Chapter 569, Chapter 568: The Molten Dungeon
The misunderstanding was quickly cleared up, and the delegation of about a hundred people was still quite conspicuous among the fire elementals.
"The rumors that the daughter of Alama controls the elemental army... are actually true!"
Duvalin Blacksteel, entrusted with the important task of reclaiming the underground city, holds a pivotal position in the Kingdom of the Mountains, and naturally possesses detailed and comprehensive intelligence.
However, the accounts of the "Battle of Dragon's Roar Valley" elicited the same reaction from most dukes within the empire: certain parts of the intelligence were so bizarre that they subconsciously assumed it was either a misrepresentation or an exaggeration.
In particular, the statement "Inanna, daughter of Alama, commands the elemental army" is met with immediate denial from most people, as it defies common sense.
Therefore, in the deduction and review, it is more inclined to interpret "the elemental army attacking the demons" as a way for humans to divert trouble by using tools and schemes, rather than a simple display of a person's ability.
It wasn't until he saw with his own eyes the unusually docile group of fire elementals surrounding Inanna that Duvalin realized the intelligence was actually 100% accurate!
In the instant that he realized what was happening, Duvalin understood that Inanna could be of great help to the dwarves in reclaiming the dungeon!
However, Duvalin did not directly ask Inanna to cooperate with the operation.
She was, after all, a representative of the mission, the daughter of Duke Alama, and a war hero on the side of humanity; she was not someone he could order around at will.
If we want her assistance, we'll probably have to wait until the formal negotiation table later.
Since there might be a possibility of cooperation in the future, Duvalin naturally wouldn't make things difficult for the delegation on the issue of passage.
However, the two sides disagreed on how to deal with this batch of fire elements.
Duvalin's idea was straightforward: to wipe them out on the spot to prevent future troubles.
But Inanna firmly disagreed.
These fire elements only appeared because they were close to her, and she would not feel at ease if she betrayed them in the blink of an eye.
She was depressed for a long time after leading the storm elementals to attack the demons in order to save the old man.
Ultimately, Duvalin conceded, allowing Inanna to lure all the fire elementals back into the Molten Core dungeon.
When Inanna arrived at the entrance to the dungeon, the fire elementals, who were fiercely fighting the dwarven defenders, seemed to sense something and their offensive gradually ceased.
Inanna released an illumination orb into the depths of the dungeon, and the fire elementals gathered nearby immediately turned around and followed the orb.
The dwarves did not let this rare respite pass by. They acted swiftly, recapturing and reinforcing several key defensive strongholds.
After Inanna retreated, dull thuds and magical explosions soon returned from the entrance; the battle continued.
Inanna was at a loss; the conflict between the two parties was beyond her ability to mediate at this point.
Duvalin eventually dispatched two small teams to escort the mission away along the logistics route that they had repeatedly cleared.
However, as she left, Inanna asked somewhat doubtfully through the fungal web, "Where is the knight?"
The knight was still sitting on the roof of the carriage, but in the sense of the fungal network, there was no "plop" there.
A reply came from the fungal network: "Miss Inanna, the knight has other matters to attend to. This is an illusion I created, so please do not reveal it."
Inanna glanced at Aidin, who had been mingling with the accompanying warriors since the start of the journey, disguised as an ordinary soldier, and nodded imperceptibly.
To be honest, if it weren't for the presence of the bacterial network, Inanna would have even suspected that this might also be a dummy.
Inanna couldn't detect Aidin's illusions on her own.
Meanwhile, the real knight, Puji, after touring the Golden Flame City which had been destroyed by the elementals, quietly slipped into the Molten Dungeon.
There is also a rift leading to this place in the Stone Fortress Underground City. Unfortunately, not only is the exit buried by the ruins, but the rift itself is also very unstable. It expands briefly and then contracts continuously. Now it has shrunk by half.
If the rift were located in Dungeon No. 13, Lin Jun would naturally be able to maintain its existence by controlling the dungeon.
However, Lin Jun only has the right to use the underground city of the Stone Fortress in the North, which is why she has not yet begun exploring this area.
No matter how much progress is made, it will all be wasted if the fungal carpet is cut.
The first thing I noticed when I came in was the heat.
Of course, Puji will not be affected by environmental hot topics.
With the knight's resistance, wearing a layer of rock armor, he could even move around in the lava for a period of time.
However, if such a scorching environment were placed on the human side, it would probably keep most adventurers out of the dungeon.
It can only be said that dwarves are indeed the race with the highest overall resistance, second only to trolls.
The invisible knight, relying on the slime on his feet, moved forward by stepping on the ceiling of the dungeon.
Below, various fire and earth elemental spirits, influenced by waves of mental energy, rushed towards the gates of the dungeon in batches.
Lin Jun also discovered an elemental spirit that could create fire, and it was a type with a core, which was undoubtedly good news for Lin Jun.
However, we are outnumbered and outgunned now, so it is not the time to make a move.
After Lin Jun reached LV8 in the [Inspiration] skill, she was able to observe abstract things like mental energy fluctuations.
Clearly, something is commanding these elemental spirits, most likely the elemental lord.
Lin Jun was quite interested in this elemental lord.
Based on the information I've gathered, this fire elemental lord is actually intelligent and capable of communication!
The two elemental lords that Lin Jun pulled out of the abyss, although powerful, did not seem to be much more intelligent than ordinary cold spirits. They could not communicate and their behavior was similar to that of wild monsters, driven purely by instinct.
Of course, this may be because they come from the abyss and are incomplete.
Unfortunately, Lin Jun hadn't even met the water elemental lord of the Tide Sanctuary, who was also an elemental guardian of the dungeon, before he disappeared into the mist. She didn't know if he was killed or taken away, otherwise she could have made a comparison.
Most importantly, Lin Jun wanted to know if this fire elemental lord had a soul!
So far, Lin Jun has never seen a true soul in any elemental spirit.
From the perspective of [Inspiration], they are composed of a gray substance, just like most monsters and plants.
This substance also exists in the true soul. Lin Jun's [greed] will leave these gray substances behind, while returning the naked soul to the world.
Therefore, when Lin Jun decomposed the flower and plant monsters, she ate them all, leaving nothing behind.
Lin Jun guessed that these gray substances were probably related to skills.
The Molten Dungeon was much larger than expected, with its internal structure resembling a natural labyrinth inside a mountain, layered and winding, its style consistent with the surrounding mountains.
During the exploration, Lin Jun also discovered some metal ring fragments scattered in corners or embedded in rock walls. Lin Jun recognized these things as fragments of the "Ring of Slavery," a cheap and not very reliable control device.
Clearly, the story of dwarves enslaving elemental spirits to work for them is not unfounded.
Lin Jun didn't see anything wrong with this, after all, the elemental spirits didn't even have souls. However, the dwarves clearly lacked the ability to suppress a full-scale slave rebellion.
After a day and a half of cautious exploration in the scorching maze, Lin Jun finally approached the bottom level. The temperature here had risen to a terrifying level, with visible, distorted heat waves permeating the air, and even the rocks faintly glowing a dark red.
Even the knight Puji, who possesses [High Temperature Resistance LV10], has begun to show negative effects.
"Who? Who's nearby?" Before the elemental lord was even seen, a roar filled with rage and madness echoed throughout the vast space: "An insect has crawled in! Find it and tear it to pieces!"
A terrifying mental fluctuation spread out, and in an instant, the elemental spirits that had been quietly enjoying the scorching environment nearby collectively went berserk, their flames rising several times over and their lava bodies churning violently.
Unable to pinpoint the hidden knight Puji, they resorted to the most primitive and violent method—indiscriminate, wide-range attacks!
(End of this chapter)
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