Manfred's team was ready for action.
And within the thick fog in the air, the dangerous monsters finally revealed their true forms.
They were hideous little wyverns.
The wyverns were only about the length of an arm, resembling oversized bats with bodies covered in fine red scales.
Their faces were grotesque, with sharp spikes protruding through their scale-covered lips.
Sharp claws grew from their outspread wings, and their open maws occasionally spat small fireballs.
[Little Wyvern] lv12
[Skills] Fire Spit lv4, Fire Eater lv3, Fire Resistance lv3, Scorching Breath lv2, Sharp Claws lv2, Sharp Teeth lv2, Flight lv2
[Description] A special monster living in the Lava Lake, mutated by the aura of a Sub-dragon Wyvern. As minions of the Sub-dragon Wyvern, they fly through the air, hiding in thick smoke to attack intruders. They can spit fire and possess sharp claws and teeth.
The little wyverns gnawed at the fire-resistant boat's barrier, occasionally spitting fire.
Seeing the intruders clearly, Manfred quickly swung his blade. Sharp Sword Qi sliced through the smoke, cleaving toward the wyverns.
At the same time, he raised his crossbow with his other hand.
As more and more little wyverns swarmed from the smoke, there was no need to aim; simply raising his hand and firing a bolt was enough to score a direct hit.
The little wyverns attacked and dodged simultaneously.
However, because there were so many of them and they were all crowded against the barrier of the Immovable Fortress, they got in each other's way, unable to dodge effectively.
One by one, the little wyverns fell under the assault, plunging into the lava.
Yet, Manfred felt no joy.
Though these little wyverns weren't strong...
There were just too many of them!
Hearing the continuous, overlapping sound of wings flapping in the smoke, Manfred barked out an order while swinging his Sword Qi.
“Rhine, break through!”
The mage, Rhine, had been conserving her mana since the start of the battle.
After all, at this moment, only Rhine's wind magic could navigate the fire-resistant boat across the Lava Lake.
Once Rhine's mana was exhausted, their fire-resistant boat would lose all propulsion, left to drift aimlessly through the thick smoke.
Receiving Manfred's command, Rhine stopped holding back and unleashed her wind magic at full power.
The fire-resistant boat seemed to hit an accelerator, cutting through the lava and surging forward at high speed.
The barrier of the Immovable Fortress firmly protected the speeding vessel.
Any little wyverns that tried to block the boat were sent flying, coughing up blood with shattered bones.
The little wyverns' low durability was perhaps the only bit of good news.
Manfred felt a slight sense of relief as he watched the boat plow through and kill the swarming creatures.
But soon, his guard went back up.
Because the little wyverns had decent fire resistance, their flesh didn't melt immediately upon falling into the lava, even though they couldn't survive in it.
He saw the floating corpses being dragged beneath the surface of the Lava Lake one by one.
“Watch out below the boat!” Manfred shouted.
In the next second, the fire-resistant boat jolted violently, as if some monster had slammed into the bottom from beneath the lava.
The sudden impact knocked the three of them off balance.
Manfred quickly reached out to steady himself against the gunwale.
Weiss staggered as well, inadvertently shifting his position.
The Immovable Fortress flickered.
The little wyverns pressed against the barrier didn't miss the opportunity. They surged through the opening and pounced on the trio.
Manfred spun around, his sword flashing. Sword Qi erupted in an instant, shredding several of the intruders into pieces.
Despite his quick reaction, the wyverns' claws and teeth still landed hits.
Fortunately, they were wearing thick fireproof suits; attacks of this level didn't cause any serious injury.
The wyverns were blocked by the barrier once more, but the monster beneath the boat had no intention of giving up.
It slowly surfaced from the Lava Lake.
Its massive back looked like a miniature floating island on the lava's surface.
Large fish eyes stared intently at Manfred's group on the boat as it slowly raised its head.
The bulging gills gave Manfred a very bad feeling.
Sure enough, in the next second, a pillar of lava erupted from the fish's mouth, slamming into the boat's barrier.
The sudden bombardment nearly capsized the fire-resistant boat.
[Elite · Lava Fish King]
An elite monster, the leader of a pack.
An attack from an elite monster meant that a whole swarm had already gathered around them!
“This is bad!”
The three on the boat turned pale. As experienced dungeon explorers, they could naturally sense the massive mana of an elite monster emanating from the Lava Fish King.
All around the fire-resistant boat, the Lava Lake seemed to boil as lava balls began flying toward the barrier from all directions.
Weiss gripped his shield, desperately maintaining the Immovable Fortress barrier.
But the Immovable Fortress could only block attacks; it couldn't negate the force behind them.
If the wall couldn't be broken, then it was better to just push it over!
Under the direction of the Lava Fish King, the lava fish stopped their direct assault.
The Lava Fish King also dove back beneath the surface.
This provided no sense of security to the three on board. Rhine fought against the interference of the lava, extending her Mana Sensing beneath the surface to track the lava fish.
“These lava fish are all gathering on one side!”
Rhine quickly manipulated her wind magic to turn the boat.
However, how could a boat steered indirectly by human effort outpace lava fish living in their natural habitat?
The lava fish quickly maneuvered to the side of the fire-resistant boat.
Lava pillars and countless lava balls were fired simultaneously from one side.
The booming impact from the flank pushed the fire-resistant boat to its tilting limit.
Seeing that they were about to capsize, Manfred swung his sword into the air and threw his weight toward the gunwale.
Weiss immediately abandoned the Immovable Fortress, letting the little wyverns swarm down as he used Shield Bash to charge toward the edge with Manfred.
Rhine's eyes flickered.
Instead of using wind magic to maintain the boat's balance, she seized the opportunity to tilt the hull further and surge forward at high speed.
The three of them and their boat performed a life-and-death maneuver on the Lava Lake, nearly sailing on their side.
This tightrope balance was so precarious that the slightest mistake would result in total disaster.
As the dense swarm of little wyverns pounced, Manfred quickly unleashed Sword Qi, shredding them to bits.
As the hull slammed back down into the lava and regained its balance, the impact nearly tossed them overboard, crushing several little wyverns in the process.
Weiss quickly redeployed the barrier. The fireproof suits on the three of them were now damaged.
The monsters were still in hot pursuit, but a towering shadow appeared in the thick smoke directly ahead.
It was a massive rock pillar!
Rate on N.U.
