Chapter 182: Transformation—Lava Elemental, the Path-Blocking Fire Dragon
Lava Zone, Outer Area.
Tang Zheng raised his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a heavy breath. "There was only one contest of resurrection magic. I thought they would try a few more times."
The third time he resurrected Quinn Esai, Tang Zheng sensed that the Slane Theocracy had also used resurrection magic.
Their reaction speed far surpassed that of Zuranon's Alliance Leader.
Tang Zheng had been on guard, wary that the Slane Theocracy might use a higher-tier resurrection magic.
His passive ability, 'Magic Advance Preparation,' still held the unused Seventh-Tier Magic: Resurrection from last time.
Of course, if the Theocracy could use Ninth-Tier Resurrection Magic, Tang Zheng would have been helpless.
But on second thought, that was impossible. More than 600 years had passed since the time of the Six Great Gods. Even if a magic scroll or item of that level truly existed, it would have most likely been used up by now.
Tang Zheng didn't believe the Slane Theocracy would use such a trump card—a magic item or scroll—for a single Quinn Esai. Let alone Ninth-Tier magic, the Slane Theocracy would likely be unwilling to even use a Seventh-Tier spell.
"Regarding the items left behind by the Six Great Gods in your Theocracy, which ones do you know about?" Tang Zheng asked again, looking at the controlled Quinn Esai.
After each resurrection, he could ask three more questions. However, the information Quinn Esai knew about certain key issues was also limited.
Tang Zheng could only pick some of the most important things to ask. Just as Quinn Esai was answering the third question...
Bzzz—
*Detected Magic: "Locate Object." Requires Spirit-type Caster Level (22-28). Current conditions not met.*
*Detected Magic: "Clairvoyance." Requires Spirit-type Caster Level (29-35). Current conditions not met.*
"It's starting. I need to speed things up." Tang Zheng adjusted his black robe, expressionlessly glanced at the information on his stat panel, and refocused his attention on Quinn Esai.
Death by the sword!
Interrogation for information on the Theocracy!
Resurrection again!
As he repeated this process, Tang Zheng's magic power quickly began to run low, and Quinn Esai reached the point where they could no longer be resurrected.
At this moment, Quinn Esai's level had dropped to four or even lower. Tang Zheng could clearly sense that the other's body could no longer withstand the power of the resurrection magic.
Last time, he had dealt with the Gray-robed Mage's corpse to save magic power. This time, he had no intention of saving any.
"Raise Dead!"
Activating the final use of his 'Mad Mage' class skill, a sacred white light enveloped the other person.
Quinn Esai's corpse, unable to withstand the power of resurrection magic, began to turn into bubbles and disintegrate on the spot!
In a moment, the corpse on the ground had completely vanished.
"Finally, it's over." Tang Zheng's expression relaxed as he raised a hand to wipe his sweat-drenched forehead in the intense heat.
"Time to leave this place."
Tang Zheng stood up. He had obtained a great deal of information about the Slane Theocracy from Quinn Esai, giving him a much clearer understanding of their situation.
As the most powerful of the human nations, their strength indeed somewhat exceeded his initial expectations.
"But before I leave..."
Tang Zheng raised his arm and, with a flip of his palm, took out the magic rings, necklaces, and other items he had stripped from Quinn Esai's body from his item box.
"What a waste of these high-quality magic items."
"Third-Tier Magic: Compound Elemental Summoning—Wetland Elemental."
*Sploosh!*
A mass of mud quickly coalesced out of thin air, forming a featureless sludge monster about 160 centimeters tall.
As soon as the Wetland Elemental appeared in the intense heat, the moisture all over its body began to evaporate at a visible rate, forming white steam.
"Elemental Attribute Alteration—Fire!" Tang Zheng activated his 'Mad Mage' passive.
The Wetland Elemental's mud-like body began to writhe irregularly. A tinge of red flame emerged from the sludge, then quickly spread to cover its entire body.
However, just when Tang Zheng thought he had succeeded, the transformation of the elemental, whose body was already half-turned to flame, suddenly halted. The entire creature began to show signs of collapse.
"What's going on?"
The fact that the transformation began should prove the passive ability can be applied to elementals.
Suddenly, Tang Zheng noticed that only half of the Wetland Elemental's body had transformed into flame. A thought struck him. "Elemental Attribute Alteration: Fire, Earth!"
*Rumble!*
The Wetland Elemental stopped collapsing. The powers of fire and earth merged, erupting with intense heat that formed a wave surging in all directions.
The next moment, the Wetland Elemental transformed into a Lava Elemental, its entire body now flowing with magma.
"Just as I thought."
"An elemental summoned with a 'Compound Element' spell can't be transformed into a single-element one; it can only be changed into a dual-elemental."
Looking at the Lava Elemental before him, Tang Zheng's eyes lit up. It was far more resilient than a single-element elemental.
With a wave of his hand, all the magic rings, necklaces, and other items were tossed onto the Lava Elemental.
Holding these magic items, the Lava Elemental moved toward the lava flow in the Depths.
Watching this, a pained look appeared on Tang Zheng's face. The magic items from Quinn Esai's body were extremely valuable.
However, after discovering that his scrying ability could be used with object-locating magic, Tang Zheng had no choice but to discard them.
The Lava Elemental had extremely high resistance to heat and easily reached the edge of the Lava Sea, tossing all the magic items into the lava.
*Rumble!*
But at that exact moment, a huge wave of magma surged up from the Lava Sea, and a giant organ—resembling both a palm and a lantern—shot out. Before the Lava Elemental could react, it was dragged down into the Lava Sea below.
*Whoosh—*
The monstrous magma waves churned.
A giant, fish-like monster, over fifty meters long and covered in thick, hard, fiery-red scales, leaped out of the magma.
*Boom!*
A pair of indescribable crimson eyes, each one taller than a normal human, stared toward Tang Zheng's position. Then, the creature fell from mid-air, smashing heavily into the Lava Sea and kicking up another colossal magma wave. A scorching heatwave followed.
"Lava Ruler: Sun Anglerfish."
Tang Zheng raised a hand to shield his face, narrowing his eyes.
Faced with its massive, fifty-plus-meter body, even Tang Zheng was shocked, especially at how it could swim freely in the magma as if it were water.
The sight filled him with apprehension.
The creature's level was around 47. With his current strength, he didn't think he was a match for this Sun Anglerfish.
Fortunately, the Sun Anglerfish couldn't move on land and could only live in lava. As long as he stayed away from the Lava Sea, it couldn't do anything to him.
Tang Zheng turned to leave but stopped after only a few steps.
In the sky not far away, a red shadow was rapidly approaching. In the span of just a few breaths, it had arrived before him.
A figure over twenty meters long beat its wings, descending from mid-air to block Tang Zheng's escape route.
With its appearance, a heavy pressure filled the air. The temperature in the Outer Area, which hadn't been excessively high, rose by several degrees.
The red scales, combined with its exceptionally striking size, left no doubt as to what this creature was.
"Surface Dominator: Ancient Fire Dragon!"
Tang Zheng's expression turned extremely grim as he stared at the dark red scales on the creature's long neck—a sign of the fire dragon's great age.
Damn it!
Why was it here? The Ancient Fire Dragon was only mentioned in passing in the Original Work; it shouldn't have appeared at all.
"Human, hand over the precious magic items you possess." The Ancient Fire Dragon's crimson eyes revealed both greed and a hint of caution as it looked at Tang Zheng.
In its perception, this human before it possessed an astonishingly profound and hidden magic power, as if it were lying in wait, ready to be unleashed.
(end of chapter)