Chapter 263 – Treasure Pilfering
At nightfall, the vicinity of the townlet also quietened down, as if all the monsters had returned to their lairs.
However, Fatty knew that they were still keeping watch from afar. Once a human left the town, they would definitely initiate a full-swing a.s.sault.
Luo Kun held a conference at the town hall to discuss countermeasures with the officers. Meanwhile, Fatty snuck out of town.
Originally, the gates were closed and entry and exit were strictly prohibited. Fatty had to use one of his movement art chances to Earthwalk outside.
In actuality, every town and city would have magical runes carved onto the structure somewhere to prevent enemies from teleporting inside. However, Fatty’s Elemental Movement Art was superior to any standard s.p.a.ce magic.
Fatty rode the Dark Unicorn and flew up high. He headed in the direction where the Mutated Fire Kite had left at sunset earlier.
Inside the forest, there was only pitch darkness aside from the occasional sounds of insects, which only made the silence stand out even more.
Those familiar with the rules of the forests all knew that they got increasingly dangerous at night. Any monster who came out to hunt in the evening was likely to be powerful and cunning.
After traveling for a short while, Fatty was tailed by a Ghost Bat. If it weren’t for him reacting quickly to lose it, he would have been pursued by a colony of its kind.
Zooming past above the trees, Fatty stopped at a spot far away from the Mutated Fire Kite’s lair and landed. Then, he continued forward slowly in Stealth.
The bird’s lair was on a high mountain. Even from quite a distance, Fatty could already feel the waves of heat sweeping at him.
Red light could be seen leaking out from the entrance into the mountain, illuminating the sky above. Without a doubt, this was an active volcano.
The sounds of fire burning echoed from the distance. They reminded Fatty of that Fire Kirin Beast which he captured to be a replacement for West the Flame Ruler in the Fire Valley. Back then, the Fire Kirin Beast also resided in the mouth of a volcano, but that one wasn’t as big as the one before him right now.
The closer he got, the more overwhelming the force of fire was. Moreover, there were groups of monsters patrolling around the mountain, most of them being fire-attribute with a random mix of other elements. The monsters either gathered in random spots or wandered to and fro, but they all kept the roads leading up the mountain under close watch.
However, this was useless against Fatty. He teleported a kilometer in with Earthwalk. Then, with another Earthwalk, he arrived at the belly of the mountain.
Flames billowed inside the crater. Met with a raging heatwave as soon as he entered, Fatty’s health began to slowly drop.
Consequently, he was forced out of Stealth.
Carefully hiding behind a rock, Fatty stretched his neck to look down. This spot was still a distance away from the bottom, allowing him to see only a vague red lumination and hear only the sound of lava bubbling non-stop. There was yet any sign of the huge fire kite.
Groups of fire monsters danced around everywhere below. There were up to tens of thousands of fire bats, firebirds, fire spirits, and the like, ranging from level 50 to 60.
After thinking for a bit, Fatty concealed himself well and slowly climbed down.
The fire burned more intensely as Fatty went. His health also dropped more and more quickly, albeit still within an acceptable rate. Aside from occasionally eating a red pill, Fatty ignored the dwindling health bar as he quietly traveled.
Upon reaching halfway down the mountain, Fatty finally saw the ma.s.sive Mutated Fire Kite. The beast was lying in the lava pool with its wings folded, sound asleep.
In front of the bird was a hovering object in the shape of a round tray. The object emitted a gentle white light that shone in all directions.
Below the tray, there were several dozen magic stones providing it with magic force.
“It must be this.” Fatty concluded and grew even calmer as he pondered for a chance to make his move.
All of a sudden, the Mutated Fire Kite raised its head. Its eyes popped open, a cold gleam briefly flas.h.i.+ng through them.
Whoos.h.!.+ The bird spread its wings and flew out from the pond, bringing up a cataract of bubbling hot lava. In the air, it swept a glance around, then directly flew out from the crater and vanished from sight.
As the bird zoomed past Fatty, a seething heatwave crashed into him. Fatty’s health dropped more than half in a blink of an eye.
“Great chance!” Fatty tossed a red pill in his mouth and stood up. However, he abruptly halted his steps and hid back behind the rock.
With a rumble, a big boulder on the mountain wall turned over, revealing a huge monster carrying several NPCs on its back.
From the looks of it, this monster was earth-attribute like the Underground Worm. For it to be able to carry several people at once, it naturally wasn’t an ordinary mount.
These NPCs obviously came for the same reason as Fatty.
“That’s the Spatial Tray.” An NPC instantly recognized the object at a single glance.
“Spatial Tray? A Divine remnant?” The others exclaimed.
Their exclamation drew the attention of the fire monsters. A shriek resounded, and countless fiery red monsters shot down at the group in a dense red ma.s.s.
“Hold them off,” The knowledgeable NPC ordered. Then, he ignored the monsters and arrived at the edge of the lava pond with just a few steps.
The Spatial Tray hovered above the lava pond like a moon rising in the red sky.
The NPC waved his hand, and the air around him ruptured with small cracks. This NPC was at least a s.p.a.ce Grand Magus.
“Hurry up! The general can only delay for ten minutes,” another shouted. The rest of the NPCs stood close to one another and raised their hands, which began to s.h.i.+ne in unison. A light screen ten-something meters in diameter materialized above their heads and blocked the attacks from the rain of monsters.
Bzzzz! As the s.p.a.ce mage deployed his magic, the Spatial Tray resonated and shone even more brightly.
Puff! A flame pillar suddenly rose from the lava pond and shot at the NPC.
Bam! Slapping away the pillar attack, the NPC’s expression grew serious. “The Mutated Fire Kite set up a magic formation in here. It’s impossible to solve it in a short time.”
“Then cut off the energy source for the Spatial Tray, just for a short time so that the Teleportation Portal can operate!” another NPC shouted.
“I’ll try my best.” The s.p.a.ce mage didn’t seem optimistic. A magic staff appeared in his hand, shooting out a faint white light that aimed to interrupt the energy transference between the magic stones and the Spatial Tray.
From who-knows-where, the Mutated Fire Kite had actually gathered a bunch of magic stones and placed them all in the lava pond. The energy to power the Spatial Tray came from those stones.
As the NPC cast his magic, the connection between the Spatial Tray and the magic stones were gradually severed. If it succeeded, the Spatial Tray would stop functioning for several minutes, giving them enough time to operate the Teleportation Portal.
Hooo… Fatty suddenly felt the temperature rise. Lifting his head, he instantly saw the ma.s.sive firebird hovering above and looking down at them with mocking eyes.
“Crafty motherf*cker!” Hastily swallowing a red pill, Fatty scrambled for the NPCs’ monster mount and climbed on. “Go! The bird is back!”
“What?” The NPCs jumped. Looking up to see the Mutated Fire Kite, everyone paled in shock.
“Just a little more, I’ve almost got it!” the s.p.a.ce mage shouted.
Boom! A big fireball descended and directly shattered the magic barrier above their heads.
“There’s no time! Go!” an NPC shouted. He urgently controlled the mount to turn and run.
Whoos.h.!.+ When the bird attacked again, the mount had already managed to escape from the crater.
“Screeeech!”
With a long hum, the firebird slowly landed into the lava pond. It swept its huge beady eyes around before once again falling asleep.
“Aiii, I was so close. A few more minutes and I could have cut it off…” The s.p.a.ce mage sighed.
“Looks like there was some problem on the general’s side. Otherwise, the general definitely could have held it for ten minutes as he had said.”
“Everyone, be safe on your way back.” Fatty jumped off the monster mount.
“You want to go back in there?” An NPC was startled.
“If you can resolve this crisis, we’ll definitely thank you, big time.”
Fatty smiled wordlessly. Bobbing his head a little, he disappeared into the night.
When he arrived at the crater once more, the firebird was sleeping soundly in the lava pond just like before.
Fatty patiently lay in wait until sunrise.
“Screeech!”
With a long screech as usual, the Mutated firebird flew up and headed towards the townlet for a new siege.
Fatty carefully snuck his way down to the pond edge. Then, he stood there with a worried frown.
The NPCs who came here yesterday were at least of the 7th cla.s.s enhancement, and yet they couldn’t break the magic formation around the tray. What could someone like Fatty do then?
The Spatial Tray emitted a gentle white light that spread wide and long, obviously controlling this area. Fatty wondered how the Mutated firebird operated this Divine spatial remnant.
“Inky,” Fatty called out. The Dark Sacrificer appeared from thin air and floated toward the Spatial Tray.
Bam! Several flame pillars rammed onto Inky and sent it flying. A white light rose up; the pet was insta-killed.
The fire monsters above heard the commotion and dived down from above. Fatty was forced to retreat and hide.
“Fire-attribute magic formation.” Fatty’s eyes sparkled. Escaping from the monsters’ detection, he jumped into the lava pond.
Puff. The moment he jumped in, Fatty used Firewalk.
Boom! As the magic formation was triggered by Fatty, several flame pillars shot up from the bottom of the pond.
The moment these flame pillars were about to disperse, Fatty dashed out from the fire remnant and grabbed the Spatial Tray.
Bzzzzz! The tray resonated and emanated ripple upon ripple of white halos. The halos, or the force of s.p.a.ce to be exact, crushed Fatty’s grabby hand.
“F*ck! It hurts!” Fatty’s face distorted with pain. He lifted a hand, and a bolt shot right at the middle of the Spatial Tray.
Ting! A bolt struck the tray. The latter only swayed ever so slightly before it also sliced the bolt to shards.
Hooo… A flame pillar headed at Fatty. If it hit him, Fatty would definitely die with his little amount of health left.
Whoos.h.!.+ Fatty quickly deployed the Zephyr Wings and steadied himself in the air. The Elemental Skill Book appeared in his left hand. With a ferocious face, Fatty heavily slammed it down.
Puff! Fire sparks burst in all directions. The skill book actually smashed the pillar to pieces, completely disabling the attack.