The great gates groaned open with a deep, ancient roar, releasing a blast of suffocating heat that swept over them like the breath of some colossal beast.
"It's so fucking hot," Julius gasped, covering his face with both hands while still clutching his staff in his right.
Yu Zhen and Zhou Rui were shielding their eyes as well, their hair whipping around their faces in the sudden rush of air.
The gates fully opened at last, and the torrent of blistering heat subsided. The chamber's temperature stabilized—still oppressively warm, but no longer the scalding inferno that had burst forth.
Julius lowered his hands from his eyes. The first thing he saw made his chest seize with horror.
At the far end of the vast throne room, beneath a vaulted ceiling of black magma stone, a figure reclined upon a throne carved from the same volcanic rock—its surface shimmering with orange-red veins that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Sprawled across the tyrant's left thigh, her head resting limply, was a woman he recognized instantly.
Yu Zhen's voice was trembling. "The Magma Tyrant."
Zhou Rui's eyes widened. "That's… that's Ms. Anna, isn't it?"
There could be no doubt.
Seated upon the throne was the Magma Tyrant itself, its massive body clad in shifting plates of living lava. One colossal hand was stroking Anna's hair with a possessive tenderness that made bile rise in Zhou Rui's throat.
Anna's expression was utterly blank—no fear, no sorrow, no tears. She was clothed in a flowing garment wrought from living magma, molded around her limp form.
Behind her, driven halfway into the glowing stone floor, was the Tyrant's enormous sword—its blade a jagged length of dark magma crust and molten channels.
The Tyrant's burning gaze lifted, fixing on the intruders.
Zhou Rui launched forward before either Julius or Yu Zhen could stop him.
"You motherfucker. What did you do to her!?"
He was already crossing the threshold of the chamber, every line of his body bristling with rage.
But in the blink of an eye, Anna vanished—dissolving without even a trace, as though she had never been there at all.
Zhou Rui skidded to a halt, seven meters from the throne, his face contorted in shock.
Behind him, Julius and Yu Zhen stared with wide, horrified eyes.
The Magma Tyrant stood, towering over them as it wrapped its massive hand around the hilt of its sword. With a slow, deliberate motion, it wrenched the blade free from the floor.
It vanished.
In the next instant, it reappeared directly in front of Zhou Rui, its molten sword already swinging toward his neck to sever his head from his shoulders.
At that same moment, a shimmering shield erupted into being, intercepting the blade with a deafening clang that sent sparks spraying across the chamber. The Magma Tyrant was forced a step back from the recoil.
Julius stood with his right hand outstretched, his staff braced in his left. His voice was hard as iron.
"Don't even think about it."
The Tyrant's gaze swung to him, and it vanished again—reappearing so close to Julius that the heat rolling from its body was nearly unbearable. The massive sword rose and came slashing down in a vertical arc that would have cleaved Julius in two.
But before the blade could touch him, another weapon interposed itself—a gleaming green sword crackling with coiling energy. The Magma Tyrant's strike rebounded with a shuddering impact.
Zhou Rui stood beside Julius, his head bowed slightly, expression dark with murderous resolve.
"Where is Ms. Anna?"
The Magma Tyrant stared silently, the air around it trembling from the searing heat.
Zhou Rui's voice came again, lower and more dangerous.
"Where. Is. Ms. Anna?"
As he spoke, emerald sparks danced up the Guardian Blade, racing across his right hand and fusing into a dark green gradient that crawled over his wrist and forearm. His fingers curled into claws, and the growing aura began to spread up toward his shoulder, pulsing with a rhythm that made the air vibrate.
Julius shot a desperate look to Yu Zhen.
"Chief! Get out of here! If you don't want to be caught in his wrath—GET OUT!"
Yu Zhen's voice broke with fear. "What do you mean, Mr. Airu?!"
"JUST GO, CHIEF!" Julius roared, his staff braced as swirling green energy began to fill the entire chamber.
Yu Zhen hesitated, horror etched across his face.
"Mr. Airu… please… please stay safe."
With those words, he turned and bolted, sprinting for the staircase at full speed.
Behind him, the Magma Tyrant unleashed a hurricane of sword strikes—each one powerful enough to rupture stone. Zhou Rui met every blow, parrying effortlessly with the Guardian Blade as though the Tyrant's strength were nothing.
Around them, Julius conjured four small wind shields and set them whirling around his body to intercept the gales of superheated air exploding from each clash.
He drew a shaking breath, staring at Zhou Rui's transformed arm as the dark green aura thickened, creeping higher and higher.
"Zhou Rui…" he whispered, voice low with dread. "Just don't let yourself be consumed by the soul of Cerebrus."