Chapter 54: Giant Beast At Lava Lake
The cave was dark, with only the faint light filtering through the entrance behind him, making it difficult for Zen to see ahead.
He had no time to consider what could be hidden in the dark recesses of the cave with his biggest problem behind him and moving closer.
As she made her way into the cave, the queen blade locust smashed stalagmites and stalactites chasing after Zen.
Only the heavens knew whether or not the queen blade locust had a keen sense of smell or Zen was leaving marks behind him. Whatever the case, it seemed easy for the giant insect to find him, even in a maze of caves like this.
The further down they went, the thicker and more pungent the sulfur odor became.
As he rushed into a connecting cavern, Zen discovered a red light illuminated the spacious cave.
Before Zen was an underground lake of magma surging. One after another, dark red flames burst up from the lake only to explode in a 'poof'.
This was the fire of the Earth's core!
It was recorded in ancient tomes that the fire came from the Earth's core.
The weapon refiners much preferred the fire of the Earth's core, because it was more primal, raw than the fire of life vitality that was in the refiner's body. The fire of the Earth's core had a miracle effect when refining certain special magic weapons.
Undoubtedly, the sulfur smell emanated from this pool of magma.
“Boom, boom...”
A low sound of rumbling thunder echoed through the cavern.
The queen blade locust was getting nearer again.
“Dang!” Zen blurted out uneasily.
He saw a passage at the side of the lake of magma, and he ran over to it.
The bank of the lava lake was heated by the fire from the Earth's core. Therefore, the ground was like a hot frying pan under Zen's feet.
All he wanted was to run for his life right then, so, he went through the heat at high speed not turning back.
“Ka-blam!”
The sound of exploding magma spurted fire through the air, splashing it in Zen's direction.
Without hesitation, Zen dropped and rolled, avoiding being splattered with the fires.
Immediately, he heard the stone wall next to him, “sizzling,” as the fiery magma that had just skimmed past his back, burned a large hole in the wall.
He noticed the wall was pitted with holes, like scars it had gotten from years of molten lava hitting it.
Well aware of the danger now, Zen was more cautious. He couldn't imagine what his fate would be if the fire of Earth's core hit him.
Soon, the queen blade locust was next to the lake.
An exoskeleton covered the giant insect, but, she was also afraid of fire. So the queen blade locust pursued Zen around the lake's shoreline.
'Thank goodness, ' thought Zen. She was too big to dodge the bursts of flames. By contrast, Zen was more flexible.
Adding to her plight, the quaking of the queen locust's heavy footsteps caused the lava to splash regularly, slowing her progress even more.
Zen was elated at the growing distance between the queen blade locust and himself. He started to think he would escape successfully.
No sooner than Zen was almost free of one quandary, he looked ahead and found himself facing another. His face grew pale, and his mouth fell open slightly.
Ahead of him was a shockingly huge creature blocking his passage.
It looked like a lion, yet its body was at least ten times bigger than a lion's.
The beast was covered with a fiery red mane, with its giant head resting on its mighty front paws, and a scorpion-like tail wagging gently as it slept soundly.
'A fire scorpion lion!' screamed Zen in his head.
The striking, yet terrifying name reverberated in his mind.
Zen had never seen a fire scorpion lion before, but, he'd read about the creature. Based on their scorpion-like tails and high-temperature habitats, fire scorpion lions were easily recognized.
Fire scorpion lions were among the scariest animals in the world, especially the deadly weapon they had for a tail. Even the strongest masters of the nature refining level didn't have much chance of escape.
These fierce beasts were widely distributed throughout the world in ancient times, but in the Eastern Region currently, they were threatened with extinction.
The reason the animal was on the brink of extinction was the ultra-rare crystal core in its body. The crystal core in the fire scorpion lion was a very masculine object used in pill and weapon refining. It was an exceptional raw material top refiners dreamed of having.
With the greedy and reckless characters in the Eastern Region, when a fire scorpion lion was exposed, it attracted thousands of people wanting to hunt it down.
However, Zen was not interested in obtaining the crystal core of a fire scorpion lion. Right now, he only wanted to manage to stay out of trouble.
Snoring loudly, the fire scorpion lion's sleep was undisturbed.
In light of his predicament, Zen decided to attempt to go around the fire scorpion lion.
But, what if he accidentally woke it up?
Then it would be his path to death.
'What should I do? Venture ahead, or not?' wondered Zen, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
If he turned back though, he was a meal for the queen blade locust. So, forward was as good a choice for him as back.
Keeping an eye on the long fangs of the fire scorpion lion, and thumping tail, Zen took a deep breath before he started to step closer cautiously.
As he approached, the unpleasant odor of the beast assaulted his nose. He managed to handle the smell as he walked softly and slowly.
Twenty steps away.
Ten steps closer.
Another five steps.
As Zen took each step, he clenched his teeth to calm his pounding heart.
When he was only three steps away, the fire scorpion lion suddenly rolled over, stretching his long limbs.
His heart was thudding so fast, that Zen thought it would burst from his chest!
Luckily, after a stretch and yawn, the fire scorpion lion curled up, resting his large head back on his front paws, fast asleep again.
Relieved a little, but still holding his breath, Zen continued to tiptoe forward.
As the saying goes, misfortunes never come alone.
“Thud! Thud!” came the sound of the queen locust's footfall as it reverberated off the cave walls, echoing. Focused on the fire scorpion lion in front of him, Zen had forgotten the queen blade locust behind him, for a moment.
'What trash!' cussed Zen silently.
Awakened by the noise, the fire scorpion lion's eyes flew open. The creature looked as surprised by the sight of the small man standing near, as Zen was by the lion waking up.
Shaking its mane and growling angrily, the fire scorpion lion pounced at Zen.
Zen dodged in a flash.
It was just like a game of cat and mouse.
Since Zen responded so quickly, the fire scorpion lion missed him.
Growling furiously, the giant beast crouched, ready to stalk and pounce again.
But the fire scorpion lion paused suddenly, noticing the queen blade locust approaching.
Zen knew an epic battle was about to begin.
'How do I get out? Am I screwed?' wondered Zen desperately.
No matter which way he chose, he saw no way to survive.
Ignoring the small man, the queen blade locust faced off with the fire scorpion lion.
Each beast was arrogant about their strength, and neither side was willing to yield.
Waving her big red blade, the queen blade locust created loud clacking sounds to warn the fire scorpion lion to back off.
Sharpening his claws against the hard stone ground, the fire scorpion lion was anything but fearful.
It was as though time froze, and Zen felt as though a century passed in the tick of a minute.
The queen blade locust impatiently attacked first.
Bellowing a mighty roar, the fire scorpion lion raised his head, preparing for the fight.
In the center of the behemoths battlefield stood Zen.
Out of desperation, Zen decided to try his luck with the lava and jumped into the lake.
The fiery lava boiled vigorously, swallowing him instantaneously.