Chapter 431: Misha's Trial (Part 3)
"Kekekeke…"
A raspy sound echoed from the top of the cave walls.
Pairs of faintly glowing eyes suddenly appeared. Their reddish-brown skin blended seamlessly with the molten surroundings, resembling rocks hanging from the cave ceiling.
Sharp hissing and clicking noises followed as hot steam hissed from the gaps in those "rocks"—they were Steam Bats.
"It's the Steam Bats!"
A player shouted loudly.
Instantly, the bats hanging from the ceiling flapped their wings, swarming toward the players like a tide, accompanied by waves of scorching steam.
"Damn, there's so many of them!"
The archer player was dumbfounded.
Before he could react, dozens of bats swarmed him, wrapping him in their bodies and shredding him to pieces.
By the time the bats dispersed, his charred remains had already been cooked by the scalding steam.
Other isolated players met a similar fate, as the bats concealed themselves within the cave crevices, lurking everywhere.
Moreover, these Steam Bats had the spell-like ability [Blur Spell], with deadly steam and thick white mist filling the cave, severely obstructing visibility.
"Spellcasters! Dispel the fog!"
"The visibility is getting worse!"
Singo navigated skillfully along the cave walls, riding his wyvern.
He drew his bow fully while moving, firing a magically imbued arrow that pierced through several Steam Bats in succession.
When any bat got too close, the wyvern beneath him shredded them with its claws and fangs.
"Kill them!"
Mantou urged his wyvern, Noodles, to beat its wings and disperse the surrounding mist, charging into the bat swarm while slashing with his longsword.
"Roar~~"
Noodles roared, swiping down several bats with a single claw.
However, the Steam Bats retaliated by spewing scalding steam, leaving both Mantou and Noodles scorched and blackened.
Even with their high-concentration Red Dragon bloodlines, they couldn't fully withstand the magical steam's extreme heat.
Summer Night Autumn Rain weaved through the swarm, floating gracefully as forcefield orbs around her repelled the oncoming bats.
"Wind Magic!"
Charlotte and the Magic Coin players simultaneously waved their staffs, summoning a gust of wind that blew away the mist, revealing the bats' monstrous forms.
A player from the Mechanist Cult shouted, "Now's our chance! Charge!"
"Push the levers! Activate the pistons and pumps!"
"Engage the engine, ignite the turbines, breathe life into it!"
The lever was pushed to its limit.
"Vroom—"
"Boom—"
With a roar of air, the boosters at the back spewed flames, propelling the Omega-powered armor forward.
Standing nearly five meters tall and weighing dozens of tons, the armor, painted bright red, charged like a battering ram into the swarm of bats.
"Boom!"
A thunderous crash echoed, followed by a series of explosions.
The entire cave trembled, and rocks fell from the ceiling as dozens of Steam Bats were crushed against the armor's plating, exploding into fragments of fire and molten debris.
"Steel, protect us!"
"With the Fire Protector, we are invincible!"
The players inside the Omega-powered armor cheered as they pushed the levers again, charging into the next wave of combat.
"Gurgle, gurgle…"
Suddenly, a low rumbling sound echoed as bubbles continuously emerged from the lava.
The ongoing battle came to a halt as everyone's attention shifted to the source of the noise. By this time, most of the Steam Bats had been wiped out.
"Splash!"
A colossal figure emerged from the lava.
Molten rock splashed in all directions, creating pits in the surrounding stone.
The creature was composed of boulders with burning sulfur filling the gaps between its limbs and body. Its chest had web-like cracks with a glowing molten core at the center, and its eyes resembled flowing magma spheres.
"Roar—"
It exhaled plumes of white steam, its body surrounded by toxic volcanic gas, and magma dripped from its maw.
This was a Magma Golem, a creature born from molten rock and lava—a pure fire elemental entity capable of surviving only in extreme heat.
"Roar!"
With its roar, more Magma Golems crawled out of the lava, over a dozen in total.
Usually indistinguishable from ordinary rocks, they now displayed their most terrifying forms in response to the intruders.
"Intruders… must die!"
A Magma Golem hurled a burning sulfur chunk at a paladin from [Royal Authority], who barely managed to raise his shield in time.
"Bang! Boom!"
The sulfur chunk exploded, shattering the expensive shield and knocking several players to the ground.
The remaining Steam Bats seized the opportunity to attack, spraying scalding steam.
Similar scenes played out throughout the cave, even damaging the Mechanist Cult's Fire Protector, which lost an arm in the chaos.
Burning sulfur chunks flew wildly, and Mantou narrowly avoided being hit, saved by his wyvern's quick leap.
"Their cores! Aim for their chests!"
Summer Night Autumn Rain calmly advised.
These Magma Golems drew their power from their molten cores, absorbing lava energy over time, making them massive and incredibly strong.
Their weakness was the molten core in their chests—the source of their life force.
As for why Summer Night Autumn Rain hadn't mentioned this earlier—it was simply to eliminate more competitors and reduce the number of people vying for the class slot.
The major guild players were also aware of this information and shared her mindset—they wanted to pass while ensuring fewer rivals remained.
Thus, uninformed solo players became the unfortunate casualties.
The strategy proved effective.
Within minutes, over twenty players had turned to ash, leaving only around fifty remaining in the cave.
"Got it!"
"Take this!"
Born Battle Maniac hurled his giant axe, cleaving through a sulfur chunk before embedding itself into a Magma Golem's chest.
The axe blade sunk deep into the rock, splitting the molten core in half.
"Boom!"
The Magma Golem roared in agony before collapsing, crumbling into rocks and sulfur chunks.
"Swoosh—"
Singo released his bowstring, shooting an arrow straight into another Magma Golem's chest.
"Bang!"
The arrow flashed briefly before exploding.
Another Magma Golem shattered, its remains falling into the lava like a pile of debris.
"Prepare to clear the trial!"
"Turn these rock monsters into rubble!"
The other players followed suit, targeting the Golems' cores. The Mechanist Cult's Fire Protector fired off forcefield rays, destroying multiple Golems in succession.