Chapter 568, Section 567: The Spark

"A mission?"

A dwarf officer, whose armor bore the captain's insignia, accepted the pass from Bloom. He took out a badge inlaid with runes, pressed it onto the lord's mark, and a faint magical fluctuation emanated from it.

“The pass is not a problem.” The officer returned the documents, “but this area is currently closed to traffic. You will need to detour via the path at the foot of the mountain on the south side.”

That means at least two more days of arduous travel.

"Why is the road suddenly closed?" Bloom asked, puzzled. "Just a few days ago, people were traveling to and from Ash City on this road."

The dwarf officer's gaze swept over the delegation, and after a moment's hesitation, he decided to speak frankly:

“Those slag from the dungeon… that is, the fire elementals, haven’t given up yet. A few days ago, we were forced back by a counterattack, and a big guy rushed out and self-destructed, scattering a lot of ‘sparks’ around Golden Flame City.”

He pointed to the scorched and twisted wilderness behind him: "Those things have very weak magical fluctuations when they are hidden, making them difficult to detect, but once activated, they can generate a complete fire element in just a few breaths. We are currently clearing them out with all our might and cannot spare any manpower to escort you through this area."

The officer paused, his tone polite yet firm: "If anything happens to the delegation here, we cannot bear the responsibility. So, please take a detour."

His words were polite enough in response to the delegation that had come from afar, but the subtext was clear: don't come and cause trouble.

“We can protect ourselves,” Inanna said.

The dwarf officer glanced at the pink-haired woman with a troubled expression.

He naturally noticed the well-equipped guards and mages in the delegation, who were clearly from the regular army.

This team is at least more powerful than their cleanup squad.

But is this a question of whether or not one can protect oneself?

If the mission is allowed to proceed on its own, and any mishap occurs, they will inevitably be held accountable.

Who would willingly take on an extra risk for no reason?

Just as the officer was pondering whether he should refuse in a more resolute, even slightly rough, manner, the surrounding magic suddenly converged on a patch of scorched earth!

"Fire!" a dwarf mage shouted a warning.

Before the words were even finished, two fire elements composed of raging flames emerged from the scorched earth, and scorching waves of heat rushed towards them.

The mission's well-trained shield guards immediately stepped forward, protecting Ronan and Inanna in the center.

The dwarf warriors quickly formed ranks and prepared for battle.

Only three Puji remained unmoved.

What the Fire Seed supposedly "hidden" was, in Lin Jun's perception, nothing more than two clear panels floating above the scorched earth, marked with the [Dormant] status.

He had already browsed through the detailed information.

Although Lin Jun didn't tell anyone else, the Sword Saint had also detected the existence of the two fire seeds early on through his sense of qi. However, he judged that they posed no threat to the delegation, so he did not take action.

As for Number Four, who was comfortably lying in Inanna's arms, neither Fourteen nor the Knight made a move. Why was it in such a hurry?

Lin Jun was quite interested in this thing that the dwarves called "fire seed" but which was displayed as "dormant" on the panel.

Observing the changes in the panel from the moment the two fire elements emerged to their final form, he could see that they were not born from nothing by condensing magic power, but rather by some method that allowed the complete fire element to enter a deep dormancy, transforming into a "fire seed".

However, after carefully examining the panels of the two fire elementals, Lin Jun did not find any related skills.

Clearly, what transformed them into the "fire seed" state was another special fire element, most likely the giant creature that the dwarf officer mentioned that rushed out and exploded.

Lin Jun noted down this information and planned to search for it later.

He only hoped that this special fire elemental could have a core entity, just like the Balrog in the Deep Zone back then.

If it were in its pure elemental form, Lin Jun couldn't even eat it.

The sudden appearance of two fire elementals initially alarmed the dwarf officer, but a hint of smugness followed.

Two ordinary fire elementals were obviously no threat to them, but this sudden attack would undoubtedly allow the delegation to witness the danger of this place firsthand.

In this way, they will likely back down and choose to take a detour, saving me the trouble of arguing.

"etc!"

Just as the dwarves gripped their weapons, preparing to deal with the two fire elementals, Inanna suddenly spoke up, stopping everyone's actions.

Apart from Ronan, who vaguely guessed something, everyone else in the delegation looked puzzled.

Some dwarves completely ignored the unfamiliar human and continued their attack.

However, they were all stopped by Number Four, who jumped out and waved his tentacles.

"What are you doing? Looking for trouble?" The dwarf officer turned towards the delegation, somewhat annoyed.

But his question was cut short by the sight before him.

The two fire elementals, which should have pounced on the living beings immediately, were behaving strangely at this moment.

After emerging completely from the scorched earth, they did not launch an attack. Instead, they moved forward slowly and cautiously, inch by inch. The raging flames seemed to subside somewhat, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Then, something even more astonishing happened. Inanna gently pushed aside the guards in front of her and walked to the front of the group alone, standing there completely unprotected.

The two fire elementals reacted immediately. The flames on their bodies noticeably subsided, and even the high temperature they emitted was greatly reduced. Then, they began to slowly circle around Inanna.

They maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far, the leaping flames sometimes probing towards her, sometimes retreating as if startled, their posture...

It was as if he both longed to get close to her and instinctively feared hurting her!

The officer rubbed his eyes; this wasn't the fire elemental he recognized.

Everyone looked bewildered, except for Ronan, who knew more about the inside story. His hands trembled slightly with excitement as he murmured in a barely audible voice, "Is this... the favor of the elemental spirits? It's almost like... their master..."

The two fire elementals circled around obediently several times before finally stopping quietly a short distance behind Inanna, their flickering flames subsiding.

Inanna turned around. Amidst the crackling sounds of the flames burning on the fire elementals, she looked at the stunned dwarf officer and politely said, "Sir Dwarf, you see, I don't think these fire elementals are dangerous. Now... may we pass through here? I promise we won't cause you any trouble."

“Um…” The dwarf officer swallowed hard, his gaze shifting between the docile fire elemental and the calm pink-haired woman before finally finding his voice, “Anyway, please come with me to see our commander and inform him…”

...

When General Duvalin, who was in charge of retaking the underground city of Goldenflame, was hurriedly led up the wall of the temporary fortress by his men, he almost thought that the slag minions were about to launch a surprise attack on the camp when he saw the long line of nearly a hundred fire elementals...

(End of this chapter)