Chapter 90

"……Self-destruction is romantic"

"？…Aichi?"

"Mr. Aichi?"

Exposed to the heavy rain of the aurora, Aichi suddenly pursed his lips and muttered these words. Tsuki and Sia looked at him with surprised expressions. Aichi said, "Nothing," and shook his head, and with the support of the two, managed to jump and step onto the edge of the central island.

After Thea took off, the surrounding lava surged like a floodgate had been opened. All footholds except the central island had already been submerged in the sea of lava. The central island would also be swallowed within five minutes.

The aurora pouring down was swallowed by Tsuki's [Absolute Calamity], and the anxious gray dragons directly attacked Sia, but were knocked into the sea of lava by Doryugen. This happened repeatedly, and the number of gray dragons had been reduced to ten.

On the central island, the initial lava dome had disappeared, replaced by a pitch-black building. Next to the building, a large disk floated a few centimeters above the ground, directly below the shortcut exit that had opened in the ceiling. So, they were supposed to ride this to leave from here.

Compared to attacking Aichi and the others, the gray dragons were now desperately avoiding the spouting lava pillars. Aichi and the others watched the flustered gray dragons with a sideways glance as they approached the pitch-black building.

At first glance, it was just a rectangular building without doors or windows, with a wall carved with the same pattern indicating it was one of the Seven Great Labyrinths. Aichi and the others stood in front of it, and the wall quickly and silently slid open, revealing an entrance. As the three entered, the lava finally reached the central island, and it was about to be swallowed. The door quickly and silently closed, blocking the flowing lava at the last moment.

For a while, Aichi and the others stared at the door, and it seemed that the door would not melt and the lava would not flow in, so they all breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, a room in such a place would be lava-resistant, but when this result appeared, it was still reassuring.

"Can we relax for now... Even so, this room can even block vibrations..."

"Hmm... Aichi, that"

"About the magic circle"

As soon as they entered the room, they no longer felt the earthquake-level vibrations, and Aichi showed surprise. When he muttered this, Tsuki pointed to something. There, a complex and intricate magic circle was visible. A magic circle of the Age of Gods. The three nodded to each other and stepped into it.

As with the [Orkus Great Labyrinth], memories overflowed, and the path of conquering the labyrinth played in their minds. When the scene of defeating all the lava serpents flashed, it seemed to acknowledge the conquest, and the magic of the Age of Gods was directly engraved in their minds.

"…This is, a space manipulation magic"

"…A kind of teleportation"

"Ah, that guy who suddenly appeared from behind"

Clearly, the magic of the Age of Gods in the [Guren Great Volcano] was [Spatial Magic]. And like gravity magic, it was a magic that could interfere with the laws of the world. The magic of the Age of Gods was still so avant-garde.

Tsuki mentioned Fried's ambush. Probably, the initial ambush was also carried out using spatial magic to appear and attack. Whether he used spatial transfer to distort space or was hiding somewhere, the trouble was the same. During the second ambush, if Sia hadn't immediately used the derivative skill [Hypothetical Future] of [Future Vision], Aichi might have been hit directly. It was truly a masterful move.

After Aichi and the others learned the spatial magic, the light of the magic circle gradually subsided, and a small part of the wall clicked open. The front wall also began to display shining text.

[The future of humanity is built on the foundation of free will, earnestly beseeching]

[Nayz Guren]

"…Concise"

Seeing this message, Aichi frankly expressed his thoughts. Looking around, he noticed that this room, as the residence of the founder of the [Guren Great Volcano], was quite bleak. It had no sense of life like Orkus' residence. It was just a place with a magic circle.

"…He had nothing"

"Mr. Nayz, besides magic, seems to have left nothing"

"Speaking of which, Oscar's notebook also mentioned Nayz. He seems to have been a rather taciturn person"

Leaving the task of supporting Aichi to Sia, Tsuki walked to the fist-sized wall cabinet (the small part of the wall that opened) and took out a pendant. Unlike the boring proof of conquest they had obtained so far, this circular pendant was intricately designed and unique. Tsuki quietly hung the pendant around Aichi's neck.

"…So, we have the magic and the proof of conquest. Next, it's the escape"

"…How?"

"Any ideas? Probably, the outside is already completely filled with lava?"

Tsuki and Sia expressed their concerns, but there was no sense of unease in their voices. Seeing the two completely trust him, Aichi happily explained the escape plan.

"Of course, swimming in the lava"

"…Huh?"

"…Is that so?"

The first statement was a shockingly inadequate explanation. "Is it because he's injured too badly?" Tsuki and Sia's questioning expressions seemed to be somewhat worried about Aichi's head.

"No, I'll explain properly, so please don't look at me like that. You see, I actually prepared a submarine right outside this building. Thinking we would need it to go to the Merkine underwater ruins, I made it in advance. I was a bit unsure if it would hold up in the lava, but since the diamond-covered boat was fine, the same method should work. So, it should be fine, just like before."

"Really, without even realizing it, you did that..."

Sia's voice was one of surprise, and Tsuki's eyes were full of astonishment.

Actually, when Fried declared he would destroy the keystones, Aichi had already teleported the submarine into the lava from the treasure vault. If the submarine had melted, he would have temporarily given up on the magic of the Age of Gods and immediately broken through the ceiling with Thea. But after watching for a while, the submarine showed no signs of melting (it was equipped with a sensor stone, so he knew), so he estimated that they could escape even if the lava filled the outside.

However, the [Guren Great Volcano] was experiencing a clearly very bad strong earthquake, and the ground was collapsing everywhere, so the likelihood of a smooth escape was high. The deadline to return to Ankaaji was approaching, and there was no time to slowly explore an escape route. Therefore, to ensure they could bring back the [Silent Cause Stone] within the deadline, Aichi had Thea escape first.

"The escape route, of course, is the shortcut in the ceiling. Tsuki, I'll leave the barrier to the boarding port to you. Can you do it?"

"Um... I'll take care of it"

Tsuki nodded and carefully cast three layers of [Holy Absolute]. A brilliant barrier enveloped Aichi and the others. The three nodded to each other and stood in front of the door. Then, they opened the door leading to the outside, filled with boiling lava.

Immediately, a whooshing sound was heard, and a scorching flow rushed into the room. The reliable [Holy Absolute] protected Aichi and the others from the lava, and in an instant, their entire field of vision was dyed a crimson red. Experiencing this impossible experience of seeing lava from within lava, even though they were prepared, Aichi and the others were speechless. The world is vast, and Aichi and the others would surely have similar experiences in the future.

"Let's go out. Let's go!"

"Um"

"Okay, okay!"

At Aichi's command, the three slowly moved out of the room. In this dark, enclosed world where nothing could be seen, as Aichi had said, a submarine was indeed waiting near the entrance. Tsuki adjusted the barrier and moved toward the hatch, and eventually, the three finally boarded the submarine. Once inside, they all felt a sense of relief.

At that moment,

Rumble!!!

A shock that could not be compared to any previous vibrations attacked the entire space. Suddenly, the lava began to flow in a certain direction. The submarine was tossed around by the current, and Aichi and the others were thrown around like a milkshake in a blender.

"Whoa!?"

"Ow!?"

"Ouch! It hurts!"

Each of them collided violently with the walls and let out cries of pain. Tsuki immediately activated the application version of [Absolute Calamity], pulling them into a black vortex, and they finally escaped the milkshake state.

"Saved. Thanks, Tsuki"

"Very grateful, Miss Tsuki"

"Um... More than that"

Tsuki gently moved Aichi to the control seat with [Absolute Calamity]. Aichi injected magic power there and tried to control the submarine. Sensing the direction of the current and the viscosity of the lava, Aichi seemed to be thinking about something and did not steer the submarine.

"Damn, if we could be spewed out by the eruption, it might be lucky?"

"…Wrong?"

At Aichi's troubled expression, Tsuki was puzzled.

"Ah. The reason I don't get lost in the lava is because the specific stone of the Cross悬浮炮 gave me a hint. Before it self-destructed, I had it shoot the specific stone and place it near the exit, so I at least knew where the shortcut in the ceiling was... But this flow is moving away from the exit."

"Huh? So we're diving deeper underground?"

"Um, it doesn't feel like a vertical descent, but more like a diagonal downward... Speaking of which, it might be connected to somewhere... Tsuki, Sia, we can't return immediately... We'll just have to take it one step at a time."

Seeing Aichi's determined expression, Tsuki and Sia gently relaxed their eyes and leaned against him.

"…I'll be by your side until the end. If this can be achieved, there will be no problem"

"Um... Literally, even in the midst of fire and water. I, as