NOVEL WEB Chapter 336: The Volcano... Erupts!_2
Anonymous heat arose from the ground, forming dense patches of fog.
The surrounding temperature began to rise continuously.
In just a brief moment, Lu Yuan snapped into action and shouted through a megaphone, "Everyone! Mount the flying brigade at once and leave this place!"
"I repeat, the volcano is about to erupt, everyone, leave this place!"
This day... had finally come!
To deal with the volcanic eruption, humans had already practiced many times. There were highly mobile "Flying Dragons" from the Insect Race near the volcano, each capable of carrying twenty to thirty people.
And in the ocean, the underwater team, along with a "Sky Fortress," were ready to provide support.
Everyone began to hurriedly fly into the air, preparing to evacuate.
"Will... you come with us?"
"If you don't go, we... can only leave on our own."
Seeing the animal experts still trying to persuade, Lu Yuan sighed deeply in his heart.
It's done, just let it be.
"Hurry up and come with me!"
The Mirage Cloud Dragon, upon seeing the volcano about to erupt, raised its head high and let out a sky-shaking roar!
"Roar!!!"
People saw the Mirage Cloud Dragon spring into action, its pale blue scales shimmering, opening and closing with its roar as its serpentine body twisted up into the sky.
In the very next second, the city's volcanic sealing was activated, beams of light shot up into the sky, forming a peculiar shape like an eight-sided trigram!
A vast 1500 square kilometers, enormous, yet intricately crafted.
This immense city, like a pressure cooker's lid, covered tightly over an area that should have erupted long ago.
The eyes of the Mirage Cloud Dragon emitted a cold glint; it... was the central point of this sealing!
Only its Ice Power could withstand the volcano's terrifying force, slowly releasing the restive energy.
In the past century, millennium, it had done many similar jobs.
It could not allow the volcano to erupt!
Otherwise, the underground sanctuary would be completely swallowed by magma.
But this time was different.
It had grown old, no longer as vigorous as in its youth.
It seemed somewhat overtaxed.
The power from the depths of the earth, however, was endless, like a compressed spring, growing stronger with each occurrence.
Fleeting memories of greyscale flashed through its mind. When it first began guarding this place, the sealing was incredibly powerful, the culmination of the Source Fire Civilization's wisdom.
Then came the Epoch Disaster. It hid in the deepest part of the magma, in a strange place, protected by Ice Power and Different Space, sinking into a deep slumber... It was necessary to survive the disaster, for as you glimpse into the disaster, the disaster gazes back at you.
Upon awakening, epochs had changed, the seals were tattered, and the volcano could erupt at any time, all relied on its own strength.
Each time, it had succeeded...
And this time would be no exception!
The Earth Vein's movement became more savage, and the brightness of the seals gradually increased—the grand confrontation between nature and the last creation of the "Source Fire Civilization."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, the volcano's roar mixed with the dragon's bellow.
In the sulfur-scented fog, Lu Yuan thought he saw the fruits of countless lives, the will to survive...
And...
A desperate dragon!
It was expending all its energy, activating its Life Energy in a desperate attempt to calm the increasingly violent volcano.
At this moment, no one tried to say anything anymore; they just stared blankly from high above.
The "Flying Fortress" moved away quickly...
"Can it be successful?" someone murmured.
"It could have lived longer, but it is the repeated confrontations that have prematurely aged it."
"Yes."
Then, a leaden cloud cover enveloped the sky, and a cloudburst unexpectedly came, the rainwater mixing with the volcanic smoke, forming a dense white fog that looked like a downcast crying face.
The Mirage Cloud Dragon's eyes burst out with a blinding red light, freezing everything within a hundred miles amidst the dense fog.
The volcano grew increasingly violent, with globules of magma tumbling out; its breathing became heavier as its bones and muscles twisted, a surging energy flowing into the massive seal.
Not enough...
Still not enough...
In the pouring rain, the desperate dragon suddenly coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, which transformed into the purest Ice Power.
Even though civilization had died long ago, it still guarded that last hope.
In the sky, lightning flashed and thunder roared like a mournful dirge, each dragon's lament sounding like a final swansong.
The crowd fleeing atop flying insects couldn't help but feel a silent salute upon witnessing this scene.
The power of the natural disaster was indeed terrifying; even just a whiff of its leaked Qi was enough to strike fear into hearts.
And the seal left behind by civilization, moving and stirring, like a towering hand spanning fifteen hundred square kilometers, forcefully pressed down the scorching magma.
"When we cross the ocean and come to this great volcano, we will see a dragon adept at swallowing clouds and spitting fog. It is massive and guards its treasure like a madman."
"Don't you dare touch its treasure, else you provoke its wrath, and it devours you with a single gulp..." People assessed the great dragon in such tones filled with sighs, and would never forget the scenes unfolding before them.
But the children of later generations, who had not witnessed it themselves, might find it hard to understand what this "treasure" truly was, perhaps mistaking the dragon as a greedy creature.
This is a regrettable misconception...
...
Who knows how long it passed, but the volcanic tumult gradually subsided.
A piercing chill spread through the air, turning the sea within a hundred miles into ice.
At this moment, the downpour also ceased, and a gap tore through the heavy clouds, casting feeble sunset rays onto the icy surface, turning it orange-red.
It seemed like just another ordinary day, as if nothing had happened, only those who had been through the ordeal knew its astonishing impacts.
"It looks like it has succeeded once more..."
"Yes, but it has aged even more."
Many breathed a sigh of relief yet remained anxious.
This time it had indeed subsided, but what about next time?
The seal enveloping the entire city was even more tattered, its might no more; and the Mirage Cloud Dragon, having exhausted its last energy, collapsed in the place it guarded, continuously vomiting blood.
What to do next?
"You all go back to Sky City and rest, Miss Conch and I will go down and see. We will also try to heal it," Lu Yuan gave instructions before hopping onto a "Flying Dragon" with Conch and changing directions.
"Great Commander... shouldn't we go?" an animal expert nervously called out.
"You all go back. The volcano is still unstable and could erupt at any moment. Just give me some medicine... I have the ability to protect myself and will send its condition via telegraph."
Hearing him say this, everyone else did not persuade further and handed over items to Lu Yuan.
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After a while, the Flying Dragon folded its wings, landing smoothly with a "swish."
Not far away, the Mirage Cloud Dragon, devoid of any strength, lay flat on the ground like a paralyzed loach, unable even to lift its head at the arrival of Lu Yuan and Conch.
It could no longer make the proud expression of raising its head and tail like it had done in the past.
Its scales were festering, perhaps due to jumping into the crater to seal the volcano, showing large patches of burn marks.
Lady Conch hurried over, checking its body with a pained heart, her pretty face turned somber, and she dryly said, "It has overdrawn its Life Force, burning the last oil. If not for the substantial Life Force of an Anomaly, it would've died completely."
"Now, aside from its head and heart still being alive, its other organs are beginning to slowly fail."
"Even with our best medicine, we can't save it?"