almost the entirety of Evelyn with that motion. Then, she gently bit Evelyn's robe and threw her up, making her land on her head. She lifted her head and said, "Do you prefer going up the mountain first or getting the lighting treasure? In my opinion, it would be better to go up the mountain. With the proper cultivation method, you should be able to assimilate the treasure easier."
Evelyn nodded, "We will do as you say. By the way, are you sure you are done? I don't mind spending one or two more days here."
Sierra looked at one of the males from her pack but then shook her head, "We can go. I already placed everything in order. Whether they perish or prosper is their responsibility now."
Evelyn caught her gaze and asked, "Who is he? I felt your gaze lingering on him right now."
Sierra said while walking away, "The mate I wanted to choose. He was the strongest male in my pack, so I would have chosen him if no one stronger than me had appeared. I'm sure that our cubs would be strong and healthy."
Evelyn wondered aloud, "Is he stronger than the grey wolf?"
Sierra nodded, "Yes, but that was before he gained those markings. However, we didn't manage to mate before all of this happened."
Sierra sighed sadly, "I don't even know if I will be able to have cubs after leaving here."
Evelyn sat on her head and reassured her, caressing Sierra's glossy white fur under her. "Don't worry, Sierra. There are a lot of powerful male wolves outside. I will help you find someone in the future."
Sierra laughed gently, "I will trust you with that. I don't really care about the male as long as they are pure wolves. I want my cubs to be strong and healthy, without strange mutations."
Evelyn chortled, "That will make things easier then. Now, let's go to get that treasure!"
Sierra put strength in her limbs and shot forward, disappearing from that place like a white blur.
In a place far away from Evelyn, an area with a very high temperature, lava, and ash, sounds of an intense battle could be heard.
Five lava-beasts, creatures with rock-like bodies and lava-like blood dripping from the wounds, we're fighting against a very small human.
Compared to the five enormous lava beasts, the silver human wasn't any bigger than the toe from their frontal legs.
However, each time the armored woman hit one of those beasts' limbs with her halberd, the frontal legs were blasted away as if a giant had hit them.
The hits were so heavy that they lifted the dense magma in the surroundings like waves each time they met with the creatures' attacks.
There was a one-meter-tall crab looking at the battle with his protruding black eyes spinning with shock. The little crab knew that this silver creature was strong, but seeing it beating its predators with such ease made it want to run away, yet also feel a strange feeling inside of it, 'What if it wants to eat me when it is hungry? I haven't seen it eating yet! Am I a snack reserved for later? But the silver creature wouldn't do something like that...'
The crab with turtle complex hid inside the gold mineral it used as a shell, only leaving the pointy head and protruding glittering black eyes outside. However, even its eyes hid after looking at the battle for five minutes.
Two minutes after it hid, a loud roar was heard together with the sound of something heavy smashing on the ground.
Three minutes later, a similar agonizing cry of pain was heard together with the shout of that armored woman, "Let's finish this, [Solar Halberd Barrage]."
The number of hits instantly multiplied as the painful roars of the beasts also increased.
Ten minutes later, the crab heard the fifth pain-filled roar from the predators it feared so much, and silence returned. 'What happened? Will I get eaten like a snack now? Did the bad silver creature die?'
A moment later, it heard a knock on its shell, almost scaring its soul away. However, its nerves relaxed after hearing the strangely soothing voice of the silver creature. "Little crab, you don't have to be afraid anymore. I've dealt with them."
The crab didn't completely understand the meaning, but the gentle tone made it take its long black eyes out and look at the silver creature. 'Is it hungry after fighting? Will it eat me?'
Andrea looked at the shy crab, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Why are you hiding, little one? I'm not going to hurt you."
Andrea had taken a liking to this crab during these days. She was even thinking of making a contract with it because it was truly too useful.
And it was also cute in its own way. Andrea liked cute and cuddly things, so this crab fit perfectly in the description. 'Although it is a crab, it is strangely fluffy and cute.'
The crab went out from its shell and looked at Andrea warily.
Andrea felt its wariness and crouched in front of it, petting it between the eyes softly. Her voice was gentle and deep, relaxing even the nervous crab. "I'm really not going to hurt you. Can you trust me, little one? When all of this is over, I can let you go wherever you want, or we can make a contract if you like."
The crab found the sentence too complicated to understand, so it took Andrea some time to make it comprehend. When it understood, it was silent for a moment. Its eyes spun as it thought, which made Andrea chuckle.
Then, it stood up and clacked its pincers twice, agreeing with Andrea. The way it did it was kind of arrogant, as if saying, 'Hmph, be glad this one is allowing you to remain by my side!'
Andrea smiled under the helmet, and they continued moving forward toward the entrance of the Volcano. Those five beasts were guarding it, and that is why Andrea fought against them.
Andrea guessed that there should be something inside. It was a rule that most of the time was correct. "If there are beasts guarding something, it is most likely to be powerful treasures nearby."
The entrance to the Volcano was similar to a cave, and it went down. Moreover, it was very wide, at least fifty meters. The size really dwarfed Andrea and the small crab, but the five corpses of the ten-meter-tall creatures around her spoke volumes.
Andrea had spotted some cultivators near. Between them, there were demons, beasts-humans, humans, and intelligent beasts. All of them had been observing her battle and waiting for a chance to strike. However, they didn't dare take the chance since she overwhelmed the creatures.
"Just some annoying mosquitos flying around the place. If they dare to approach, they will get burned." Andrea ignored them and gathered plenty of minerals with the help of the crab as she went deeper into the Volcano.
Thankfully, she had retrieved the previous two rings from the Demonic cultivators since her own was already filled with minerals. '1,000 thousand cubic meters is too small... I will have to upgrade my ring in the future. If some fools attack me, it will also be nice.'
Although Andrea didn't like initiating attacks to rob people, she had zero problems if they provoked her first. At first, she really wasn't like this. Andrea was someone that placed importance on honor and righteousness in battles.
Nevertheless, staying with Tatyana and Yasenia changed her values. If it was a tournament, she would fight as she wanted, but in the wild, she would use anything in her reach to kill her enemies.
After she entered the cave, many cultivators followed, attracted by the promise of riches and innate curiosity about the unknown. The number wasn't higher than twenty. They kept their distance from Andrea but slowly and surely followed after her.
Andrea felt the crab suddenly freeze through her spiritual sense, so she looked at it quizzically.
She saw with amusement how the crab danced and spun in place as if it was extremely happy.
Then, it clamped one pincer on Andrea's armored arm and began speeding in one direction, its legs making tap-tap-tap sounds on the ground.
It seems that no matter how excited, it still didn't forget the powerful protector beside it.
Andrea freed herself and ran beside it, amused. "Did you find something precious?"
The crab spun while running as its pincers made noises. It was practically shouting, 'Super treasure! Super Treasure!'
Andrea laughed and followed after it. She had her spiritual sense spread in the surroundings, alert of any danger that may jump their way.
They continued running through a series of tunnels until they reached a very wide and tall place. The place had at least three square kilometers and one hundred meters in height.
Veins of magma flowed around the walls, and the ceiling was no exception. The magma veins dripped on the floor, creating gravel made of solidified magma or rocks. Still, the magma inside the veins defied mostly gravity. It was honestly a dangerously beautiful place.
Andrea stretched her hand and caught one drop of that magma. She looked at the dense red-black liquid on her armored hand and analyzed the integrity of her armor.
After one minute, the drop cooled down and solidified in her hand. Andrea clenched her hand and pulverized the rock easily. 'Good, it isn't hot enough to damage my armor, and when solidified, it isn't hard enough to immobilize me. What about my little friend?'
The crab didn't even register those drops as they slid down from its "carapace" as if it was water. Andrea saw that it was some kind of aura that did this and not the mineral and was impressed, 'Is it immune to magma? It keeps surprising me in one way or another. What an interesting creature.'
However, Andrea also saw that the crab wasn't moving because it was paralyzed with fear. Andrea followed its gaze and looked directly toward the opposite side of the room.
On the opposite side of this place, there was an enormous grey and reddish gate with different carvings of creatures made of magma fighting with each other. Those carvings were life-like, creating a beautiful, intricate, and imposing picture.
However, this gate wasn't unguarded. There were creatures in front of it, and not one or two.
There were almost twenty creatures, ranging between the middle and peak levels of the third rank.
Andrea sighed with relief when she didn't find a fourth-ranked creature. 'I can somehow fight against that number of creatures, but if this is a trial of some sort, there must be something somewhere. I don't believe that the creator wanted the challenger to fight against that amount of powerful creatures.'
Andrea looked around the room, and while walking, something suddenly clicked, 'Wait, why aren't they reacting to my presence? They didn't even growl or look at me. They are just standing there.'
Andrea looked at the 20 magma beasts with her light green eyes and frowned. 'Strange, what is going on here?'