Passerby Villain In A Wizard World-Chapter 245: Cocoon That Is About To Hatch (5)

Inside the Atali ruins, on the outskirts of the broken tower, Ian followed behind Ignysyl with a hint of curiosity on his face.

"So, the most important part of the tower isn't inside the tower, huh,"

Ian said, finding it reasonable.

Moreover, seeing that Ignysyl was heading toward the large volcano beside the tower, which still seemed active, he could guess one or two things.

"I don't know if it's important, but I can feel a large amount of fire elemental energy being siphoned underground. So, I think there should be something," the little dragon said, rapidly flying toward the volcano while Ian easily caught up using his newly learned skill, 'Earth Shrinking Step.'

'This is quite handy,' Ian thought with a smile as his movement became faster and faster.

This was the skill he had learned from Ignysyl after waking up.

After acquiring Nether Sight in the Deepsire from the Abyssal Entity, he wanted to learn more skills to broaden his arsenal. But he found that simply describing a skill or demonstrating how it worked wasn't enough.

He could only learn skills that aligned with the same element as his five streaks, and those that were transferred through the inheritance method.

Of course, learning talents like Dimensional Mastery, Rule of Fire, etc., was still impossible.

This 'Earth Shrinking Step' was a new skill Ignysyl had transferred to him after waking up. Since it was related to illusion, he could easily learn it with the help of the translucent streak in his Life Core.

"We're here."

It didn't take long for both Ian and Ignysyl to arrive at the top of the large volcano.

Ian could already see flares of molten lava erupting from the crater, casting a deep crimson glow across the ashen sky.

The air shimmered with dense, scorching fire energy, making every breath feel like inhaling flames. Even the extreme waves of heat distorted the air around them, making it look ethereal.

"That should be the passage," Ian suddenly said, pointing at the edge of the crater, where he saw a spiraling stone passage descending deep underground beneath the volcano.

Although the steps seemed weathered by centuries of heat and eruptions, they were still intact enough to tread on.

Ian could feel a faint, rhythmic glow pulsing from below each step, indicating they were infused with some kind of array.

"Hmm, it seems so," Ignysyl nodded, though he didn't seem particularly interested, as his eyes remained fixed on the center of the volcano.

Then, as if making a decision, he asked Ian,

"Do you want to go through that passage? In my opinion, it won't take long for other wizards to find out about this place. If we take this route, it might take a long time to reach the core location."

His sudden analysis caused Ian to look at him strangely.

"Then? What do you think we should do? Do you want to destroy this place directly?" Ian asked in a joking tone.

But he also didn't want to waste too much time exploring if there was another choice.

"What are you thinking? Why would you destroy this place? Wouldn't that just lure all those guys over?" Ignysyl rolled his eyes.

"Besides, do you think that guy will allow you to do that?"

He pointed at the large lava lake below, where Ian saw a massive serpentine silhouette weaving through the molten currents.

Although it was enormous, its scaled body was barely distinguishable from the churning lava, flickering in and out of view. Even Ian almost didn't notice it—if not for Ignysyl.

"Lava Serpent?" Ian raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and it seems there are multiple of them. All of them are as strong as Peak First Ring Wizards," Ignysyl nodded solemnly, noticing multiple ripples and slow rolling waves across the surface, distorting the reflection of the glowing crater walls.

"Then... what's your plan?"

Ian asked again, thinking that maybe going through the stairs was actually the best option. After all, he didn't want to fight them here—he had more important things to do.

However, just as Ian asked Ignysyl and looked below, inadvertently lowering his gaze, he felt his Life Core suddenly rotate on its own.

'Hmm?'

Ian, of course, noticed the oddity and looked directly inside his dantian with his mental power, only to see the Life Core turning half-transparent on its own.

Moreover, he could feel the five streaks across the Life Core becoming unusually active, with the red one even pulsating like a heartbeat in a vein.

'Does it want to eat that Lava Serpent or what?'

This was the first time Ian had seen such strange behavior from his Life Core. Previously, only his anchor, Cocoon, had reacted this way unconsciously.

So, he had to wonder—did his Life Core want the Lava Serpent for some kind of evolution?

Ian's guess seemed reasonable—only it wasn't.

Suddenly, just as the red streak in his Life Core began beating like a heart in his dantian, the once-boiling lava surface, which had been churning with the movement of multiple Lava Serpents, went eerily silent.

It was as if some kind of pause button had been pressed, freezing the movements of the Lava Serpents; all the rustling and rolling waves turned completely still.

"What happened?"

Ignysyl was about to answer Ian's query when he, too, noticed the strange phenomenon below.

"I don't know!"

Ian shook his head, staring below intently, equally unsure. But he could still feel the red streak in his Life Core beating rhythmically.

Just as they were both confused, suddenly, the silent surface of the lava stirred as multiple large holes appeared everywhere.

And from within, Ian saw fiery eyeballs with blazing gazes staring directly at them.

Or, more precisely, all those blazing gazes were directly locked onto Ian.

It was a bizarre yet surreal sight as the massive eyeballs floated with an unsettling stillness, their burning cores flickering like living embers.

They remained unchanging, utterly devoid of emotion, but Ian saw an undeniable weight in their gaze, as if they were analyzing, calculating, or perhaps judging him.

A strange pressure filled the air, making the entire atmosphere eerie.

"Oops, it seems they found your presence. Let's go, hurry up. I will cover you with my Rule of Fire. We just need to dive to the bottom fast and reach the bottom."

Ignysyl thought the Lava Serpents had found Ian's location.

So, he immediately flew to the top of Ian's head and flared up his fiery prong of fire, directly covering himself in a ball.

If one could see from outside, it would look like a ball of fire no different from those splattering out of the active volcano below.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

"Wait..."

"There is no time to wait. I feel other wizards' presence from afar too. Let's hurry up."

Ian wanted to stop Ignysyl when he heard his words, followed by a strong push that directly threw him into the center of the volcano, just beside those weird eyes.

However, since he was now completely covered in the Rule of Fire, there was no way those mere Lava Serpents could see him.

Ian also thought so, only to find out he was wrong.

Terribly wrong, as he saw those eyes followed him everywhere, even as he moved closer, diving down and approaching them.

They never lifted their gazes from him for even a second, nor did the streak on his Life Core stop beating.

"Splash!"

The ball of fire conjured by Ignysyl, covering both him and Ian, landed heavily on the lava surface, splattering fiery lava everywhere.

Some of it even landed on those eyes, but they didn't even blink—only intently watching Ian's figure as he dove deeper and deeper into the volcano, as if watching some kind of show.

As Ian now began to see those eyes along with the behemoth snake-like bodies within the lava, he realized something strange,

'There is no violence or threat in those eyes.'

In fact, they didn't even seem to be looking at him, but rather at something else entirely,

'My Life Core? But how is this possible?'

Ian thought in bewilderment, the sheer absurdity of the situation making him doubt his judgment. But the only thing that could defy Ignysyl's Rule of Fire was his Life Core.

Moreover, it was still half-translucent, although the beating rhythm had slowed down as they went deeper into the lava.

'And... why do I feel like those eyes are... revering me?'

Ian thought while looking at the eyes of the Lava Serpents, only to feel an emotion—an emotion of reverence.

It was just like the eyes he had seen on Ignysyl when making the Primal Bond, only more intense.

"Hey, we are already here. Let's go inside. I think those Lava Serpents ignored you."

Just as Ian was still looking at the Lava Serpents, he heard Ignysyl's voice from the side.

It seemed he didn't pay much attention to those snakes, as he never noticed their weird behavior just now.

"Oh? Can you teleport both of us inside?"

Ian asked as he saw that they were already at the bottom of the volcano, where a large barrier stopped them in their tracks.

From the molten lava that seemed to pulse around it, it looked as though the barrier was holding back the very heart of the volcano itself.

As for those eyes and the Lava Serpents, he decided to ignore them for now. He would research them when he reached the First Ring Wizard level, which he had a hunch wouldn't take long.

"Heh, this kind of barrier is nothing. Hold on, we are going to teleport."

Ignysyl puffed up his chest with assurance, flew to Ian's shoulder, and, without waiting, used his Dimensional Mastery.

"Swoosh!"

Suddenly, with a ripple of spatial force, both Ian and Ignysyl's figures disappeared from outside the barrier, leaving behind only the impression of them and those eyes that had lost their target.