Chapter 162: Chapter 162: The Ash Guardian

Chapter 162: The Ash Guardian

The colossal Volcanic Ash Dragon towered over us, its massive wings casting a terrifying shadow across the boiling magma ocean.

The heat radiating from its body was absolute, and its eyes burned with a chaotic, violent madness.

"Who dares steal the blood of my ocean?" the Dragon rumbled again, its voice shaking the very foundation of the Labyrinth.

I did not step back. I crossed my heavy brass gauntlets over my chest plate.

"I am the Sovereign," I projected my baritone voice upward, fighting against the crushing ambient pressure of a Level 70 Calamity.

"And I take what my Forge needs."

The Dragon let out a low, terrifying growl. But as I stared up at the beast, my glowing red visor picked up something unnatural.

Deep beneath the glowing orange cracks of its volcanic armor, thick, pitch black veins of putrid magic were pulsing.

It was not natural Labyrinth mana. It was the same heavy, decaying energy I had felt from the Progenitor Queen.

The Guardian of Strata 6 was being eaten alive from the inside by ancient, abyssal corruption.

DING!

The System interface violently shattered my vision in a blinding flash of gold and pure white light.

[Hidden System Quest Triggered: The Guardian’s Salvation]

[Observation: The Volcanic Ash Dragon is a primal entity of the Labyrinth, currently losing its sanity to a localized Abyssal Corruption.]

[Condition: You must successfully purge the corruption from the Dragon’s ancient core without completely destroying its soul.]

[Reward: The Absolute Wealth of the Dragon’s Hoard.]

[Reward: The Calamity will be reborn. A Level 90 Half Dragon Companion (Mate) will be added to the Sovereign’s Pack.]

I stared at the golden text.

A Level 90 Half Dragon wife. The System was offering me an absolute powerhouse of a Queen and an entire ocean of wealth, but the condition was incredibly delicate.

I could not just melt her into slag. I had to perform conceptual surgery on a raging, hundred foot tall beast.

Before I could formulate a plan, a sudden, agonizing sound pierced directly into my mind.

’Please... it burns... make it stop... It was a feminine voice,’ echoing with sheer, desperate agony inside my head.

It completely contrasted the monstrous, guttural roar the Dragon was making in the physical world.

Her true consciousness was trapped inside the corrupted shell, screaming for salvation.

"I hear you," I whispered to myself.

The Dragon roared, completely losing control to the corruption. It slammed its massive wings forward.

The attack was devastating.

The thick, toxic black ash floating near the ceiling of the cavern was forcefully dragged down, completely swallowing our obsidian island.

It was a localized hurricane of blinding, suffocating darkness.

"The ward is failing!" Anise cried out over the roaring wind.

The Level 100 Hero dropped to both knees.

Because her raw power was strictly sealed, the overwhelming Level 70 magical pressure was rapidly crushing her golden shield.

The barrier began to violently crack, letting the lethal, white hot ash slip through the gaps.

Lysandra did not hesitate. The Succubus Queen slammed her hands onto Anise’s shoulders.

"I have you!" Lysandra screamed. Her maroon wings flared with blinding pink light.

Lysandra completely overdrew her vitality magic.

She forcefully pumped her own life force directly into Anise’s core to sustain the shield.

Blood began to drip slowly from Lysandra’s nose and eyes as she pushed her body past its absolute limits, refusing to let the Pack burn.

"Rolf! Kaelith!" I roared over the storm.

"Distract it! Do not kill it! I need an opening to the core!"

"Understood, Alpha!" Rolf barked.

The Silver Colossus ignited his kinetic armor and launched himself through the blinding ash.

He vaulted off a jagged glass spire, soaring directly toward the Dragon’s massive skull. Rolf swung his double bladed axe, aiming a blunt force strike right between the beast’s eyes.

The Dragon simply snapped its massive head to the side. Its thick, volcanic horns slammed into Rolf mid air.

CRASH.

Rolf was swatted away like a fly.

He skipped across the surface of the magma ocean and violently slammed into a distant obsidian wall, heavily cracking his silver armor.

Kaelith used the distraction perfectly.

She blinked out of the shadows directly beneath the Dragon’s massive jaw.

Her hands were coated in the pitch black Law of the Absolute Void.

She pressed her palms against the beast’s neck scales, attempting to erase a patch of armor to expose the flesh beneath.

But the Level 70 magic density was too high. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The moment Kaelith erased the outer volcanic rock, hyper pressurized magma violently exploded outward from the beast’s veins.

Kaelith gasped, forced to instantly use her void magic defensively to erase the incoming molten rock. She fell backward, tumbling safely onto the glass island, but her breathing was ragged.

"Her armor is completely saturated with explosive heat!" Kaelith warned, her starry eyes wide.

’HURT... IT HURTS... SAVE ME...’ the feminine voice screamed in my mind again, the psychic pressure causing my vision to blur.

The Dragon reared its massive head back. The glowing cracks along its throat turned blindingly white. It was preparing its ultimate attack.

"Brace!" I roared, stepping directly in front of my Pack.

The Dragon opened its jaws and unleashed a colossal, hyper pressurized beam of concentrated magma directly at us. It was a river of absolute, localized destruction.

I channeled every ounce of mana into my heavy brass boots, anchoring myself to the island.

I raised both of my gauntlets, utilizing my 4,100 Aegis Rating to its maximum capacity.

The magma beam slammed into my S Grade Hive Chitin armor.

The sheer kinetic and thermal force was apocalyptic. The impact instantly vaporized the front half of our obsidian island.

I grunted loudly as the terrifying pressure forcefully pushed me backward. My boots carved deep, glowing trenches into the black glass.

The S Grade armor perfectly reflected the magic, but the physical weight of the molten rock was like holding back a falling mountain.

"Grik!" Nyssa screamed, her kinetic magic flaring uselessly against the overwhelming heat.

’KILL ME!’ the Dragon’s true voice begged in my mind, her sanity completely fracturing under the corruption.

’BURN ME TO ASH!’

"I do not kill my future wives," I growled, my red eyes flaring fiercely behind my dark visor.

I ignited my core. I pushed past the standard Tier 2 Flame of Death.

I summoned the newly mutated black fire, the edges of the flames burning with a terrifying, molten gold hue.

This fire did not just erase matter. It consumed ancient souls and devoured corruption.

I held the golden black fire in my right palm, still holding back the massive magma beam with my left arm.

"Lysandra! Keep Anise alive!" I commanded, my mechanical gears screaming under the pressure.

"I am going inside!"

I could not pierce her armor from the outside without triggering an explosion. I could not use Rolf or Kaelith to break her down.

If I wanted to save the woman trapped inside the beast, I had to take the fire directly to her heart.

I lowered my left arm, allowing the hyper pressurized magma beam to completely swallow me whole.