Venti: "Sometimes it's best to let nature take its course."
"Even if it's slow."
Arthur nodded slowly, as if he understood without truly understanding.
A slight smile appeared on his face.
Arthur: "And besides… it's kind of reassuring, isn't it?"
"To see that something here is working normally."
Venti smiled back.
Despite the strangeness of the situation and the potential danger that might lurk further into the cavern, there was something strangely peaceful about the scene.
The two boys then resumed their walk, following the orange crabs as they continued on their way, indifferent to being observed, unknowingly guiding two young adventurers through the unknown depths.
After another ten minutes or so following the slow procession of crabs, Venti and Arthur finally emerged into an immense cavern.
The change in scale was immediate.
Venti: "Wow."
The space opened up wide before them, so vast that their steps suddenly seemed tiny.
The floor was entirely covered in fine, pale sand, slightly damp, which still bore the marks of the creatures' repeated passage.
In some places, the sand formed small, irregular dunes, as if invisible currents had slowly sculpted it over time.
Along the sides of the cavern, piles of shells accumulated in veritable mounds.
There was everything: broken pearly shells, clams still closed, fragments of smooth, colorful carapaces.
Some reflected the bluish light of the seaweed hanging from the ceiling, giving the whole scene an almost surreal atmosphere.
Quite above them, long strands of seaweed hung from the rock, swaying gently as if breathing.
Some diffused a soft, soothing light, while others remained dull and dark, merely forming threadlike silhouettes in the darkness.
But what struck Venti most was the constant movement.
Looking at the walls, he could see shapes moving:
Crabs were literally climbing the walls, clinging to the rock with astonishing ease.
Each one carried something: here a piece of glistening shell, there a still-damp clam, further on, freshly torn seaweed.
They all seemed to be following precise, organized paths, like a perfectly structured colony.
Arthur stared in awe, slowly turning to observe the scene.
Arthur: "It looks like… a city."
Venti nodded silently.
He too had this strange feeling: this place wasn't just a natural cave, but a veritable living, active, almost intelligent ecosystem.
His gaze was then drawn to the center of the cavern.
There, in the middle of the sand, was a kind of small, circular crater.
It wasn't very wide, perhaps two or three meters in diameter, but it emitted a thin, grayish smoke that rose slowly before dissipating into the air.
The heat was perceptible even from a distance, a constant warmth that contrasted with the ambient humidity.
Venti: "…"
He approached slightly, without getting too close. Inside the crater, he discerned an orange glow, faint but quite real.
Venti: "It must be magma."
Arthur blinked in surprise.
Arthur: "Underwater…?"
Venti smiled slightly.
Venti: "Yes."
"It makes sense, actually."
"There has to be a heat source to keep the cavern at a bearable temperature."
"Without it, everything would be frozen… or uninhabitable."
Arthur looked again at the crabs, the luminous seaweed, the warm sand beneath their feet.
He gradually realized that this place, strange as it was, was perfectly balanced.
Nothing was there by chance.
Arthur: "It's weird… but I don't feel like I'm in danger."
Venti nodded gently, sharing that feeling.
Yet, deep down, a small voice whispered that such organized places often concealed something even more important.
Something they hadn't yet seen.
Bbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrr
Suddenly, Venti and Arthur felt slight vibrations beneath their feet.
The sand barely trembled, but enough to be noticeable.
Almost immediately, the crabs' behavior changed drastically:
Those climbing the walls descended precipitously, others dropped their loads, and all began to panic.
In a few seconds, they hid behind shells, under clams, or partially buried themselves in the sand, as if fleeing imminent danger.
Venti frowned, his heart suddenly feeling heavier.
Venti: "What's happening...?"
He didn't have time to finish his sentence.
BAM
About two meters from the central crater, the ground suddenly heaved up.
An enormous crab claw burst from the sand with a dull thud.
It was gigantic, much larger than Venti himself, a burning orange, and covered in fine, still-warm particles of rock.
In places, hermit crabs clung to its shell, as if they lived directly on the creature.
GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr
The small crater they had been observing just moments before began to tremble violently, spewing more smoke.
The ground around it vibrated more and more intensely.
Venti felt an icy chill run down his spine.
He understood.
An image flashed through his mind:
The one he had jokingly imagined earlier.
An enormous crab… with a volcanic crater on its back.
Venti: "Arthur…"
He didn't wait another second.
Venti: "Watch out!"
Venti grabbed Arthur by the arm and started running as fast as he could, dragging the boy along behind him.
Behind them, the sand continued to crack, and a low rumble echoed throughout the cavern, like the muffled roar of a creature awakening from a long sleep.
Breathless, Arthur cried out in a panic:
Arthur: "Tell me it's not the crab we were talking about earlier!"
Venti gritted his teeth.
Venti: "I wish… but I have a very bad feeling about this."
And as they fled through the sand, the entire cavern seemed to tremble, heralding the imminent emergence of a monster far more fearsome than anything they had imagined.
BAM
Suddenly, the sand exploded with a deafening crash.
A gigantic mass erupted from the ground, sending plumes of burning sand and rocky dust flying throughout the cavern.
The creature landed heavily, shaking the ground beneath its colossal weight.
Before Venti and Arthur stood an enormous brown crab, far larger than anything they had imagined, its massive body radiating suffocating heat.
On its back, the previously smoking crater slowly ripped open with a deep rumble, splitting into two immense volcanic branches, like rigid wings, covered in a thick white shell resembling calcined stone mixed with coral.
Inside the fissures, an incandescent glow pulsed, revealing molten magma.
Each movement of its branches sent a shower of orange sparks and white-hot fragments of rock raining down.
The monster's head lifted, revealing two enormous orange eyes, gleaming with a primal, menacing intelligence, which immediately fixed upon the two boys.
At the top of its skull, two thick, worn brown horns looked as if they had been forged by years spent digging through rock and burning sand.
Its two oversized pincers inspired a different kind of terror:
- The first, dark brown, was bristling with luminous orange points, as if heat were condensing within them before exploding.
- The other, entirely white, had the appearance of an almost sacred mineral carapace, and at its center shone an orange orb, pulsing slowly like a burning heart.
With each pulse, the air vibrated slightly, as if under the effect of an invisible pressure.
Around them, the ordinary crabs were completely still, huddled in their hiding places, as if they had always worshipped or feared this creature.
The cavern itself seemed to hold its breath.
Venti felt a lump in his throat.
His joke came rushing back to him.
A crab… with a volcanic crater on its back.
Arthur, frozen with fear, barely managed to whisper:
Arthur: "…I think we shouldn't have joked about that."
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
The monster then let out a low rumble, a mixture of cracking rock and churning lava, clearly signaling that their escape had just turned into a fight for survival.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffffffffff
Without wasting a second, Venti grabbed Arthur and activated Flight, instantly unleashing Elementary Anemo Mastery to propel himself upwards in a violent blast.
The air compressed beneath their feet, and the two boys were abruptly launched above the scorching sand.
For a brief moment, Venti thought he had found a way out… but that illusion shattered instantly.
The giant crab slowly raised its two volcanic structures, orienting them with terrifying precision towards the sky.
PAM PAM
An incandescent glow intensified within the craters, then, with a deafening roar, two enormous balls of magma were hurled at incredible speed.
The heat was so intense that the air rippled around them.
Venti hugged Arthur tighter and strained his wind control, making a desperate maneuver.
Venti: "Whoa!"
The burning spheres grazed their sides, passing only inches away, and crashed against the cavern walls in an explosion of fire and molten rock.
Glowing shards rained down like deadly rain.
Realizing he couldn't stay airborne any longer, Venti immediately deactivated his abilities.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
He pivoted mid-air and landed heavily on the sand, cushioning the fall as best he could while shielding Arthur with his own body.
BBBBBRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr
The ground vibrated on impact, and Venti felt the heat rising through his boots.
His heart pounding, he placed Arthur behind him, never taking his eyes off the creature, then took out his adventurer's crystal.
A bluish glow emanated from it as the information formed before him.
As he read the result, an icy shiver ran down his spine, a stark contrast to the surrounding warmth.
Emperor of Fire and Iron — Level 50.
Archive: One of the two sovereigns who once stood at the apex of the sea's aberrant species, and the subject of many a tale among sailors.
An Armored Crab that avoids predation, and can keep hunting and eating, will continue to grow, continually seeking out suitable shells to become its new armor.
But eventually, it became simply too gargantuan.
This massive Armored Crab once attacked a ship and was finally forced back into the depths by [name missing], who had not yet been reinstated as a naval commander.
Imagine this world: All of humanity has been purged from Rillmont, and the ever-growing Emperor of Fire and Iron eventually wears the armor upon his body like a luxurious coat of white stone.
Of course, in such a world, there would naturally be no one to call him, half-jokingly and half-in awe, the "Emperor of Fire and Iron."
Author's note: For those who didn't understand what the archives are, in the game Gensing Impact, we have access to various information about the different monsters and bosses we encounter throughout the game, and I use these descriptions and modify them slightly to fit the story.
Venti swallowed.
This wasn't just a territorial monster, nor an ordinary wild beast.
This was an emperor, a dominant presence in this cavern, far beyond what he could face alone… especially while protecting a child.
Behind him, Arthur trembled, his eyes wide open, while in front of them, the Emperor of Fire and Iron began to advance slowly, each step making the ground vibrate, as if the cavern itself heralded the beginning of an unequal fight.
Venti immediately understood that he had no chance of winning such a fight.
The Abyss Lector he had faced before was of the same level, certainly, but it had deliberately held back out of pride, toying with its prey.
Before him, it was the complete opposite:
A savage beast, devoid of restraint, attacking without calculation and with its full power.
Venti: "At my current level… it's impossible."
"If I stay here, we'll both die."
Pam
Without wasting another second, he grabbed Arthur and pulled him close, feeling the boy's body tremble with fear and heat.
His gaze then fell on a pebble half-buried in the sand, blackened by soot and still warm.
A quick, desperate idea, but enough to buy himself a few precious seconds.
Venti extended his hand and activated Telekinesis.
Telekinesis
The pebble suddenly lifted, vibrating under the invisible pressure, then was launched at lightning speed straight toward one of the crab's enormous orange eyes.
BAM
The impact was sharp and violent.
The creature let out a hoarse growl, a mixture of rage and pain, recoiling heavily as the injured eye partially closed.
Its pincers slammed wildly onto the ground, sending sand and shards of rock flying in all directions.
Taking advantage of this brief moment of imbalance, Venti turned on his heel without hesitation.
Venti: "Arthur, hold on to me, no matter what."
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap
He began to run as fast as his legs would carry him, desperately searching for a way out of the immense cavern.
Behind them, the furious roar of the Emperor of Fire and Iron echoed off the walls, accompanied by the muffled thud of his titanic footsteps.
The ground vibrated with every movement of the beast, reminding Venti that he had only been given a reprieve… and that the slightest mistake would cost them their lives.
It was at that precise moment that Venti glimpsed, through the flickering light of the bioluminescent algae, the path he had taken.
His heart leaped for a moment at the thought of escape, but he immediately understood that it wasn't a viable option.
The corridor was far too wide, and the Emperor of Fire and Iron could easily follow them, crushing everything in its path.
The cave walls were already vibrating beneath his massive footsteps, and Venti knew that a single mistake would doom them.
His eyes frantically scanned the surroundings, searching for an alternative.
Then, about twenty meters to his right, he noticed a much narrower tunnel, its entrance no more than four meters wide.
The edges were irregular, naturally carved into the rock, and a thin mist of water escaped from them, a sign that it likely led to another section of the underground network.
A plan, however risky, had just formed in his mind.
Venti: "Over there! If we go through that tunnel, he won't be able to follow us!"
Without wasting a moment, he set Arthur down on the ground, took a deep breath, and activated Stat Boosting on himself.
Stat Boosting
His body took on a faint greenish hue, his muscles becoming more supple and powerful.
He felt his legs lighten, his breathing stabilize, and his heart rate adjust to that of a predator ready to flee for survival.
SLASH
But before launching himself forward, he gestured toward the roaring beast.
Flows of anemo energy swirled around his palm, then shot out at the monster.
It was his secondary ability:
Stat Reduction
The effect was immediate.
The crab's chitinous skin seemed to quiver, its movements became less fluid, and the steam rising from its crater became less dense.
It wasn't much, but it would temporarily reduce the monster's strength.
Venti: "Arthur, run!"
"And don't stop!"
Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed the boy's hand again and started running at full speed toward the tunnel.
BBBBBBBBBBbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrr
The ground still vibrated beneath their feet, the heat from the creature behind them rose, and the sound of its pincers hitting the sand resonated like a war drum.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap
Each step was a struggle between fear and survival, but Venti knew they couldn't turn back until they'd made it through that narrow passage, their only chance to get out alive.
Chapter 50: Fire and Iron
The End