Apotheosis

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 times 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.

"Damn!" 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 w

ned 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.