Seed Of Speed

Diego landed on the black rock mountain, just below the cloud level, and released Celita. He was already scanning the mountain side with his {Heaven's Celestial Eye} for any sign of the demons. Although he could make out a few underground, the core of the mountain was like a blazing sun of red which swallowed the weaker twinkling light.

(It's a volcano, right?) Diego asked.

::It is, but there is a steady beat to it, so it isn't likely to erupt without a lot of intervention::

(Could we just erupt the volcano and kill the demons? The caves are likely magma channels, so they would fill as well.)

::Using any form of Fire, even Earthen-Fire like magma, would be as effective against them as Light and Thunder against you. Then, even if it could harm them, the most probable place for their base is at the heart of the volcano where the Greater Demon could draw power from so as to increase its strength::

(A simple 'no' would have been fine,) he replied dryly.

::And you would not pester as to why if I had?::

Instead of continuing the pointless argument with his cheeky sister-in-law, Diego began forming several different invisibility spells, including ones to hide their bodies, body-heat, scent... down to the point of spell to disperse any sort of foot print left behind. Shadowbolt had always praised his ability to disappear, to the point that she boasted he could hide under another Shaman's nose, so long as their Magic Crest was within two points of his own. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of runes he wove into his invisibility spells made them fragile, so he could not use them in combat other than as an ambush with one of his other bodies, but his killing intent would give him away as he was not trained as an ȧssassin.

"This may feel a little weird, but as long as we don't bump into to something, we should be able to move around unseen," Diego said as he casted the spell over the both of them.

A thin membrane of air coated both of them from head to toe which masked their scent and prevented them from leaving tracks, but it also made it feel like tiny ants were crawling across their skin.

"Are you sure about this?" Celita asked, looking down at her hands with skepticism.

"I know it hard to believe while seeing yourself and me, but trust me when I say it very unnerving to not be able to see your hands and feet," Diego replied. "You need to say within five meters of me. Otherwise, we can move at speed without fear of alerting them."

Celita nodded and they both kicked off the ground. They circled along the mountain, slowly moving downwards, as they searched for an entrance. It did not take too long before they found an opening and headed underground, no guards to be seen.

The twisting labyrinth of smooth black tunnels lead them slowly down into the heart of the mountain. The first hundred meters they traveled, nothing crossed their path, but the further they went, the more often a demon would pop up. At first, it was just the occasional imp patrolling a stretch of tunnel then, after the three hundred meter, a new type of demon appeared.

After following five hundred meters of tunnels, a gateway of iron barred their path. Celita gave him an 'I told you this was pointless' look, but he waved her after him as he headed for the cave walls. The {Heaven's Cestial Eye} allowed him to see the spiderweb of lines that made up some type of magical formation that was woven into the iron bars, but also the surrounding rock.

(Do the lines sense magic?) Diego asked silently.

::Yes, but only if you break them::

(Understood.)

Diego placed his hand on the stone wall and pushed as he channeled his mana in the wall. Slowly, he made his own tunnel the gateway and the magical trap, not forgetting to seal both entrance with a layer of rock. He gave a smug smile to Celita once he had hidden everything to which she just rolled her eyes and nodded the way they needed to go.

A dozen or so more steps forward, the ground dropped away, and the tunnel opened up into a massive chamber lit by a dim amber glow. The very center of the mountain was hollow with a giant pool of magma at the bottom. Twisted, curved spires sprouted out of the walls which was where the demons had made their home.

The imps clung to the bottoms of the spires and hung upside down like bats. The horned demons made their homes on top of the spires, but they did not make buildings. Instead they lived in the open environment of the volcano, sleeping in community piles and working with simple tools. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of these demons. If they could all be gathered to attack at once while they were protecting the refugees, it was almost a guarantee that they will lose people.

Diego sighed, but the next moment, he felt a tremor pass through the whole mountain. His eyes were drawn down to the magma below where two enormous snake heads broke surface. The Fire-Acid Demon Snake's body flicked its tail, splashing lava up the walls. As it floated on the magma like it was water, Diego could finally estimate its length to be over two hundred meters long.

(This is ridiculous, how are we supposed to fight that thing?) Diego asked.

::Does a king go out and fight every foe? It's unlikely the Fire-Acid Demon Snake will personally come out and chase some prey. He will send out his children and a band of warriors. Look at the shore line of the magma, those are who you will face::

He moved his attention to the 'bank' of the magma where half a dozen snakes dozed in the warmth of the magma. Four were bright red, a fifth was pure black, and the sixth was speckled with red and black scales. They varied in size, from twenty to fifty meters long, with the red and black snake being the longest.

He pointed them out to Celita who nodded, and they scanned the rest of the edge of the magma, looking for anymore nests. They found two more, but both were a little smaller than the first one. Without actually flying into the cavern, they gathered as much information as they could and retreated without raising an alarm.