novelraw Chapter 244 : Chapter 244
Chapter 244 : Chapter 244
Volume 4 Chapter 32 – The Gold Coin Well
Charred, skeletal fingers rose slowly from the lava, their tips hardened like solidified magma. Then came the eruption—lava burst skyward as the slumbering black mountain in the distance shattered apart, collapsing like rotted wood, unleashing an ear-splitting roar that sounded like it would drown the world in purgatory.
Countless searing-hot demonic claws emerged from the magma, reaching like drowning souls clawing at a riverbank, desperate to escape an icy death.
Charred limbs. Flame-wreathed heads, blazing like stacks of kindling. From their empty eye sockets, fire burst forth—whether it was fury or resentment, no one could tell.
Each of these Flame Giants, averaging three meters tall, loomed like titans. Before them, humans and elves were as ants—easy to grab, easier to crush.
The surrounding temperature spiked to a terrifying level. Sweat instantly soaked our skin.
Felicia raised her greatsword. Astrid unsheathed her curved blade. Teresa had five Light Arrows nocked on her bowstring—ready to strike.
Felicia’s sword cleaved into a Flame Demon that charged too close, the blow backed by enormous force and gale pressure. But the creature merely staggered back a few steps, a deep gash oozing magma from its chest. Other than the burst of flame and fury, it remained completely unbothered.
Astrid’s silver flames only served to fuel their rage.
“These demons’ bodies are filled with magma—no internal organs,” Teresa said calmly, loosing her arrows. “Normal physical attacks won’t work.”
The five Dawnpiercing Arrows she fired each pierced a Flame Demon clean through the chest.
The demons seemed to notice their wounds only once their chests were gaping open. One by one, they collapsed backward into the lava.
Teresa then bent her bow again, twisting her waist gracefully. A single arrow soared skyward—and exploded like fireworks in mid-air, scattering countless tiny arrows in a dazzling rainfall.
[War Goddess Edict: Blooming Rain]
The shower of arrows avoided the central area and rained down on the Flame Demons circling the perimeter. Many melted from the heat, but enough landed true to cause damage.
Though a single arrow of Blooming Rain did little, the attack’s power lay in its unrelenting density. The demons were halted mid-charge, unable to advance even a single step.
Enraged, they vomited lava in our direction.
Teresa summoned three Verdant Fragrance sprouts and rooted them to the black stone ground.
But the temperature was too extreme—the seeds cooked before they could even germinate.
In the nick of time, Astrid drove her curved blade into the ground. A silver-moon halo rose around us, forming a shield that blocked the molten flood.
Teresa fired another arrow skyward.
She hadn’t expected the Flame Demons’ vitality to be this absurd. She’d thought one Blooming Rain would be enough to wipe them out.
The arrow rain struck again—thudding into their shoulders and foreheads.
Finally, they began to fall. Their flaming eyes dimmed, and they collapsed into the lava one after another.
“Whew…” Felicia let out a breath, about to speak—but froze.
Charred hands once again clawed their way out of the magma.
The Flame Demons were climbing ashore once more, their prior wounds fully healed.
“These Flame Demons can rapidly regenerate in magma. In theory, those that dwell near it are… immortal,” Yimi remarked, dropping the lollipop stick from her mouth. It melted the moment it hit the ground.
“Then… then what do we do, meow?” Wenfu sounded truly spooked.
Teresa and Felicia exchanged a look. Felicia immediately understood.
The next moment, she scooped up Wenfu—completely off-guard—and ran ahead, bypassing the Flame Demons.
Teresa took the rear, transforming her Changsu into a human-sized willowwood kite shield, blocking the pursuers.
Enraged by their escape attempt, the demons howled. Molten lava spewed from their mouths and noses, splashing violently against the kite shield.
“Ssshhh!” Steam hissed off the surface. The shield was nearly destroyed in the first round.
They clearly weren’t going to let us go.
The lava burned brighter. Had the shield not been forged from a branch of the Sacred Tree of the Elves, any other wood would’ve turned to ash.
Crack! Teresa flexed her now-empty hand. The shield was gone—destroyed.
She glanced back. The Flame Demons were still chasing—far from clumsy, they were fast.
They were about to catch her.
But they made one fatal mistake—they broke Teresa’s weapon.
Since recovering her memories, Teresa’s [Broken Bow] was no longer limited to bows. Any broken weapon could now trigger its effect.
She recalled Changsu, then pulled two black obsidian blades from the ground. At that moment, her gaze sharpened.
Two lines of blue blade-flames surged from her weapons.
In a flash of gold, she danced through the pursuing Flame Demons—just one breath, and she’d touched them all.
They froze.
Then, with a soft shing, Teresa sheathed her blades.
A moment later, their heads dropped—thump, thump, thump—like ripe fruit in harvest.
Even Flame Demons, as durable as they were, could not withstand the blade-flame’s edge.
But it wasn’t over.
Their corpses rolled back into the magma.
Unsurprisingly, they'd be back again soon.
Teresa put her blades away and caught up with the others.
Sure enough, when she glanced back, the demons rose once more—roaring her name with venomous hatred.
She didn’t look back. Just ran.
Ahead, her teammates had stopped.
“Why aren’t we moving?” Teresa asked—then saw the answer for herself.
The volcano had erupted.
Molten lava gushed across the land. The only path forward was a narrow trail leading up the volcano. Everything else had been consumed.
“Meow meow meow?!” Wenfu had short-circuited. Whether her brain had crashed or her feet were on fire, she bounced around comically.
“There’s no path left.”
“Then we make one!” Teresa stepped forward—only for new Flame Demons to emerge ahead, boxing them in with the ones behind.
Astrid and Felicia braced for combat. Teresa turned. The rear demons had caught up too.
Lava kept rising. Time was running out.
We couldn’t read the Flame Demons’ expressions, but the flames atop their heads burned even fiercer than before. That alone told us how angry they were.
They charged from both sides.
Yimi gritted her teeth and shielded Wenfu, who was now trembling. Lava was already licking at their heels.
Just as battle was about to break out—the Flame Demons stopped.
“??” Felicia blinked. Why had the enemy just… frozen?
Their bodies made bubbling, gurgling noises. Then, as if they had touched some forbidden boundary, the towering demons howled—and melted into puddles of slag.
“??? What just happened?”
Yimi wore the same expression we all did: total confusion. Still, none of us let down our guard. Could this be a trick?
“What was that? That was the perfect time to finish us…”
“Could it be,” Teresa offered, “that they can’t leave a certain area for too long?”
“The ones that chased us... the ones ahead… both were far from their spawn points. Maybe some hidden force sensed they were straying too far—and pulled them back.”
She wasn’t sure where that intuition came from—but now wasn’t the time to question it.
The path behind us was gone, flooded with lava. Our only choice was forward.
But the road ahead was a dead end: a volcanic summit spitting molten fire.
“We have no other choice.” Lava was already creeping over the trail, the heat rising so fast it began to disrupt our Divine Authority Domains.
With no time to hesitate, Astrid carried Yimi, Felicia carried Wenfu, and the three of them charged ahead—into the erupting volcano.
Sweat soaked our scalps. Every instinct screamed danger.
Yet Teresa couldn’t shake the feeling that this volcano… was the way forward.
Astrid believed her without question. Felicia looked at the two charging ahead, sighed—and followed.
The soles of her boots had melted. All of us pushed our speed to the limit.
At last, we reached the foot of the volcano.
Just one second later—the trail behind us was completely swallowed.
There was no turning back.
Astrid and Felicia didn’t speak, but their eyes clearly sought Teresa’s guidance.
They’d already accepted her as our leader.
Teresa looked to the roiling volcano—and steeled herself. “Climb it. Jump in.”
She led the way.
If she was going to suggest something so reckless, then she had to go first—to prove it wasn’t suicide.
Sweat clung to her golden hair. Her weapon was broken, her Divine Domain damaged—but Teresa didn’t stop. She charged straight for the lava’s mouth.
And then—a miracle.
The closer she got to the volcano’s crater, the cooler it became. From scalding heat to room temperature—then cold, like falling into an ice pit.
I knew it.
“Follow me,” Teresa said, climbing the edge.
She didn’t even glance at the lava—just leapt.
Her body vanished before she touched the magma—like it wasn’t even real.
Seeing this, Astrid and Felicia no longer hesitated. Holding Yimi and Wenfu tight, they jumped in after her.
Thump!
Teresa felt like she’d fallen into a pit of coal. Everything went dark. Cold wind brushed her skin. The heat was gone.
Wherever they were now—it definitely wasn’t inside the volcano.
Had they reached the next layer?
“Astrid?” she called out.
A weight landed on her.
“…I’m here.” Astrid’s cool voice replied.
“…Teresa?”
Wait—why was there a cushion under her?
“...Astrid, have you been eating well lately? You’re really heavy.” Teresa’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Eh?! Teresa?! You’re… under me?!”
Her voice came from beneath Astrid’s butt. Realizing that, Astrid’s face turned crimson and she scrambled off.
“Sorry, are you okay?”
“Yep, all good~ You’re surprisingly soft, Astrid. And you smell really nice.”
Astrid’s face turned even redder—but in the darkness, Teresa couldn’t see.
“Is everyone okay?” Wenfu’s voice quivered—soft and fearful. The girl clearly hated the dark.
Not that she was the only one.
Teresa felt someone’s hand gripping hers tightly—and hadn’t let go since the fall.
She didn’t even have to guess. It was probably our scared-of-ghosts Whiteglass Knight Princess.
“Well, good news—we escaped death. Bad news—I have no idea where we are.”
Just then, moonlight illuminated the surroundings.
Astrid raised her Elves Moonblade, casting light like a torch across the cold brick walls.
The suffocating masonry confirmed it—they had left behind the lava and volcano.
We’d landed in a circular well. Looking up revealed no end. The floor beneath us rustled with a familiar sound.
“…Are these gold coins?” Yimi bent down and poked the floor. It glittered under her finger.
Astrid squinted at some writing carved into the wall.
She leaned closer and read it aloud.
“Fill this well… with gold coins?”
Sure enough—once we all took a proper look, we realized the floor was entirely buried in gold.
We were standing… atop a well of gold.