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Chapter 21
“Someone definitely pushed me!”
Lois shouted, sounding wronged. Claire answered curtly.
“The only person behind you at the time was Camon.”
“Then Camon must’ve—”
“But Camon already knew all the answers. He wouldn’t have any reason to push you.”
“No, I’m telling you, I really am innocent!”
“Hey, cut the nonsense already. Get your head straight and stop messing around. Every time you act like this, you cause trouble.”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Despite Lois’s frustrated cries, no one paid him any attention after Melin’s sharp rebuke.
“It’s okay, Lois. Everyone makes mistakes.”
The only one who comforted him was the kindhearted Elaine.
“I don’t need that kind of comfort.”
“But really, Camon’s amazing.”
“What?”
Even Elaine, usually gentle, had crossed a line this time—or so Melin thought, frowning immediately.
“What’s so amazing about that guy?”
“He memorized all seven magic towers’ seals. I didn’t think anyone could memorize every single seal of all seven towers…”
“Isn’t that something every mage is supposed to know?”
Melin said, unwilling to admit it, but Elaine shook her head firmly for the first time.
“No, Melin.”
“What?”
“On average, each magic tower holds around thirty unique spells. Out of those, only one or two are widely known to the public.”
“When I looked closely, many of the seals the statues were forming were ones I’d never even seen before.”
At her explanation, Lois—who had stayed quiet after being ignored earlier—jumped in.
“What? Then Camon actually memorized all of those seals? How?”
“Well… I’m not sure about that part. But I do know the representative seals from each tower, and even I saw some I didn’t recognize.”
“Wow, that’s insane. No wonder they call him the greatest magical prodigy ever.”
“Prodigy, my ass. He’s just mindlessly memorized them.”
As Melin grumbled, Lois smirked.
“Melin, you’re sounding a little bitter.”
“What’s bitter is you whining about being innocent all the time.”
“Ugh, I was pushed from behind!”
“Stop fighting, you two.”
“We’re not fighting. Why would I fight with an idiot?”
“What? Idiot? I’m just stating the truth here!”
While the team bickered endlessly…
Chelsea, standing a little apart, stared silently at the back of Camon Bade, her eyes heavy and thoughtful.
Bubble, bubble…
“So hot…”
“This time it’s a lava zone?”
Before them stretched a vast field of bubbling molten lava.
And at its center—
“Hey, that looks like another boss monster.”
“A merrow? Then it must be a Volcano Merrow?”
“No, look at the crown. That’s a Merrow Queen.”
Crash! Splash! Swaaash!
The enormous mermaid monster struck the lava with its tail, waves of molten fire splattering around.
“Ha, this makes the werewolf look like nothing.”
“Not just a merrow, but a queen?”
“Professor Delon must be out of his damn mind.”
The overwhelming sight of the boss monster filled the party’s faces with despair.
To make matters worse—
“T-there’s no other way around. Lava’s everywhere.”
The monster’s lair left them trapped: everywhere except where they stood was molten death.
“What the hell… Even if we somehow beat it, how the hell do we cross that lava field?”
With no bridge or path to the other side, the mood sank further.
Then—
“Camon, do you have an idea?”
Lois suddenly turned to Camon, who was watching the Volcano Merrow Queen.
“Lo-Lois?!”
“You can handle this, right? There’s gotta be a way.”
His eyes burned with trust and belief. After all, Camon had pulled off the impossible before—surely, he could find a way again.
‘Right? There has to be.’
Maybe that desperate faith reached him, because—
“Yes, there is.”
Clatter!
Camon pulled something out of his bag and shouted.
“We’ll use this to take it down.”
“I knew it!”
Lois grinned brightly—until Elaine’s trembling voice reached his ears.
“Wait, isn’t that…?”
“Huh?”
Lois turned and saw what Camon was holding.
“That’s… a Salamander Feather, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it definitely looks like one…” Claire added.
“No way, that’s just a toy.”
Lois muttered under his breath.
The “Salamander Feather” was once a wildly popular trinket among noble children. Said to absorb heat from the surroundings, it was sometimes used during hot summers—but its effect was so weak it was deemed impractical, nothing more than a toy.
It had never been used in a dungeon raid.
‘He’s going to beat a boss monster with that stupid toy? No way!’
But—
Brrrr, whirr!
Camon activated the feather, eyes cool and detached.
Then—
Clatter!
He reached into his bag again.
Buzz, buzz!
Brrrrrr, whiiiirr!
“…Huh?”
The number of feathers activated around him kept multiplying.
One, two, five, ten, twenty, a hundred, two hundred… three hundred?!
“H-how many did you bring?!”
In a flash, over five hundred Salamander Feathers were floating, activated.
At the same time—
“The heat’s… dropping?”
“What?”
The area’s suffocating heat rapidly subsided, the temperature genuinely falling.
“It’s really cooling down?!”
Buzzz!
“……”
“Unbelievable.”
The sight of hundreds of feathers vibrating furiously in the air was breathtaking.
Then—
Crash, splash!
The Volcano Merrow Queen thrashed her tail in fury, spouting enormous jets of lava.
But—
Buzzz!
The countless feathers shivered violently.
Fsssshh!
The lava pillars hardened into solid rock midair, crashing down harmlessly.
“Leave this to me—Enlarge!”
Bang!
Lois raised his shield just in time to block the falling rocks.
Meanwhile, Camon ignored the chaos, calmly pulling out and activating more and more feathers.
* * *
Soon, nearly a thousand feathers floated toward the lava lake’s center, surrounding the Merrow Queen.
Watching, I smirked slightly.
‘Perfect.’
The Ultimate Hunter vs. Volcano Merrow Queen.
Tip: Prepare Salamander Feathers. Yes, they’re toys. But what if you had a thousand, two thousand, or even ten thousand? If they all absorbed heat at once… even the Volcano Merrow’s fire would be drained. Then it’d just be an ordinary mermaid, easy to reel in. Simple, right?
‘I’ve set everything up exactly as the guide says.’
Splash, crash!
The Merrow Queen, weakened by the sudden chill, moved sluggishly.
Having done everything I needed, I turned my gaze to Chelsea.
“……”
She still stared at me silently.
“What’s wrong? I already cooked your meal—do you need me to move your fork for you too?”
I taunted her.
At that—
Shing!
Whether provoked or not, Chelsea drew her sword and barked in a cold, commanding voice:
“Everyone, form up!”
* * *
Screeeech!
Drained of all its heat, the Volcano Merrow Queen was not difficult to defeat.
The very ground of the lava field cooled and hardened in places.
Following Chelsea’s orders, the team executed the raid almost flawlessly.
“In the end, we did beat it.”
“Don’t call them toys anymore.”
“Weren’t you the one complaining the loudest, Lois?”
“Don’t underestimate them—Salamander Feathers!”
Then—
Thump! Thump!
From the lava’s center rose a massive floating stone bridge.
“…A bridge?”
“So it spawns after the boss dies?”
“Guess that’s our way forward. Let’s go.”
Without hesitation, Lois bounded up the bridge.
Thud!
“Hey, careful! You’ll fall.”
Melin scolded sharply, but Lois just shrugged smugly.
“C’mon, these things are sturdy.”
“Still, they collapse if too much weight piles on. Be careful.”
“Whatever. Hurry up!”
At his urging, the others followed onto the bridge.
But—
“……”
Thump!
With Elaine, Claire, and Melin already across, Lois turned back.
“Hey, Camon, aren’t you coming?”
“Go ahead. I’ll follow soon.”
“O-oh, okay.”
Camon’s sunken tone made Lois nod quickly and cross the bridge without hesitation.
Step.
“Lois, where’s Camon?”
Elaine asked as they reached the far side.
“Oh, he said he had to tidy something up. Told me to go on ahead.”
“Ah, I see.”
They waited.
“……”
“……”
But even after a long time, Camon hadn’t moved.
Melin clicked her tongue.
“Hey, Lois. You said he’d be right behind. Why’s he just standing there?”
“Wh-what? Did something happen?”
“Yeah, why’s he just staring like that?”
Camon stood still on the first floating stone, his bag set down on the ground, staring alternately at the lava and the cavern ceiling.
“Lois, you go check on him.”
“What? Me?”
“You were the last to talk to him.”
“Yeah, and you’re closest to him.”
“Huh? Closest? Since when?”
Lois blinked at the unfamiliar claim, but the group had already decided.
With a sigh, he trudged back onto the bridge.
Step, step.
“What’s his deal now… Huh?”
Muttering, Lois froze when he saw.
“C-Camon?”
There Camon stood, unmoving at the start of the bridge, staring silently up at the lava and the cavern roof.
