Chapter 311: The Underground Caverns
Looking at the sentimental Kraft before her, Flamme had no desire to continue the conversation. She just wanted to find Carlo as soon as possible.
But then, a thought struck her, and she asked, "Excuse me, Lord Kraft, have you seen a mage named Carlo?"
"Carlo? If it is not a coincidence of names, I have indeed seen one. He wore glasses, looked quite frail, and his hair was black turning white."
Learning that Kraft actually had news of Carlo, Flamme was first surprised, then curious about why his hair had changed color.
But there was no doubt—the Carlo Kraft spoke of was the target she was looking for.
She suppressed the anxiety in her heart, maintaining a calm facade. "Do you know where he is now?"
Although Flamme tried her best to sound casual, who was Kraft? He naturally sensed the urgency hidden beneath her calmness.
However, he had no hobby of prying into others' privacy. He nodded and pointed toward a mist-shrouded peak in the distance. "Just yesterday, while patrolling near a canyon over there, I encountered a mixed reconnaissance squad of humans and dwarves. There was a mage named Carlo among them. They had received orders to investigate a newly discovered cave deep in the canyon suspected of demonic activity."
Finally found him!
"Thank you for the information!"
Flamme wasted no more time. Hastily thanking Kraft, she immediately cast flight magic, transforming into a streak of light and speeding toward the canyon.
She had to find Carlo quickly, before he caused bigger trouble, or... revealed secrets that should not be spoken.
Kraft watched her retreating figure, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. But in the end, he just shook his head gently and thought no more of it.
Flamme flew at full speed, pondering Carlo's motives.
He joined a reconnaissance squad? That isn't like his usual style of being obsessed with research.
Even if he wanted to research magic that absorbed demonic life force, he should have done it on a safer battlefield. But reconnaissance squads... they had a high probability of clashing head-on with demons. What exactly did he want to do?
An ominous premonition began to surface, making her speed up even more.
With the speed of flight magic, Flamme soon arrived at the canyon. Based on the rough direction provided by Kraft, she quickly found the so-called cave entrance.
However, it wasn't a simple cave, but a massive entrance like a split in the mountain itself.
Especially after advancing a distance inside, Flamme found traces of battle. Clearly, Carlo's squad had already engaged the demons here.
Her unease deepened.
She tried releasing detection magic, but a strange power inside the cave seemed to interfere, making her perception sink like a stone in the ocean.
Her detection magic, which could usually extend easily for hundreds of meters, could now only reach barely over a hundred meters. Although she could pump more mana into it to increase the range, the consumption would be drastic.
"Keep moving forward first!"
Flamme gritted her teeth, deciding to advance a bit further before using detection magic again. The cave could only be so big; she didn't believe Carlo could have run far!
Guided by magical light, she cautiously ventured deeper into the darkness.
However, as she went deeper, Flamme truly realized the vastness and complexity of this place.
This wasn't a cave at all, but an unbelievably massive underground labyrinth!
Countless forks in the road spread out like a spiderweb, extending in all directions. There were even vertical layers. Although she could barely see the path thanks to occasional mana crystals on the walls, the complex structure was laid bare.
The air was permeated with a damp, cold aura. Clearly, this underground labyrinth connected to subterranean rivers.
Flamme tried to track the traces, but the labyrinth's structure was too complex, and the trails were intermittent. Soon, she lost her way.
"No choice now..." Flamme stopped.
She took a deep breath. A magic circle unfolded before her, and she cast a super-large-scale detection spell.
An invisible wave of mana spread out, encompassing the upper and lower layers of the labyrinth, sensing all existences with mana fluctuations within range.
This was a large-scale spell that consumed immense mana and easily exposed her position, but Flamme couldn't care less.
Hum!
The magic fed back a massive amount of information.
In her perception, scattered mana points were distributed throughout the labyrinth. But deep inside, in a certain area on a lower level, several relatively bright mana fluctuations were gathered. One of them carried a mana signature she was familiar with.
Found him!
Flamme locked onto that direction immediately. It was too late to find a passable route, so she chose the simplest and most effective method.
She used magic to blast open the rock layers beneath her feet, pulverizing anything blocking her way. Disregarding mana consumption, she forcibly approached Carlo's location in a straight line.
However, when she finally broke through layers of obstacles and arrived at that area, the scene she saw stunned her.
This was a massive underground cavern. Glowing ores on the ceiling provided weak light. Below was a bottomless abyss.
A narrow natural stone bridge spanned the abyss, connecting the platforms on either side.
At this moment, on the end of the stone bridge closer to Flamme, Carlo had his back to her. Along with a few allied soldiers, he was surrounded by dozens of monsters.
Carlo seemed to be casting a defensive spell. The light flickered unsteadily, appearing extremely strained.
The instant Flamme appeared, a demon suddenly emerged and cast a spell directly attacking Carlo.
"Look out!" Flamme cried out in alarm. A light spear shot from her hand, attempting to intercept.
But she was a step too late!
Thwack!
The demon's attack caught Carlo completely off guard. He didn't even have time to react and deploy a defensive spell.
With a scream, the immense impact made him stumble, falling straight off the narrow stone bridge and plummeting into the abyss below.
"Damn it!!!"
Flamme had no time to think. Mana erupted around her. Casting flight magic, she dove down into the abyss after Carlo like a meteor.
Although Carlo dying like this would also perfectly achieve her goal, out of guilt, Flamme still preferred the option of erasing his memory.
Wind whistled past her ears. Flamme pushed her speed to the limit. Finally, just before Carlo crashed into the pitch-black water below, she reached out and grabbed the corner of his clothes.
However, the inertia of the fall was simply too great.
Splash! Splash!
One after another, they smashed heavily into the underground lake.
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