The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-512

Chapter 512: The Volcano of Dusk

It was the first time Hao Ren had walked into a real magic tower, but the environment there was not as eerie as he had imagined. In fact, it was like a reasonably well planned and neat research facility. There were reference rooms or laboratories on each floor of the tower. The place where the apprentices live was a neat and orderly dormitory. There was even a housemaster who was an old werewolf lady…

There were, of course, many things that matched the word ‘magic’. For example, the magic lights that floated in the air and the gold brooms that automatically swept the floor. There were also some faint arcane mutants wandered around in the air which were harmless short secondary lives that ran out of the energy wells. However, these things just made the magic tower looking fun and interesting, not looking weird and scary at all.

“I thought the wizards living in the magic tower were all looked gloomy, and the magic tower was full of cobwebs, covered in old grease, and even the floors were black,” Hao Ren muttered, “That’s what I saw in the movie.”

“Even the most traditional wizard won’t be like this,” Becky rolled her eyes and said, “and this is an academic facility, a place to do research, how do you work without bright lights?”

Ophra was walking beside Hao Ren and of course, she heard their conversation. She laughed and asked, “Do you know who has the brightest magic tower?”

“Who?” Hao Ren asked, “The one study the Holy Light?”

Ophra shook her head and said, “The Magic Tower of Master Dubai. It has been brightly lit for a century, and Master Dubai is one of the best necromancers in the world.”

“What?” Hao Ren was baffled.

Ophra shrugged and explained, “Because surgery requires a bright light, and a pair of good eyes is also needed to examine the decay of corpses and bones.”

Hao Ren felt like he had learned something that he had never heard before. But Vivian was not surprised and said, “It’s normal. Most of the necromancers on Earth are working in the hospital. Do you know how high-power the shadowless lamps there are?”

“… The fxxk it makes sense!”

Eventually, they were taken to the teleportation hall on the second floor. This was also the ‘breakpoint’ where the magic tower was drawn into another dimension. The roof of the hall was covered by a fragmented sky. The blue magic energy line was intertwined in the cracks in the sky, maintaining the energy integrity of the magical tower itself. Rudolph clapped his hands to let the guests stop chatting and said, “Thanks to that accident, it costs a lot less than anywhere else to start this teleportation device. Now please stand in the white circle, take your baggage, do not use alchemical items and walk around, there will be a slight dizziness during teleportation, but…”

As the white light flashed, they had disappeared.

Rudolph shrugged and continued, “But you all have gone, so it’s too late to complain.”

A young apprentice, who was responsible for routine maintenance of the teleportation facility came and checked the energy supply of the crystal, muttered as he heard what his mentor just said, “Sir, sometimes you should be serious. After all, you are here the most…”

Rudolph gave his apprentice the side-eye and said, “Oh, Searle, you’re right, so let’s have a serious discussion about finding your sister’s underwear from your closet and discussing your puberty.”

The young apprentice suddenly stumbled and said, “This… Sir, you knew it. This is due to the spatial mapping of the seventh-floor dormitory area! ”

“Oh, then let’s talk about spatial mapping, get your homework the day before yesterday, and the exercise books.”

“… Sir, I think my puberty needs your guidance!”

Let’s just ignore the two wizards. Hao Ren and the rest of them had come to the eastern border in seconds, which was thousands of kilometers away from the capital. One of the most disturbing ancient wonders of the world was quietly dormant at the edge of the east of the coastline.

The Volcano of Dusk, created by the werewolf mage-emperor, Sabur, was another ‘man-made miracle’ which was equally famous as the Dragonspine Ridge.

After the bright light of teleportation flashed by, everybody had reached the ‘Limestone Fortress’, just a short distance from the Mountains of Dusk, and the teleportation point was set in a watchtower in the fortress. Everybody was still feeling dizzy and giddy. It seemed that those ministers would still in the dizzy state for a few minutes, but Hao Ren and his team had already recovered. Lily was wagging her tail and readjusting her balance, muttered, “Not any better than our Mobile Data Terminal.”

The voice of the data terminal immediately appeared in their mind, “But my performance is strong and stable, a one-time teleportation of 20 million light-years is also giving you the same feel! Can the technology of the copycat be compared with the powerful technology of our empire?”

Ophra nodded to the soldiers who came to receive them and then told Hao Ren, “That’s the Volcano of Dusk, a geological spectacle created by another mage-emperor.”

There was a wide lookout on the wall of the room, allowing them to have a clear view of the Volcano of Dusk not far away.

A gigantic conical volcano stood abruptly in the flat, boulder-strewn wilderness. They did not know its size, but it looked as if it almost blotted out the sky and covered the sun from where they stood. The volcano was all dark as if it was a cool black iron, and in a farther place, they could see a vast expanse of ocean.

About one-third of the Volcano of Dusk extended to the ocean. Deep underground, part of its obsidian mountain was even integrated with the continental shelf.

And it was all crimson at the top of this huge black cone.

Hao Ren could not see the top of the volcano from where he stood, but he could see the blazing red glow burning there. The light even dyed the sky red, and it let them wonder if even the sky was about to be ignited by the red light. There was no lava flowing around the volcano. But even then, the red-hot flame alone was enough to make them feel an unbearable heat coming from the depths of the soul.

It was as if the sun had fallen into the crater. This was the origin of the name of the Volcano of Dusk.

Hao Ren did not expect that one of the sacred caverns was actually located at the Volcano of Dusk. The name sounded familiar to him. This was the giant creation created by the ancient mage-emperor, Sanur, who used powerful witchcraft to extract the power of the deep strata. The Volcano of Dusk had never extinguished, compared with the dead Giant Tree of Life and the Dragonspine Ridge that was in a state of silence for a long time. It was still burning up to this day as if it had an incredible vitality. Therefore, they could hardly see anyone here, just an impregnable fortress guarding the formidable ancient miracle.

There did not expect that there was a Firstborn lying under it.

But now, knowing that the second sacred cavern was under the Volcano of Dusk, he seemed to know some sort of pattern.

“The third sacred cavern is located under the ‘Tree of Life’?” Hao Ren looked at Ophra and asked, “Under the Tree of Life created by, the ancient elf-queen, Lorrisa?”

“Yes,” Ophra answered while nodding slowly.

Among the many wonders that ancient mage-emperors had created by manpower, the most magnificent were the three wonders, including the Dragonspine Ridge in the western part of the kingdom, the Volcano of Dusk in the eastern part of the kingdom, and the Giant Tree of Life in the south of the kingdom. Holletta was situated on the site of the ancient magic empire, so the three remains were situated within the kingdom.

The three remains corresponded to three Firstborns.

And the ancient magic empire was also the ‘main battlefield’ of the three Firstborns.

All the clues are logically linked.

“We have always known the location of the sacred caverns,” said Orben with a low voice, “but we don’t know what the sacred caverns really mean. We assume that the sacred caverns are situated just below the three ‘evil ruins’ because the Goddess imposed the punishment in the three places, or the mage-emperors challenged the Goddess’s authority with the man-made miracle, but the truth is—they are seals used to suppress the Firstborns.”

“The ancient mage-emperors are innocent. They did not have any blasphemy sins,” Hao Ren shook his head and said, “but I’ll explain to you in detail after we go back. Now let’s go and see the sleeping Firstborn. I hope it’s in a deep sleep now.”