To reach the location Ava had marked, they had to pass through two new tunnel and climb over a ridge. But thanks to Ava's dual-layered magical defenses, the four of them made it safely to the coordinates.
By the time they arrived, panting and breathless, night had already begun to fall. The mountain wind howled through the cracks in the rocks, letting out an eerie wail—like the mournful cry of some ancient beast—making the encroaching darkness feel all the more chilling.
They stood before a semi-solidified lava lake nearly a hundred meters wide. The dark red magma flowed sluggishly beneath a cracked surface, and even from over ten meters away, the scorching heat radiated toward them like a furnace blast.
