Chapter 132: Escape

The inner sea, encircled by floating islands, stretched as far as five miles across. Standing at the edge of his island, Nimul could barely make out the silhouettes of the islands on the far side. Scanning from one island to the next, he saw his kin busily at work, while many of the young ones splashed in the magmatic inner sea, chasing each other in playful delight. Though noisy, it was a sight that filled the tribe with vitality.

Just as he closed his eyes to sense the direction from which danger might arrive, an unprecedented, massive explosion erupted at the edge of the lava sea, on the southeastern corner of the ring of islands. A hundred-meter radius of rock face was blown to pieces, and countless shards of stone rained into the lava, kicking up massive pillars of smoke and fire.

Nimul strode forward, islands flashing by rapidly beneath his feet. In less than a quarter of an hour, he reached the floating island nearest to the scene. Standing at the edge, half his body submerged in the churning crimson magma, he lifted massive, carriage-sized stone hands to douse himself with molten liquid. Following an arcane and obscure incantation, a colossal Eye of Fire manifested before him.

"Great Spirit of Fire, show me what has happened there," Nimul requested in a low, raspy voice.

Fueled by immense fire energy, the Eye of Fire shimmered, projecting the scene from miles away.

"Those damned outsiders! They must be destroying our home and defiling our sacred sea! Elder, let us go and drive them out!"

Nearly a hundred powerful giant warriors witnessed the scene, roaring in thunderous rage. With a collective call, they boarded their crude lava warships and sped toward the site of the incident.

Elder Nimul manipulated the Eye of Fire, constantly scanning the distant area for signs of movement. Although the scene was one of cataclysmic destruction, he could not spot any outsiders. This, without a doubt, made Elder Nimul even more anxious.

What exactly were these outsiders trying to do? Was it merely wanton destruction? Based on his knowledge of human wizards, every action they took was highly targeted; they rarely engaged in meaningless destruction just to vent their anger. If their goal was not to destroy the lava sea, then...

A cold shiver ran through Elder Nimul. He turned back and roared to the remaining tribesmen: "Immediate lockdown of the entire island chain. All adult giants, move out! Take..."

Before he could finish his command, a massive column of smoke rose from an island in the northwest corner, as if some colossal creature were thrashing about in a tantrum.

And that place... was their tribe's death cemetery!

"Damn it! Those cursed humans, may they be swallowed by the Spirit of Fire, are actually wreaking havoc where our ancestors sleep! Quickly... quickly... everyone to that location!"

Hearing the Elder's roar, all the remaining Core-Melt Giants took long strides, racing along the ring of islands toward the site. Those capable of flame teleportation paused briefly, only to vanish into pillars of erupting fire. Moments later, 200 or 300 meters away, their massive forms would emerge from another pillar of flame.

After pausing for four or five seconds to regain control over the surrounding fire elements, the giants would teleport again, advancing another 300 meters. While the Core-Melt Giants possessed formidable bodies and strength, agility was not their forte. Those with flame teleportation moved at a respectable speed, each flash bringing them closer to the target island. The ordinary giants, however, could only charge forward, trampling over islands and houses in a chaotic frenzy.

At that very moment, Greem was wide-eyed, frantically looting spoils he never dared to dream of.

It was an irregular floating island spanning nearly a hundred acres. Its edges were lined with jagged rock peaks and stone pillars, while in the open space within stood thirty or forty Core-Melt Giant remains, completely solidified into stone statues.

Greem’s original plan had been to "sneak into the village quietly, without firing a shot." Unfortunately, while the plan was sound, once he infiltrated this giant cemetery by swimming through the lava, he realized that harvesting everything here silently was nearly impossible.

These Core-Melt Giants were famous for their dense, durable bodies while alive. Upon death, the fire elements within them dissipated, and their conscious cores were sealed firmly within the stone statues by armor as thick as rock. This was no ordinary stone; it was the sturdiest bedrock—steel rock or granite—interspersed with unimaginably hard black iron, refined gold, and therium.

Such armor provided not only terrifying physical defense but also excellent spell resistance. After sneaking onto the island, Greem had broken three enchanted longswords without even managing to pry open a single statue.

Seeing treasures scattered across the mountains and plains and being unable to touch them nearly drove Greem mad! Moreover, the situation allowed no time for him to slowly chip away at the giants' hardened shells. Once the giants returned, this small fire-aspected apprentice wizard would surely be torn to shreds by over three hundred giants.

Forced to act, Greem summoned six rock pythons in one breath, unleashing them in a display of barbaric demolition to "smash and grab" in the cemetery. The six pythons used every method at their disposal—either slamming their hard bodies against the statues or coiling around them to batter them against the ground. In short, they were as violent and crazed as possible!

The massive smoke Elder Nimul had seen was the result of the rock pythons' frantic demolition work.

While directing the pythons to destroy the remains of the giant statues, Greem nervously scanned the surroundings. Since this was a family cemetery, few lived on the nearby islands, and the massive explosion earlier had drawn many giants to the other side of the ring, keeping him safe for the moment.

However, as the island descended into chaos, numerous giants appeared on the distant ring, running at full tilt. Even more terrifying were the dozen or so Core-Melt Giants, over five meters tall, who were riding surging flames and approaching rapidly, step by step.

At their lead was a massive Core-Melt Giant, seven meters tall, whose internal reserve of fire and earth energy was so blinding it was nearly impossible to look at.

*Damn, damn it... that must be a Second-Rank Core-Melt Giant!*

Greem estimated the enemy's speed while frantically urging his rock pythons to work faster. He knew that anyone capable of entering a giant family cemetery was at least at the wizard level, and many were Second-Rank. In such a treasure trove, every extra second, every extra handful, was a golden opportunity for his future rise!

As he surveyed the closing circle of enemies and continued his frantic smashing, Greem’s heart was in his throat. Even with his constitution, cold sweat broke out on his palms and back.

*Beep...*

Hearing the danger alert from the chip in his mind, Greem did not hesitate. He scrambled into the mouth of a rock python and led his demolition squad in a lightning-fast dive into the lava sea, fleeing in different directions.

The python Greem rode was the only one carrying the spoils. Upon entering the lava, it dove deep into the semi-molten, nearly immobile magma, swaying as it darted toward the nearest escape route. The other five pythons swam on the surface, creating a massive commotion as they fled in various directions.

The serene world of fire from a moment ago instantly turned into a churning ocean of explosive flames. While the giants were in the cemetery, they dared not use violent long-range abilities for fear of damaging their sacred site. Once the intruders left, however, they held nothing back, attacking with wild, long-range fire magic as they closed in.

Flame Storm!
Lava Core Blast!
Meteor Shower!
Geothermal Pulse!
...

The sheer power of these fire abilities churned the lava sea into a raging inferno, with violent energy explosions sweeping across the heavens and earth. A visible elemental storm expanded across the surface, quickly engulfing all the fleeing pythons.

Though the rock pythons were massive and possessed top-tier strength and constitution for elemental constructs, they were no match for such ruthless, saturated attacks. Their rock-formed bodies melted like hot wax. Two pythons were snapped in half, their shattered remains tossed high into the air by the elemental storm, only to be pulverized by further volleys of magic.

The remaining three pythons, though severely damaged, persisted in their desperate flight toward the edge of the storm. But before they could escape, *thud, thud, thud*—a series of flame detonations occurred as massive, fierce-looking Core-Melt Giants appeared beside them, raining blows with millstone-sized stone fists.

Sensing the consciousness nodes of his pythons being extinguished one by one, Greem’s heart pounded violently. The plan was half-complete; the rest depended on whether he could escape!

Greem’s presence had initially gone unnoticed, but as the pythons were destroyed one by one, the powerful Elder Nimul finally detected the python fleeing deep within the lava sea through his fire resonance.

By then, however, Greem had already escaped seven miles away.

The tragedy of their family cemetery had completely enraged the Core-Melt Giants. Riding lava warships or swimming through the sea, they pursued Greem relentlessly. Each giant also summoned numerous fire creatures, forming a massive fire legion, swearing to capture the despicable human.

Alas, their disadvantage in speed left them fuming and helpless.

The human thief who had looted their cemetery successfully escaped the lava sea and charged headlong toward the periphery of the volcanic world.

The enraged giants no longer cared about the treaties signed with human wizards; they drove surging magma into the lava tunnels, following the thief as they slaughtered their way to the upper levels of the volcano. Along the way, many human apprentices, who had been diligently searching for magic gems and underground resources washed up by the lava, were caught off guard and suffered heavy losses.

Over a dozen high-level apprentices were unable to escape, dying in the siege of the swarming fire beasts. The remaining apprentices used all manner of tricks to flee the rampaging volcanic world in a pathetic, desperate scramble.