Chapter 248: The Shadow Calamity XXV

Whoosh!

A golden lava column hit the layer of shadow clouds, generating a dull ring along with some air waves. It exploded midair like a pricked balloon, sending Camphoragate debris in all directions like ripple waves on a body of water.

Within the dark shadows, the infinite Camphoragate giant palm that had completely blocked off the Crimson Sun was broken apart by a rush of the Sacred Lava Mountain’s golden lava.

As the air waves spread out from the impact, the shadow layer above the summit of the Sacred Lava Mountain was split open mercilessly.

The golden lava burst into the skies from the Camphoragate giant palm like an epic water show. Countless golden droplets fell like rain from the dark skies above, penetrating the shadow cloud, falling towards the ground.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter…

In the blink of an eye, the dark, shadowy skies became pock-marked by rays of sunshine as lava burst through the shadow cloud layer, shining onto the ground surface.

At the same time, the Principal Will from the Sorcerer World of the Principal Void Fortress halted momentarily. A few Demon-Hunter Sorcerers felt it spread over as the shadow clouds above were punctured.

“Gah? Oh my god! Master Grimm!”

Under the Mask of Truth, Grimm lifted his head. He widened his eyes as his pupil constricted into the size of a needle tip.

‘This is a downpour of lava!’

Each liquid droplet of Golden Lava was about the size of a baby’s fist. Countless of these droplets fell densely from the skies above the Shadow Camphoragate. As golden lava continued spurting out of the column, the downpour of lava doesn’t seem like it was letting up anytime soon.

Golden, vermillion light was projected onto the skies above.

The heat and sheer destructive power of this lava was astronomical as it was a condensation of the purest Flame Energy by the Lava Giant species. Low-level Demon Hunter Sorcerers like Grimm would never be able to withstand such immense powers.

The rain of lava was so immensely hot and dense that it incinerated the distorted space, causing it to wave about in flames.

“No!”

As if on cue, the five other Demon-Hunter Sorcerers alongside Grimm that were on a mission to establish the ‘Coordinates of the Infinite Crimson Sun Seal’ yelled out in panic as they dropped whatever they were doing at that time.

A young female sorcerer with auburn hair, as well as two other Bright Sorcerers flew, without hesitation in the opposite direction of the Sacred Lava Mountain.

The Dark Demon-Hunter Sorcerer swung his magic staff high in the air, as a surge of magic flew towards six Jack O’ Lanterns. They shrieked in pain and not long after, self-destructed in an explosion, turning into puffs of orange shadow-mist which entered into the Dark Sorcerer’s body.

The Demon-Hunter Sorcerer rode an Elk with antlers that shone with a blinding brightness that shimmered in the color of corals. ‘Mouuuu’ it bugled, and immediately after, both the rider and the elk wavered like ripples, vanishing into thin air.

“Fire Shield!”

“Full force deployment of Sorcerer’s Barrier!”

“Wild Instinct Level One, Initiate!”

In a flash, black scales about the size of a penny covered Grimm’s body in a dense formation, emitting a faint, dark light. Grimm grunted as he raised his Fire Shield high. A look of despair was projected onto his face as the Lava Rain fell in a seemingly unending stream.

“You got any ideas?” Grimm was hanging onto a thin thread of hope as he asked Myna that question in the final moments before the lava rain completely engulfed the area.

Myna screeched childishly, “Take care, young master. You will live on forever in my heart!”

Finishing his sentence, Myna started distorting, disappearing from reality.

‘Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!…’

Droplets of lava rain had started creeping closer to their position. Cracks of explosions and rumbling from their impacts grew stronger by the seconds. The few Demon-Hunter Sorcerers including Grimm were faced with pure despair.

These droplets of lava the size of a baby’s fist would burst into huge fireballs upon their collision with the ground. The strong shockwave from the impact would shatter the rocky ground into shards like glass. This means that pieces of burning shrapnel were traveling in every direction due to the shockwaves, turning the entire area into a meat grinder.

Without a moment’s notice, Armageddon had arrived’

While these golden droplets of lava might seem unremarkable from afar, the aftermath of their collision with the ground was terrifying as the heat of the flames from each droplet was over a thousand degrees. A disaster of such scale would spell certain death for Grimm and his fellow low-level Demon-Hunter Sorcerers.

The three Bright Magicians who initially decided to flee:

The young female sorcerer that looked rather cute was met with ill fortune as she was struck by a droplet of lava rain. Her Sorcerer’s Barrier put up little resistance against the heat and melted away in an instant. A cavity the size of a skull was burnt straight through her chest.

“Ugh…”

Her innocent, delicate face contorted as she yelled out in pain. Flames from the cavity in her chest now enveloped her entire body. A low ‘rumble’ was heard as she bursts into flames in the sky. Her charred figure now looked like a giant bear that was crying out in pain and anguish.

In the blink of an eye, she was reduced to a mere pile of flying ash. At this moment, what was left of her remains were indistinguishable from the surrounding flames around the Sacred Lava Mountain.

The other two Demon-Hunter Sorcerers were no more fortunate than the young girl. They were ground up into pieces of blood, flesh, and bones by the rock shrapnel from shockwaves all around. Immediately after that, they were incinerated by the heat from the flames, turning their corpses into pure black carbon.

On the other side.

The Dark Demon-Hunter Sorcerer with six Jack O’ Lanterns’ shadows within his body was met with flames from all directions, accompanied by hails of shockwave rock shrapnel. Like usual, the shadows of the Jack O’ Lanterns shrieked in a high-pitched voice right before the moment they died, as if announcing the death of the sorcerer himself.

After the sorcerer’s brief struggle, a drop of lava rain fell directly on his head

Splat!

A fireball with a diameter of a dozen meters erupted, sending rock shrapnel flying towards every direction. On the exact spot where the sorcerer previously stood appeared a massive crater with hot liquid spilling all over the place. Traces of this sorcerer were wiped out completely in an instant.

Mou…

The Elk cried out in distress, as the burning drops of lava managed to set the distorted space on fire. It squeezed parts of the Elk out of the unknown void, and from that point of exposure, set the great white-bearded sorcerer along with his Elk on fire, turning them into pieces of char.

On Grimm’s side.

“Argh…”

Pain consumed his entire body, what were once his legs are now gone, along with one of his arms. Grimm who had only his upper body left roared in pain. The Sorcerer’s Barrier, the black Scale Armor, and his strong physique were all now a burden, prolonging his painful suffering.

As a result of continuous hails of Flame Energy and rock shrapnel, what was left of Grimm’s body was riddled with injuries. Although Dissimilation Sorcery kept on turning his body cells into tendrils, repairing the physical damage, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

‘Am I going to die?’

Following that thought were two explosions, that made Grimm’s ears ring. Two lava rain droplets had fallen to the ground not far from Grimm’s body. The ground shattered as intense burning shockwaves sent countless pieces of rock shrapnel flying in every direction.

Taking a deep breath, Grimm’s eyes under the Mask of Truth burst into a ray of shimmering light. This was the will of his struggle, that refuses to accept his death, that was so desperate to hold on to the hope for survival.

Grimm raised his magic staff high with his remaining arm, releasing all of his remaining Magic Energy at once.

“Boom!”

A wave of flames swept across the area. Grimm’s vision was filled with darkness and he could no longer feel his arms, let alone know of his Staff’s location. Suddenly, a glare of light penetrated his eyes but everything turned into darkness thereafter. Now without his vision, the use of ultrasound was equally as disorientating with so many explosions happening all around him.

At this moment, Grimm had lost everything he could rely on.

‘There is no hope left…’

As if arriving at life’s final stage, Grimm’s mind had gradually calmed down after an intense initial struggle.

Silently, Grimm started recalling fragments of his own life, from the memories of when he was an orphan on the streets with no life experiences, to being adopted by Old Ham. As a Dark Sorcerer he did countless dull experiments in the pursuit of knowledge, in a desperate bid to achieve his dreams. He also remembered his previous wish to explore the unknown mystical world alone.

However, at this moment, Grimm had to give it all up.

Among Grimm’s perceptions, all that was left was the natural force instinct, acquired when he officially became a sorcerer. Lending the strength of this final bit of energy, Grimm lifted what remains of his body, his torso, neck, and head into mid-air as he continued to be relentlessly scorched by incoming flames

The Crimson Sun Seal’s golden lava column on the Sacred Lava Mountain was still not showing any signs of weakening. Not only did it break through the Shadow Camphoragate cloud layer above the mountain, it started spreading mercilessly in all directions, like a pair of ruthless hands ripping open a hole in the dark sky.

The fire-domain world was now brightly lit by a ray of light again.

The number of Amonros burnt to death within this short timespan was nearly impossible to estimate.

‘Red, black…’

In Grimm’s perception using natural force, he found Flame Energy and Enigmatic Energy intertwining in harmony. Defying the mystical law of this world, such reflection of a mutually transforming energy was being created in this extreme environment.

‘Opposing energies mutually transforming?’

This was what he had been pursuing all along–a mutually opposing, clashing energy–one that was of the same scale as what was unfolding before him. In other words, had he been pursuing heights of knowledge that challenged the limits of this world’s law?

It seems that this world, having briefly experienced extreme darkness had now started moving towards the other end of the extremity.

“I guess the Great Cataclysm has already started.”

A strand of hope was born in Grimm’s heart. Grimm was on the brink of giving up when the will of his soul flared up.

‘Something’s wrong!’

Other than the force of nature, Grimm had felt something else in his perception. It was a sheet of transparent paper that looked like the surface of a pond. It was a layer of relative spatial boundary that normal beings would never perceive in their lifetime.

‘This is the relative boundary between the Material World and the Void World as well as its entry point!’

“Ah…”

Grimm let out a small voice before he dove into a black sphere in the blink of an eye, disappearing from the spot where he laid.