The campfire crackled and popped, its flickering light reflecting on the group’s uncertain faces. While Moen’s hypothesis was reasonable, it only raised more unsettling questions.
So many years had passed—why had no one ever discovered this?
Was it a mere coincidence, or was something deliberately covering it all up?
“Moen, what you said makes a lot of sense, but I have a different take. Do you remember? The Goddess of the Earth once said that only she and Ignis, the God of Fire, chose to weaken their powers to enter a slumber that has lasted until now. As for the other gods, they might have preserved themselves in different forms,” Stark said.
“In different forms...?”
The others softly repeated Stark’s words, and the same thought simultaneously flashed through their minds.
The World Tree...
The Mother Tree of the elves... wasn’t it said to have grown and flourished based on half of Freya, the Goddess of Nature’s Godhead?
If they thought about it that way, the incredible power possessed by the World Tree made complete sense.
“Ugh, this is such a headache! Let’s stop thinking about this for now. The matters of the gods... aren’t they a bit too far removed from us? Is there any point in obsessing over this right now?”
Seeing his troubled companions, Po Kong stepped in to smooth things over at the right moment.
A cold wind swept through the camp, carrying flakes of snow, and the group fell into silence once more.
Indeed, the mess left behind by the gods ten thousand years ago was not something they could realistically consider at their current level.
...
The impact of that earth-shaking battle went far beyond just changing the terrain. The accompanying dwarf elders hurriedly convened a meeting, forcing the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, which had continued for thousands of years, to be suspended. After all, no one dared to let the younger generation roam near that eerie abyss.
Over the next few days, several Saint Rank experts appeared in the vicinity one after another. They included several patriarchs of the dwarves, as well as humans from unknown factions.
Meanwhile, Starlight and the young dwarves who were there for the ceremony moved their camp back dozens of kilometers to prevent any further incidents.
Finally, after the Saint Rank powerhouses thoroughly searched the area for over a hundred kilometers around, the signal was given that it was safe for the ceremony to proceed.
However, this ceremony, which was supposed to be grand, felt exceptionally rushed.
Since the vast majority of the adult Frost Giants had chosen to accompany their goddess until the very end and had vanished within the lightning, their tribe had essentially suffered a catastrophic blow. Only the elderly, the weak, and the children—those without the ability to fight—remained.
Without any external obstacles, the young dwarves found the point-based ores scattered across the Northlands with almost no effort.
What was supposed to be a peril-filled Coming-of-Age Ceremony turned out to be the smoothest one in history.
Even Stark, who had the least confidence, managed to obtain three points while acting independently, successfully completing his mission.
Just as all the teams were gathering to head back to Cinder City to report their success, Xia Duo pulled Starlight and Po Kong aside to share some good news.
“Remember the task Master Branno entrusted to you? We have a lead!” Xia Duo winked playfully, appearing to be in a very good mood.
Starlight was momentarily stunned before remembering the master and disciple pair, Branno and Falmer, whom he had met back in the Crimson City-State. The condition for them to teach him the Ultimate Fire was for him to find an item called the “Hellfire Lotus” near the volcanoes in the Northlands.
However, the item was far too rare. Starlight had found no information despite checking various sources, and with the continuous string of incidents recently, he had completely put it out of his mind.
He hadn't expected to hear news of it from Xia Duo today.
Xia Duo took a map from her pocket and spread it out before them, pointing to a flower icon. “There! Someone saw a Hellfire Lotus near this area.”
After her explanation, Starlight learned that while the two sisters were with the logistics unit over the past few days, they had overheard a dwarf elder mention something similar.
Following some persistent questioning, the two of them managed to get a general idea of the Hellfire Lotus’s location.
“We’re already quite close to the location the elder mentioned. Should we take a detour and check it out? It shouldn't take much time.”
Following Xia Duo’s finger, Starlight made a rough estimate of their current position.
Indeed, if they set out now, they could reach the marked location within two days.
“Alright. I’ll go tell Stark and the others, and then we’ll set off immediately!”
Since he had news of the Hellfire Lotus, Starlight naturally wasn't going to pass up this golden opportunity. After explaining the situation to Stark and Maela, he prepared to head further north.
“Sigh... what a shame. We can’t go this time. We can only wish you luck!” Stark sighed, his tone full of regret.
As a dwarf who had completed his task, he had to return to Cinder City with the main group to undergo the final step of the ritual. Meanwhile, Maela had been in a strange state for the past few days after receiving Jörð’s elemental mark.
In her own words, extra memories and insights kept popping into her head, leaving her feeling exhausted every day, to the point where she just wanted to sleep forever.
Starlight understood this perfectly. He only avoided such issues because he had Noah’s soul to help him process the massive influx of information from the elemental marks.
Now that Maela had to endure the Goddess of the Earth’s memories on her own, the fact that she hadn't fainted outright was already a testament to her strong will.
And so, the four members of Starry Moon Shadow quietly left the dwarf group that day, galloping toward the faint silhouette of volcanoes on the northern horizon.
...
After another two days of trekking through the snow, Starlight’s group finally arrived at the foot of the volcano indicated on the map.
This volcano was named “Ignium’s Crown.” It was a massive active volcano named by the dwarves after Ignis, the God of Fire, and was the largest in the entire northern volcanic range.
Its lava, which never extinguished, was like a gem set into a divine crown, proclaiming the eternity of fire in this extreme northern land.
In stark contrast to the endless white snowfields, this place looked like a jagged, burning wound on the world.
The towering volcanic cone was a dark grey, with streams of gold-red lava pulsing across its surface like veins.
The rising heat had melted the surrounding snow for dozens of kilometers in a radial pattern, making it look from a distance like a crown of fire set upon the earth.
The four did not stop, soon arriving at the point where ice and fire met.
Here, the permafrost that never melted and the scalding lava flows were only a hundred meters apart. On one side was a deathly white silence, where even the howling wind was absorbed by the thick ice; on the other side were boiling magma pools, where sulfurous gases constantly burst with explosive sounds.
This extreme contrast was like a dividing line deliberately drawn by the Creator, crudely separating ice and fire, stillness and motion, life and death.
“Whoa!” Po Kong looked up, drawing out his voice in an exaggerated manner. “Looks like we’ll have to climb up to find that Hellfire Lotus?”
He squinted his eyes, watching the sulfurous smoke venting from the crater being twisted into various grotesque shapes by the cold wind. He continued, “I hope this broken mountain doesn't give us a ‘sudden surprise.’”
Starlight couldn't help but swallow hard. Even though he was mentally prepared, the scale of Ignium’s Crown exceeded his imagination.
The biggest problem was that the volcanic slopes offered almost no cover or solid footing. Furthermore, there were toxic gases and active lava reaching temperatures of over a thousand degrees everywhere. Climbing it would be no easy feat.
“It seems Master Branno really gave me a difficult task. No wonder he said one needs Saint Rank strength to get the Hellfire Lotus... an ordinary person would be seeking death just by getting near these magma fissures!”
As the two of them looked at the towering volcano with troubled expressions, Xia Duo remained confident. “What, are you stumped already? It’s not like there isn’t a way up,” she said clearly.
Rate on N.U.
