Chapter 263 – Treasure Pilfering (1/2)

At nightfall, the vicinity of the townlet also quietened down, as if all the monsters had returned to their lairs.

However, Fatty knew that they were still keeping watch from afar. Once a human left the town, they would definitely initiate a full-swing assault.

Luo Kun held a conference at the town hall to discuss countermeasures with the officers. Meanwhile, Fatty snuck out of town.

Originally, the gates were closed and entry and exit were strictly prohibited. Fatty had to use one of his movement art chances to Earthwalk outside.

In actuality, every town and city would have magical runes carved onto the structure somewhere to prevent enemies from teleporting inside. However, Fatty’s Elemental Movement Art was superior to any standard space magic.

Fatty rode the Dark Unicorn and flew up high. He headed in the direction where the Mutated Fire Kite had left at sunset earlier.

Inside the forest, there was only pitch darkness aside from the occasional sounds of insects, which only made the silence stand out even more.

Those familiar with the rules of the forests all knew that they got increasingly dangerous at night. Any monster who came out to hunt in the evening was likely to be powerful and cunning.

After traveling for a short while, Fatty was tailed by a Ghost Bat. If it weren’t for him reacting quickly to lose it, he would have been pursued by a colony of its kind.

Zooming past above the trees, Fatty stopped at a spot far away from the Mutated Fire Kite’s lair and landed. Then, he continued forward slowly in Stealth.

The bird’s lair was on a high mountain. Even from quite a distance, Fatty could already feel the waves of heat sweeping at him.

Red light could be seen leaking out from the entrance into the mountain, illuminating the sky above. Without a doubt, this was an active volcano.

The sounds of fire burning echoed from the distance. They reminded Fatty of that Fire Kirin Beast which he captured to be a replacement for West the Flame Ruler in the Fire Valley. Back then, the Fire Kirin Beast also resided in the mouth of a volcano, but that one wasn’t as big as the one before him right now.

The closer he got, the more overwhelming the force of fire was. Moreover, there were groups of monsters patrolling around the mountain, most of them being fire-attribute with a random mix of other elements. The monsters either gathered in random spots or wandered to and fro, but they all kept the roads leading up the mountain under close watch.

However, this was useless against Fatty. He teleported a kilometer in with Earthwalk. Then, with another Earthwalk, he arrived at the belly of the mountain.

Flames billowed inside the crater. Met with a raging heatwave as soon as he entered, Fatty’s health began to slowly drop.

Consequently, he was forced out of Stealth.

Carefully hiding behind a rock, Fatty stretched his neck to look down. This spot was still a distance away from the bottom, allowing him to see only a vague red lumination and hear only the sound of lava bubbling non-stop. There was yet any sign of the huge fire kite.

Groups of fire monsters danced around everywhere below. There were up to tens of thousands of fire bats, firebirds, fire spirits, and the like, ranging from level 50 to 60.

After thinking for a bit, Fatty concealed himself well and slowly climbed down.

The fire burned more intensely as Fatty went. His health also dropped more and more quickly, albeit still within an acceptable rate. Aside from occasionally eating a red pill, Fatty ignored the dwindling health bar as he quietly traveled.

Upon reaching halfway down the mountain, Fatty finally saw the massive Mutated Fire Kite. The beast was lying in the lava pool with its wings folded, sound asleep.

In front of the bird was a hovering object in the shape of a round tray. The object emitted a gentle white light that shone in all directions.

Below the tray, there were several dozen magic stones providing it with magic force.

“It must be this.” Fatty concluded and grew even calmer as he pondered for a chance to make his move.

All of a sudden, the Mutated Fire Kite raised its head. Its eyes popped open, a cold gleam briefly flashing through them.

Whoosh! The bird spread its wings and flew out from the pond, bringing up a cataract of bubbling hot lava. In the air, it swept a glance around, then directly flew out from the crater and vanished from sight.

As the bird zoomed past Fatty, a seething heatwave crashed into him. Fatty’s health dropped more than half in a blink of an eye.

“Great chance!” Fatty tossed a red pill in his mouth and stood up. However, he abruptly halted his steps and hid back behind the rock.

With a rumble, a big boulder on the mountain wall turned over, revealing a huge monster carrying several NPCs on its back.

From the looks of it, this monster was earth-attribute like the Underground Worm. For it to be able to carry several people at once, it naturally wasn’t an ordinary mount.

These NPCs obviously came for the same reason as Fatty.

“That’s the Spatial Tray.” An NPC instantly recognized the object at a single glance.

“Spatial Tray? A Divine remnant?” The others exclaimed.

Their exclamation drew the attention of the fire monsters. A shriek resounded, and countless fiery red monsters shot down at the group in a dense red mass.

“Hold them off,” The knowledgeable NPC ordered. Then, he ignored the monsters and arrived at the edge of the lava pond with just a few steps.

The Spatial Tray hovered above the lava pond like a moon rising in the red sky.

The NPC waved his hand, and the air around him ruptured with small cracks. This NPC was at least a Space Grand Magus.

“Hurry up! The general can only delay for ten minutes,” another shouted. The rest of the NPCs stood close to one another and raised their hands, which began to shine in unison. A light screen ten-something meters in diameter materialized above their heads and blocked the attacks from the rain of monsters.

Bzzzz! As the space mage deployed his magic, the Spatial Tray resonated and shone even more brightly.

Puff! A flame pillar suddenly rose from the lava pond and shot at the NPC.