"They're all mad!"
Watching his companions act so recklessly, Leilin sighed helplessly. "Madmen who've grasped immense power are the most troublesome of all!"
Hiss...
While Leilin was sighing, the massive phantom of the Commonhorn Serpent Sovereign abruptly manifested behind him. A terrifying black hole formed, its tremendous suction continuously pulling at the fire elementals across from them.
"Innate Talent: Devour!!!" The fearsome ability of a fifth-level Commonhorn Serpent Sovereign—whether flame, light, or even the void itself—was all dragged into the black hole.
Roar...
One fire elemental after another howled in terror, even growing hesitant to advance, yet their bodies were dragged ceaselessly by the black hole's force behind them, ultimately being completely devoured.
By the time Leilin passed through, a clear path had opened up across the entire void.
The five Radiant Moon Wizards had successfully broken through the outer perimeter and entered the labyrinth's interior. Occasionally, powerful auras emanated from various parts of the maze.
...
At the center of the immense labyrinth, upon a throne of crimson gold.
A figure wreathed entirely in flames suddenly raised its head. A semi-transparent mirror materialized before it.
Image after image of light and shadow flickered past—the figures of Leilin and his companions from before. The Flame Sovereign's eyes flickered ceaselessly, scanning across Leilin, Clark, and the others, lingering only briefly on Jing before fixing completely on Melinda and not moving.
"The power of fate! It has returned everything to its original course!" the Flame Sovereign murmured, and two crimson figures split away from its body, rushing off in different directions...
"Ding! Scan complete. Identified as the Aranor Labyrinth's first-floor formation structure. High-energy reaction detected 12,800 meters ahead. Identified as a fifth-level entity. Fire elemental: 87.18% probability."
On the Chip's screen, vast quantities of data shifted and changed before a single line of conclusion appeared.
"So I really am inside the labyrinth. I need to keep clearing the barriers ahead before I can reach the Flame Sovereign's position?"
Leilin was currently walking through a vast corridor. The passage towered dozens of meters high, impossibly large—as though it had been built specifically for giants. Leilin looked like a tiny speck upon it.
"Furthermore, it blocks teleportation, and the sealing runes are this terrifying!" Leilin shook his head. "Every possible loophole has been sealed shut. I can only push forward step by step using speed!"
"Why do I suddenly get the feeling I'm playing a game from my previous life, clearing stages one by one?" Leilin rubbed his chin, looking utterly exasperated.
Yet in his eyes, the blue glow showed no sign of dimming. Leilin had pushed the Chip's scanning function to its absolute limit.
The labyrinth's formation had completely separated their party of five. Even though Leilin actively tried to search for and contact his companions, he received no response whatsoever.
If Leilin were in the Flame Sovereign's position, failing to exploit this opportunity to divide and eliminate the enemies one by one would mean something was seriously wrong with his head.
As such, besides watching out for traps and barriers along the way, Leilin's primary concern was a potential ambush from the Flame Sovereign.
Boom!
The moment Leilin stepped out of the corridor, a scorching wave of heat surged toward his face. Before him lay a massive lake of lava.
White bubbles constantly rose from the magma, bursting and releasing a thick, pungent smell of sulfur. The lava lake stretched endlessly, like an enormous crimson mirror.
"The fifth-level entity the Chip detected—is it here?" Leilin's gaze settled on the surface of the lava lake, as though piercing through the thick magma to see straight to the bottom.
"Come out!" A smile played at the corner of his mouth as the enormous phantom of the two-headed serpent plunged violently into the lava lake, stirring it up with reckless abandon.
Crackle! The magma erupted, spraying outward like rain in every direction. From the bottom of the lava lake, a dark shadow grew larger and larger before bursting to the surface, revealing a monstrous jaw that resembled a crocodile's.
Crack! The two-headed serpent phantom was cleanly severed by the crocodile-like jaws. A massive dark shape continued rising through the lava lake.
ROOAAARRR!!!!
What materialized before Leilin was a creature bearing a passing resemblance to a crocodile. Flames engulfed its body, and drops of crimson magma constantly slid from between its scales and crevices. It was massive and elongated, with a terrifying maw full of fangs, and above it burned two orbs of crimson soul fire.
The entire monster looked like a flame crocodile standing upright on its hind legs, with arms and legs vaguely resembling a human's. The tips of its fingers had turned into black, curved hooks that radiated a sense of razor sharpness.
"Chip! Scan!" Leilin ordered without hesitation.
"Ding! Flame Sovereign! Fifth-level entity! Elemental life form. Strength: 238. Agility: 124. Constitution: 495. Spirit: 1,523. A unique product of the Flame World, born through a very low probability of mutation among hundreds of Morning Star-level fire elementals, producing a commander-class fifth-level entity. Innate abilities: 1. Flame Affinity. 2. Flame Skin. 3. Summon Fire Elementals. 4. Unknown..."
The Chip quickly projected a three-dimensional holographic image of the enormous Flame Sovereign before Leilin. Beside the hologram, a data panel displayed the creature's statistics in full detail.
"A fifth-level fire elemental life form! And with these stats!" The phantom of the Commonhorn Serpent Sovereign materialized behind Leilin.
Without playing his trump card, dealing with a Radiant Moon-level creature like this would require him to employ a few tricks.