The agony of intense pain tormented Brock's nerves.
But this pain gave Brock a sense of peace, because feeling pain meant he was still alive.
He didn't want to die.
Solin.
Solin!
What on earth had he done? Were all the members of Ash Flower just nutrients and stepping stones for his ascent in his eyes?!
Was everyone who lost their utility, everyone who left Ash Flower, picked clean and then killed just like he was today?!
Ash Flower—the flower that grows in the ashes.
Who were the ashes, and who was the flower nourished by them?
Solin's arrogance even led him to write his purpose plainly in the team's name, looking down on everyone in the group with a lofty, superior disdain.
He viewed everyone as fools, his sense of superiority practically oozing from his high-and-mighty figure.
The hatred in Brock's heart surpassed the pain in his body.
The vast mana within him, which was already greater than that of other mages of the same rank, began to rise again under the influence of this hatred and his intense will to survive.
He wanted revenge.
Not just for himself, but for all those in Ash Flower who had been turned into ashes over time.
Before him, how many people had Solin killed? How many had he turned to ash?
Boom!
Brock's falling body finally seemed to reach the bottom, slamming heavily onto a stone slab.
He thought he heard the sound of his bones snapping from the impact.
The sudden, violent shock and pain forced his eyes open, allowing him to see his surroundings through the agony.
He should have fallen down the canyon and been swallowed by the lava river.
Why was he still alive?
As Brock thought, a shade of orange-red entered his vision.
It was flowing magma.
He seemed to be at the bottom of the lava river.
In this section of the river, it seemed only the surface layer was flowing with lava; the bottom was actually empty.
It was a hidden space within the dungeon!
He had never heard of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment having such a hidden space, nor had he heard of any dungeon with such a design.
But then again, this was the Well of Eternal Imprisonment; anything was possible.
Having explored this far, Brock had gained a certain level of understanding of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
The water film on the surface of Brock's body had remained intact, protecting him from the searing heat as he passed through the surface lava.
However, his skin was still scorched, and his back was severely burned.
At the same time, the impact of the fall from such a height had left him with multiple fractures.
He wanted to heal himself, but all the potions and coins he had were gone, taken by Dagna.
Brock could only rely on his mana to accelerate his body's recovery.
Meanwhile, he used his mana to prop himself up.
The environment of the Lava Stratum was extremely harsh. He was seriously injured and at the bottom of a lava river where the temperature was incredibly high.
Once his mana ran out, even as a first-rank mage with a body different from ordinary people, he wouldn't be able to survive.
He had to explore and find a way to live.
Logically, hidden floors like this contained treasures.
Enduring the pain, Brock began to move along the bottom of the lava river.
The space at the bottom of the lava river was shaped like a long corridor, surrounded by glowing magma that scorched his body.
Brock felt as if he were inside an oven, his whole body being roasted like a chicken.
He could only choose a direction in the corridor and begin exploring.
The high temperature tortured his spirit to the limit, constantly worsening his injuries.
Finally, he managed to move to the end with great difficulty.
Before Brock stood a towering, sealed stone door.
Carved upon the stone door was a giant snake coiled around a massive tree. Soldiers held long spears, while a radiant deity looked down upon all living things. Flames rose from the surroundings, and countless chains extended from the ground like tentacles.
Invisible shackles imprisoned every life form.
As a mage, Brock subconsciously used his memory to analyze the reliefs on the stone door, but he found it completely impossible to understand the meaning of what was depicted.
He couldn't afford to hesitate now. He activated a spell, using powerful wind pressure to slowly push open the stone door.
As the stone door swung open, a downward staircase appeared before him. The stone walls on either side of the stairs were engraved with mottled reliefs.
Brock didn't hesitate to step onto the stairs inside the stone door and explore further down.
The reliefs depicted a giant snake entangled in chains.
The snake's neck was pierced by shackles, imprisoned like a captive.
A giant snake?
Brock noted the existence of the giant snake and continued downward, where he saw an incredibly familiar relief.
Twisted and frenzied—even though it was just a stone carving, Brock could recognize it: it was the Forbidden Fire.
This is a Forbidden Fire ruin!
And not just any Forbidden Fire ruin. Brock remembered the shackled giant python from the earlier relief.
After the depictions of Forbidden Fire, the reliefs changed again.
Cages appeared, one after another, with shackled figures imprisoned within them.
These bound prisoners were burning with Forbidden Fire, their faces twisted in various ways.
Under the scorching of the Forbidden Fire, these prisoners struggled madly, either tearing at their own bodies, biting the chains, or digging their fingers into their eyes as if trying to gouge out their burning brains.
They vomited up internal organs burning with Forbidden Fire, clawed open their stomachs, and pulled out intestines filled with the flames.
The madness almost seemed to emanate from the reliefs, pressing directly down on Brock.
Just looking at these reliefs of beings scorched by Forbidden Fire made Brock's heart race and his inner self grow restless.
Enduring the pain, he quickened his pace downward.
Finally, he reached the end.
A vast space opened up before him, with a giant snake engraved on the surrounding walls.
The snake's body was so massive that it coiled around the walls of the entire space.
The mountains and rivers depicted in the relief seemed insignificant beneath the snake's colossal body.
The sheer impact of the sight made Brock stop in his tracks.
Immediately after, Brock felt a powerful sense of crisis.
As if he were about to die in the next second, his heart pounded violently, and blood pumped from his heart and out of his wounds.
Brock struggled to steady his mind. His mana didn't sense any danger approaching.
However, his heart followed that sense of crisis, and he looked up.
What he saw next was a scene he would never forget.
On the vaulted ceiling was a protruding relief reaching downward.
The relief depicted an incredibly gaunt being, covered in bones, bound by shackles, and burning with Forbidden Fire.
On the face made of bone, there were no eyes.
Black flames flickered from the empty sockets.
One hand gripped the bars of a cage, while a sharp, withered hand reached out from the bars, clawing downward.
A complex pattern of overlapping diamonds was engraved on the palm.
It looked as if it would come to life at any moment and pour down death.
Though it was merely a relief, it gave Brock the feeling that he would die in the next instant.
Even though the carving was just of a withered, strange prisoner, Brock felt it was a carving of death itself, imprisoned.
It felt as if the moment that prisoner broke free from the shackles and the cage, death would descend directly upon him.
Brock didn't dare look for long, afraid to feel that aura of death.
Lowering his head, Brock's mind raced.
What is that? What is that? What is that?!
He looked forward and saw the head of the coiled giant python.
The relief of the head was facing Brock, holding a metal card in its mouth.
Above the snake's head was a hollow iron sphere, with a burning flame in its center.
“A Forbidden Fire blessing!”
“And a monster card!”
Brock never imagined that after falling down the canyon, he would stumble into such a treasure trove.
He had never even thought about competing for the Forbidden Fire.
That was far too distant for him, yet now, a Forbidden Fire blessing was right before his eyes.
And there was a monster card.
This was his hope for revenge—hope for revenge against Solin!
Brock endured his physical agony and stepped forward, reaching for the Forbidden Fire blessing.
The Forbidden Fire flew out of the hollow iron sphere and quickly merged into the back of Brock's hand.
A flame mark appeared on the back of his hand, and the burns on his body subsided slightly.
At the same time, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop.
Brock understood that this was the ability to resist high temperatures and fire granted to him by the Forbidden Fire blessing.
Feeling the power of the Forbidden Fire blessing, Brock lowered his head and looked at the card held in the mouth of the giant snake relief.
He carefully pulled out the card.
Brock had seen monster cards before; their value varied depending on the monster summoned.
But this card before him, aside from having different patterns, didn't depict any monster.
Instead, it depicted a massive white bone.
It was a special card he had never seen before, with a silver-white texture that reflected the dazzling light.
“Bone of the Sinful Snake.”
The moment Brock gripped the card, the oppressive statue on the vaulted ceiling flashed with light once again.
The sense of fear welling up from his heart made Brock tremble as he ducked away.
Enduring the fear, he looked up and realized the light was coming from the palm of the statue's downward-reaching hand, faintly resonating with the card in his hand.
“Could it be a summoning mark?”
Brock forced himself to endure the terror and walked under the statue, reaching his palm up toward the statue's outstretched hand.
In an instant, a summoning mark streaked down from the statue's palm, piercing through Brock's palm and leaving a mark on the back of his hand.
Brock raised his hand and looked at the new mark on the back of his hand. Feeling the spatial power within it, his heart raced.
It was indeed a summoning mark.
With this mark, he could use the monster card to summon a monster.
And the Forbidden Fire mark would allow him to resist and command the most dangerous Forbidden Fire in the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
Combined with the special card, the Bone of the Sinful Snake...
He would have his revenge. He would expose Solin's hidden, ugly face!
Not just for himself, but for those who had been killed by Solin.
Brock knew that even with two blessings, he was currently no match for Solin.
But even if he had to risk his life, he wouldn't let such a wicked person remain at large, looking down on those he exploited with a smug face.
Rate on N.U.
