Chương 387: Chapter 370

From the first camp, they headed for the next, where Katie was once again unleashed in all her glory, with Puffball never far behind. The rest of the team focused on dealing with the stragglers and any demons that managed to slip past her relentless assault.

Most of the demons were not particularly powerful on their own, but every one of them had been equipped to survive in the harsh environment of the volcano and its myriad monsters, which meant they were tougher and more dangerous than their levels alone suggested. Plus, they worked exceptionally well together. They responded with devastating ice and earth magic, sending frozen shards and jagged stone crashing toward the team.

Dan countered the ice with his plasma while Sam vaporized or redirected the earth magic before it could reach them, allowing Katie and Isabella to focus on thinning the enemy ranks. Between Katie's overwhelming offense and Isabella's precise attacks, demons fell one after another, leaving the survivors scrambling to regroup. Clarissa remained in the back line, calmly making sure nobody died while keeping a constant stream of buffs flowing across the team.

Whenever an opportunity presented itself, she would weave a debuff or curse into the battle and watch with quiet satisfaction as its effects took hold. Some enemies suddenly began moving as though trapped in molasses, their attacks becoming sluggish and predictable, while others simply stopped fighting altogether, staring into the distance with dreamy expressions as the battle continued around them. They had to work for the victory this time.

The ease they had experienced in the previous fractures was nowhere to be seen, but they still weren't at the point where they had to break a sweat. Unfortunately, the second camp yielded little more than general information. They found collections of notes about the local fauna and the sparse flora that somehow managed to survive on the volcanic island.

While Sam made sure to carefully set those aside, knowing they would become useful once they began settling the island in earnest, they were completely useless for the purpose of figuring out what the demons actually wanted. At least the experience gains were nice.

"Any interesting drops?" he asked as the group gathered after combing through the remains of the second camp. Everybody looked at one another before shaking their heads. Clarissa stepped forward first and dumped a pile of generic potions and elixirs onto the ground in front of them. Bottles clinked together as they rolled across the hardened volcanic soil.

"Everything we have is better than this," she said dismissively. Isabella and Katie followed, adding the items they had gathered to the growing pile. Most of it consisted of reagents harvested from the same monsters they had encountered in the previous fractures. Some of the materials were high quality, but they already had hundreds of most of them sitting in their inventories, making the haul little more than additional stock for the guild. Dan was next. He set down a stack of skill books before shaking his head.

"Mostly ice and earth magic. Nothing we haven't seen in other places."

"Bummer," Sam commented as he added his own findings to the collection. Most of what he had gathered consisted of books, notebooks, and assorted documents, along with a few small piles of equipment. None of it was particularly noteworthy or likely to interest anyone on the team, but it was still valuable enough to justify storing in the guild vault for other players. For a moment, the group stared at the underwhelming pile of loot.

"Next camp?"

"Next camp." Thankfully, the third camp was a change of pace. Instead of the crude walls and collection of common demon researchers and workers they had encountered so far, they found an actual defensive position. Guard towers rose above sturdy fortifications, while properly constructed walls encircled the camp. Soldiers wearing real armor patrolled the battlements and watch posts, their eyes fixed on the horizon with disciplined focus.

Most of the settlement remained hidden behind the walls, preventing the team from getting a good look inside, but one structure stood out clearly above everything else. It was a tower. Built from obsidian gathered from the surrounding area, the dark structure rose above the camp like the black trunk of a tree struck by lightning. Even from a distance, its polished surface reflected the fiery glow of the volcano, giving it an ominous appearance.

Near the camp, they could also see a sunken mine carved into the volcanic rock. Haunted-looking demon workers moved through it in a slow but constant stream, hauling enormous blocks of black obsidian toward the settlement.

"Well, we know where we need to head…" Sam said blandly as he studied the fortified settlement. He raised his hand, holding both his index fingers and thumbs in an L shape as if framing a shot, then aligned them so the distant tower sat perfectly between them.

"Do you guys think I could destroy it from here?" he asked in a casual tone. Behind him, the team exchanged a glance, and then, almost as one, they turned toward him with immediate enthusiasm.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Katie immediately hopped backward with visible excitement.

"Wait! Let me record it! Izzy, go and record the tower, it's going to be awesome!" Isabella moved without hesitation, already positioning herself for a clear view of the target. Clarissa, meanwhile, stepped closer to Sam and began layering buff after buff onto him in quick succession, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation.

"I'll use up some of my cooldowns for this." Sam stared at them for a moment longer, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly before he sighed in resignation.

"Fine…" He stepped forward and settled into a comfortable stance, grounding himself as mana began to surge through his core. It spiraled outward around him at first in invisible currents, imperceptible to anyone without the ability to sense it, before gradually condensing and shifting into visibility as void mana.

Black and white strands twisted together in unstable harmony, circling him in a widening vortex as he drew it inward and compressed it into a single growing sphere in front of him, its surface pulsing with restrained and dangerous pressure. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. It did not take long for the demons to notice.

Even while maintaining focus on his own casting, Sam saw movement along the walls as guards rushed to the parapets, pointing in their direction and shouting alarms that carried faintly across the distance. A number of them began forming defensive spells almost immediately, layers of protective magic beginning to overlap across the walls. But it was already too late.

Sam held his aim for a few more seconds, ensuring precision as the obsidian walls of the tower caught the distant light and more defensive formations flickered into place along its surface. The pressure in front of him peaked as the sphere compressed further, straining against containment. Then he grinned.

"Boom," he whispered. The sphere of void mana ruptured only on the side facing the settlement, unfolding into a thick lance of pure void energy that erupted forward. It crossed the distance in a fraction of a second, the air itself seeming to distort as it passed, while Sam felt the drain on his mana surge sharply before Clarissa's support stabilized his regeneration and kept him steady.

For a brief moment, the beam struck the overlapping shields, pressing against them with overwhelming force as the defending demons poured everything they had into maintaining the barrier. His mana continuously drained as he poured more and more into the spell. Even from this distance, Sam could see the strain in their posture, the tension in their movements, and the way perspiration broke across their faces as they fought to hold it back. Then…

CRACK The shields fractured under the pressure and shattered outward in a cascading collapse. KRAKATHOOOM The lance of void magic surged through the opening, sweeping through defenses and structures alike before striking the obsidian tower directly. It pierced through the construction with devastating force, carving a glowing path through its core and sending fragments of black stone erupting outward in all directions.

"Mwahahahaha!" Katie laughed behind him, her voice almost gleeful as she watched the destruction. Sam let out a slow breath and wiped a trace of sweat from his brow as the mana he had gathered slowly dispersed.

"Let's go finish them…" The subsequent fracture runs unfolded in a very different manner. Instead of simply overwhelming and erasing the enemy forces as they had done before, they simply besieged the settlement surrounding the odd tower. They fought through multiple elite demon squads along the way, each of them equipped with heavy armor reinforced with dense enchantments and weapons designed specifically to counter high-level adventurers.

Every strike they made carried enough force to tear through lesser teams without hesitation, yet Sam's group had long since moved beyond that threshold. Sam had made sure that everyone was equipped with the best spell and skill combinations, refined by the research teams of countless guilds over ten years in the future. Plus, thanks to his hints and actions, they had enough experience to overcome almost anything that the game could throw at them. Then, at the top of the tower, things changed once again.

The demon they found there didn't attack on sight. He just stood in the middle of the chamber, waiting for them. He was a male demon with pale gray skin and long bluish-gray hair that fell in controlled strands over his shoulders. Unlike the others they had encountered, his clothing resembled high-quality explorer's gear rather than military armor, suggesting both status and experience beyond that of the regular forces stationed here.

"Fools. Do you understand what you have done?" he asked grandly the instant they crossed the threshold into the room. The chamber itself was filled with desks and tables covered in documents, maps, and scattered research notes, as though the tower served as both command center and laboratory. At the far end of the room stood a large metal apparatus anchored into the floor. Within its frame hovered a massive amber crystal, and suspended inside that crystal was an equally enormous eye.

Its vertical pupil dilated the moment Sam entered, locking onto him and tracking his movement with unsettling precision.

"My master's plan will not be stopped by a few humans," the demon continued, his tone filled with contempt. The word 'humans' was said with such derision that Sam had to hold himself back from visibly recoiling. The demon lifted one hand, and the apparatus behind him responded immediately. Sickly yellow light pulsed through its structure as streams of mana began to flow upward and converge into his body.

"Even now, my master is in the process of claiming this volcano for himself, and still he watches," the demon said, his voice rising as the energy intensified.

"He demanded your death, and I will fulfill that command." His body began to change as more and more of the mana infused his body. Yellow crystalline structures erupted beneath his skin in sharp, jagged growths, forcing their way outward as his frame expanded. His height increased rapidly, bones and flesh stretching under unnatural reinforcement until he began to tower over Sam and his friends.

The crystal spread in branching formations across his limbs and torso, binding into his joints and reinforcing his body while a viscous, flesh-like residue oozed around the newly formed structures. His eyes enlarged disproportionately, becoming plate-sized and distorted, filled with a manic, predatory light that was fixed on the team. His arms thickened into heavy, tree-trunk-like limbs, each ending in elongated claws that looked deadly.

By the time the transformation was completed, he was no longer entirely recognizable as he had been. He stood as an amalgam of pale flesh and sickly yellow crystal, warped into a form that had left behind the demon identity. The clothing on him ripped at strategic places to convey the seriousness of the transformation, yet covered the private areas. The game took its rating seriously. When he finally spoke again, his voice was far less of a demon and more like a monster.

It was deep and gravely, as if he was holding back a roar all the time.

"Now… I will take your heads myself." They left the last fracture on the second layer behind with their inventories already full of loot. The final demon had proven to be a valuable source of information. The story it revealed was, in essence, straightforward, even if the implications were anything but. Deep within the volcano lay a powerful, sacred presence, something old and significant enough to warrant seeking out.

The demon faction occupying the jagged tower had discovered this presence and was now attempting to assert control over it, either to consume it or to bend it to their will. In either case, their goal was clear enough that it required immediate intervention. They had to stop it at all costs. Even the system seemed to agree. [Congratulations! You have uncovered the secret behind the Burning Island!] [New quest acquired!] [Bursting Baptism!] [The volcano on the affectionately named Burning Island is home to a sacred presence. The demons have discovered it and intend to claim dominion over it. If you value all that is sacred, you must aid the presence and cleanse the island of these corrupt influences.] [Time Limit: 00: 59: 21] [Penalty: Death, Curse] [Accept: Yes/No] As Sam read the notification, another window appeared almost immediately beside it.

Where the initial message carried a tone of sanctity and order, the second radiated something far more predatory and utilitarian. It practically oozed evil… [New quest acquired!] [Demonic Usurpation!] [The demons of the Burning Island have discovered a method to empower themselves through the sacrifice of the island's sacred presence. Eliminate them and replace their influence within the ritual structure, claiming the resulting power for yourself and your faction.] [Time Limit: 00: 58: 11] [Penalty: Death, Curse] [Accept: Yes/No] Sam exchanged a glance with the others and found all of them in agreement. One by one, they nodded without hesitation. He dismissed the second window and accepted the first quest. For a moment, nothing changed. Yet Sam would have sworn the wind was moving through the field of obsidian beyond where the fracture portal had faltered, as though the world itself had briefly inhaled and held its breath.

Then the breeze returned, softer than before, brushing across their faces with a gentle caress.

"Let's go, team, and stop another megalomaniacal demon…"