Ember Dragon

Before crossing the boundary of the restricted area, some members of the [Mortals] guild were still quite worried and asked, "Brother, are we really sure we'll be fine just crossing like this? Those powerful families have all suffered defeats; can we commoners really possibly defeat them?"

"Hmph, don't boost their morale and diminish our own. We've been fully prepared for a long time, we just need the right opportunity. Don't forget our target, we're going to take down those high and mighty so-called elite families!"

Full of confidence amidst the chaos of the world, he pulled out a stack of spell scrolls from his backpack—a collection he had painstakingly purchased with all his family's wealth—from which dazzling magical light appeared.

Upon seeing this, the members of the [Mortal] Guild immediately brightened up.

"The president is so generous!"

"What a grand gesture! No wonder you're the strongest member of our Mortal Guild!"

"These scrolls must have cost a lot of money."

The troubled man scoffed, "What is this little bit of money compared to our grand cause?"

Although he spoke lightly, his heart was bleeding in this chaotic world. At this stage, mages had become highly sought-after by various guilds, but they were still a class that only the rich could afford to play.

As a purely grassroots guild, they, [Mortals], had no sponsors, no start-up capital, and no magical resources. The guild only had two level-four mediocre mages who could only cast a fireball spell and were otherwise useless.

In this chaotic world, Fu Sheng could only work odd jobs to save up gold coins to buy spell scrolls, hoping to turn his life around with this precious opportunity.

Suppressing the pain in his heart, he forced a nonchalant expression and activated the spell scrolls one after another in the chaotic world.

The first effect is that the group suffers elemental damage, and everyone's body surface is covered by a nearly transparent film made of energy.

This thin film can insulate against heat and cold, regulate the temperature of the skin surface, and enable the patient to adapt to temperatures ranging from -30°C to 60°C, without being harmed by the outside world, and to walk freely in extreme climates.

The second card grants increased resistance to the entire group. The bodies of all the casters are illuminated by a shimmering white light, and the caster gains a +3 resistance bonus on saving throws.

The third one, group protection energy damage.
After more than a dozen scrolls were activated in succession, the bodies of the members of the [Mortal] Guild shimmered with intertwined magical light, and multiple layers of shields appeared.

Although they were all basic, all-purpose spells, they gave these ordinary players a great sense of security.

"Brothers, follow me!"

In this chaotic world, Fusheng took the lead. With the blessing of [Jump] and [Feather Fall], and relying on the strong physique of a level nine [Champion Warrior], he leaped up and jumped directly into the air, more than ten meters high, and arrived above the Lava River.

"As expected of the president!"

"He's so handsome!"

The members of the Mortal Guild showered him with compliments, while two others followed closely behind Chaotic Life, gathering their strength before leaping into the air, their bodies as light as the wind.

Seeing that he was about to reach the other side, the chaotic man was overjoyed and began to look forward to displaying his great power.

But at that moment, a tremendous force suddenly pressed down on the shoulders of the chaotic world, as if carrying a heavy mountain, about to smash him into the river of lava.

Amidst the gasps of the crowd, Luan Shi Fusheng suddenly plummeted, but as a high-ranking warrior with superhuman body control, he struggled to twist in mid-air, forcefully turning his body away, and with all his might, grabbed the rocks on the riverbank with both arms, thus avoiding falling into the scalding lava river.

"Hoo, hoo, what's this? Could someone be plotting against me?"

Having narrowly escaped death, the drifting soul of the chaotic world climbed to the other side, panting heavily, feeling lingering fear yet also somewhat fortunate.

If he dies in this lava river, he will lose face in front of the players. His previous confident boasts and clamors will probably become material for others to ridicule him.

But then, a scream came from behind, followed by a muffled sound and the bubbling of lava.

"not good!"

The chaotic world changed its expression suddenly, its face turned ashen, and it abruptly turned its head to see that its two generals had been swallowed by the lava and disappeared without a trace, with only the lava still flowing slowly and churning endlessly.

"No, are they here to be funny?"

"Haha, I've seen people die on the first level, but I've never seen anyone die on the initial screen."

"No wonder he's called 'Unlucky Guy'!"

Laughter came from the other side of the river. Chaotic Life's face flushed red, he trembled with anger, and was filled with rage, but he still couldn't utter a word.

"Brother, something's strange about this place."

"Two people are dead now. Perhaps we should observe the situation further."

Despite the chaos, Fusheng shouted, "No, we must continue! I've staked everything on this; this is our last chance as ordinary people to surpass those professional gamers!"

"Big brother!"

His words were powerful and inspiring, stirring the blood of many players in the [Mortal] guild, some even bringing tears to their eyes.

What a spirit!
What a will!
However, the other players all stared at them as if they were idiots, looking on with amusement, hoping to learn from their mistakes and gain experience.

Fortunately, Luan Shi Fusheng had also made a backup plan, considering the possibility that his flying technique would fail. He took out a longbow from his backpack and drew an arrow with a grappling hook and rope attached.

In the chaos of the world, he nocked an arrow on the bowstring, drew the bowstring taut, gathered his strength, aimed briefly, and then released the arrow, sending it hurtling out.

The grappling hook hung on the opposite rock face, and the rope drew a graceful arc in mid-air, eventually connecting the two banks of the lava river.

With a flourish of the chaotic world, he casually put away his longbow, secured the other end of the rope to the rock, and shouted, "You can come over now. Don't worry, that was just an accident. I'm confident and capable of leading you through this!"

More than twenty players from the [Mortal] guild slid across to the other side using ropes one after another. This time, the process went exceptionally smoothly without any unexpected incidents.

Seeing the exploration progress on the progress bar subtly increase and his ranking rise to the top, Luan Shi Fusheng was overjoyed and said, "Let's go! We're going to become the pioneers of this dungeon!"

The group ventured deeper into this apocalyptic forbidden zone.

Thick smoke filled the air, reducing visibility to extremely low. They walked only a few dozen meters before disappearing from sight, leaving only faint silhouettes.

"The smoke is so thick, we can't see the road at all." The player next to him frowned.

The mage in the team waved his staff and cast a wind spell, but it could only disperse part of the smoke in front of him, and he couldn't see the situation in the distance at all.

Moreover, the area is filled with flowing lava and solidified magma, shrouded in volcanic ash, extremely hot, and filled with scorching steam, even the air is slightly distorted.

However, thanks to the [Tolerance for Elemental Damage] buff, they will not be harmed by these scorching air currents for the time being.

Amidst the tension and excitement of life in this chaotic world, he gripped his longsword tightly and whispered, "Don't worry, our strategy is to meet force with force and water with water."

Sweat dripped from his forehead, and he could feel his teammates' breathing becoming increasingly rapid and heavy.

"what!"

Suddenly, a scream rang out from behind the group. Everyone turned around in alarm to see the druid player in the group shatter the already cracked ground and was about to fall into the underground lava pool. Fortunately, a warrior player reacted quickly and grabbed him just as he was about to fall. The rubble fell into the pool below, splashing up scalding lava that eroded the rock walls, leaving pits in the ground.

The druid player was terrified, clutching his teammate's hand tightly and wailing, "Damn it, this place is full of traps! Pull me out!"

"I saved your life, so it's not too much for you to call me godfather, is it?"

"Godfather!"

"Hey, not bad, not bad, my son, I'll pull you up right now."

"Don't waste time joking around now," said Luan Shi Fusheng, frowning.

For some reason, he had a vague sense of unease, as if a deadly crisis was about to befall them.

As a champion warrior, his fighting instincts and premonitions have always been very accurate, and in this chaotic world, he seemed to hear the magma churning and surging underground, as if something was stirring at the bottom of the pool—that sound was definitely not made naturally!

"Watch out! Something's under your feet!"

"what?"

Before the two players could react, the unexpected event occurred.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, a huge black shadow leaped out of the lava pool, instantly creating towering waves in the magma. The behemoth opened its abyss-like maw and swallowed the two players whole.

It crashed through the ground in an instant, sending rocks flying and lava splashing everywhere. It even leaped more than ten meters into the air, revealing its ferocious full appearance.

—It was a monster that resembled a fish, over ten meters long, entirely crimson, covered with a shell as hard as rock, from which scalding magma constantly oozed.

The strange fish looked down at the players from mid-air, its eyes flashing with ferocity, and flames blazing forth.

【Lava Ichthyosaur】

Challenge Level: 9
Chaos-ridden Life was startled again and shouted, "This is a fire elemental creature! Everyone scatter! It's not just targeting those two!"

Sure enough, the strange fish twisted its massive body in mid-air and clumsily crashed towards the player, like a small mountain falling from the sky.

"Don't, don't come over here—"

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the earth trembled and rumbled as another huge hole was smashed into the ground. Three players who couldn't dodge in time fell into the lava pool and became food for the strange fish.

"Run! This monster won't let us go easily!"

The players ran at top speed, while the strange fish leaped out of the lava pool again and again, crashing into the ground. Several players were unable to dodge in time and fell into the pool. Only when the group of players ran out of the underground lava pool did the strange fish open its blood-red maw and roar to the sky.

"damn it!"

Chaotic Life slammed his fist against the rock in front of him, his face contorted with anger. He said indignantly, "I warned them long ago to be aware of danger and stay vigilant. But what did they do? Not only did they lose their lives in vain, but they also dragged their teammates down with them!"

In this attack, the Mortal Guild lost eight players. Including the two who fell into the Lava River earlier, their team has now lost half of its members.

And so far, they have only explored a few hundred meters in this [Doomsday Forbidden Zone] and stayed there for more than ten minutes!

Suddenly, the players' voices trembled, filled with fear.

"Yes, Chairman."

"you"

"Get out of there!"

In the chaos of life, Fusheng was exasperated with his teammates who were dragging him down, and asked impatiently, "What is it now?"

But soon he realized something was wrong. The rock he had touched seemed to be shaking violently, heating up rapidly, and turning scalding red. Then, a huge black shadow enveloped him completely.

"Holy shit."

With a rumble from the ground, Luan Shi Fusheng stiffly raised his head and found that the "giant rock" in front of him was gradually rising from the ground, transforming into a huge giant with flowing lava. Its body emitted extreme heat, causing the air to distort, steam to rise, and sparks to fly.

[Fire Elemental Giant]

Challenge Level: 15
"Roar--"

The fire elemental behemoth roared to the sky, spewing two streams of furious flames from its eyes. Its enormous fist swung through the air, distorting the air and carrying terrifying force as it slammed down on the chaotic world.

"boom!"

The earth suddenly cracked open, sending rubble and dust flying into the sky, and a huge crater was smashed into the ground.

However, thanks to the warrior's amazing reflexes, Luan Shi Fusheng fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding the punch. His longsword flew out of his hand, spun several times in mid-air, and then plunged straight into the ground.

In the chaos of the world, Fusheng instinctively rushed forward, wanting to draw his longsword, only to find that the hilt was heated red-hot by the high temperature underground, making it impossible to grip.

He painfully threw aside his longsword, strode towards the depths of the forbidden zone, and shouted as he did so:

"Let's go! This is its home turf; we're afraid we won't be able to defeat it!"

"Go!"

"What the hell is this place? There are boss-level monsters everywhere!"

However, the fire elemental behemoth awoke from its slumber and was now in a state of rage. It pounded the earth violently, roaring hoarsely as it unleashed the raging elemental power within its body.

"Boom! Boom!"

With a violent roar, pillars of scorching magma erupted from the ground, instantly destroying the bodies of several players.

"That was close."

Just as a player breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to have escaped the pillar of fire, a burning rock plummeted from the sky, whistling through the air and smashing him into a charred pulp.

For this group of players who have not undergone specialized combat training or systematic tactics, this level 15 boss is completely invincible.

The once high-spirited [Mortal] guild is now reduced to only a handful of members!
Looking back on his chaotic life, as he watched his fellow civilians, with whom he had once shared lofty ideals, being killed one after another, he was overcome with grief and tears streamed down his face.

"Heaven is forsaking me! Is there truly no hope for the common people?" (End of Chapter)