Heart of Lava

"You're saying... my older brother... is dead?"

Koi, clutching Chiba's clothes, his eyes bloodshot, said in disbelief.

Chiba remained silent and did not speak.

"Are you kidding me! My brother and I have been through thick and thin together for so many years, how could he be dead?!" Koi roared, seeing Chiba's much more exhausted face.

"How... is that possible..."

He collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

Meanwhile, Mira, holding Lixi who had fainted upon hearing the news, pursed her lips, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

"He's dead. He's not coming back," Chiba said softly.

"You make it sound so easy!" Koi grabbed his clothes and roared, "It wasn't your brother who died! If it weren't for you, if it weren't for you being targeted by them, how could we have ended up like this? How could our brother have died?"

As he spoke, he punched Chiba hard in the face, then punched him again and again.

"Chiba!" Mira exclaimed, and was about to stop Koi.

"Don't come any closer, let him hit me." Chiba was knocked back a few steps by his punch, coughing up blood, and said.

Mira gritted her teeth, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to go.

After fighting for an unknown amount of time, Koi finally stopped when he saw that Chiba hadn't fought back.

However, he still glared at Chiba, breathing heavily.

Chiba punched him in the face, sending him flying.

"Have you had enough? If not, come again!"

He wiped his mouth, his expression indifferent, and looked down at Koi.

Koi rolled over and punched him in the face again.

"Cough cough..."

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Chiba delivered an even harder punch, sending Koi flying.

The two of them continued punching each other, and the only sound in the entire space was the thud of their fists hitting flesh.

"Are these two idiots? Playing a turn-based game?" Hualun stared blankly at the two of them.

"Have you all had enough?!" Mira finally snapped, shouting.

The two stopped, each catching their breath.

"Ailong has sacrificed himself so that we could live. And what are you doing?! How can you face him?" Mira shouted, her eyes red.

"Have you had enough?" Chiba dragged himself to his feet and looked down at Koi.

"Not enough..."

Koi also struggled to his feet and swung his fist at his face again.

But Mira rushed over at that moment and knocked both of them to the ground.

Koi closed his eyes, tears slowly sliding down his face.

Chiba struggled to her feet again and said to him, "Have you had enough?"

Koi didn't get up this time.

"If that's enough, save your energy for dealing with those bastards." Chiba dragged himself forward.

As he passed Mira, he gently patted the girl's shoulder and whispered, "Sorry to have troubled you."

"Silly boy, don't always make me worry..." Mira hugged him from behind and whispered.

Chiba suddenly exhaled, then gently removed the girl's hands and stepped down.

Before my eyes, lava was rolling.

The enclosed world beneath the laboratory is a world of magma. And this mountain is actually a volcano.

He sat on the ground above the lava, feeling the intense heat, and remained silent.

They were actually on a rocky platform resembling a cliff, with the actual lava a considerable distance away. Even so, the temperature was unbearable for most people.

However, none of the people present were ordinary.

"Are you... alright...?"

"Sealed space, "Feiyin asked cautiously.

Chiba shook his head and said, "It's nothing."

"If you're feeling down, just cry. I'll make an exception and not laugh at you this time," Feiyin whispered.

She was genuinely worried about Chiba's condition; sometimes, silence is the most terrifying thing.

Chiba shook his head again, then suddenly laughed, "Ailong and I are not related, why should I cry?"

This statement, which should have been utterly outrageous, evoked a strange sense of helplessness in Feiyin's ears.

"He didn't abandon me; he kept his promise, that's all," Chiba said softly.

"Tell me about the current situation. You just said that the Thrones have arrived? Even the president and vice president of the Shadow Skull have come?" Chiba asked, changing the subject.

"Hmm!" Feiyin said, "However, they were stopped by your guild leader Makarov, and I managed to contact Makarov through special means to tell him that you're all alright."

However, Feiyin added, "But Makarov doesn't know about the 'Water King', which is why I didn't tell you Makarov was coming right away."

Chiba's anger, which had just begun to rise, immediately subsided.

The reason he didn't break the second seal was that he feared the thrones would arrive when he was exhausted and wipe them all out.

But Feiyin told him that the Thrones, and even the president and vice president of the Shadow Skull, had been stopped by Makarov. This made him feel angry in an instant.

His concerns were completely unfounded.

In that case, how could Ailong have died?

I could just open the second layer of the seal myself and wipe out everyone from the Flames of Life and Death all at once.

But now, Feiyin told him about the existence of the "Water King," which calmed him down.

"What exactly is the Water King? Isn't it the Throne of Water?" Chiba asked.

"That's not the case," Feiyin said. "From what I sense, there is the aura of an extremely powerful water-attribute demon in this Yamanaka. Judging from its magical power alone, it is no less powerful than any of the Throne Kings."

"Makarov told me at the time that he had stopped the Throne of Water along with the others. So it wasn't the Throne of Water."

"Based on what Labi said earlier, this monster is very likely the so-called Water King."

"I don't know if Makarov also sensed its presence, but even if he did, there's no way to deal with it now. He's holding the thrones back, but the thrones are also holding him back."

"If you had broken the second seal back then, you could indeed have killed all the pursuers. But similarly, we couldn't predict whether this monster would come to kill us."

"That was the worst-case scenario. With Makarov here, you might not die, but Fairy Tail might go to war with Shadow Skull."

"They didn't come. Are they afraid of me? But... I've already shown signs of fatigue in front of them." Chiba recalled how, when he killed Yaro, the people of the Flames of Life and Death went berserk and tried to kill him.

"Are they... afraid of this place?" Chiba looked at the churning lava in front of him.

"That's right, they're not stupid. The 'Lava Monster' can definitely use lava, and they must know that, which is why they haven't taken the lead yet," Feiyin said. "They might give up the chase and wait for us to get out on our own. Or perhaps they've gone to get reinforcements."

"That monster? But you said it's water-based, so it's unlikely it will come by itself. They'll most likely wait for us to come out on our own, since we have no food or water," Chiba said.

"But once I leave this place, I won't be able to manipulate the magma remotely."

"I have a way," Feiyin said.

"What?" Chiba, somewhat surprised.

"The heart of this mountain."

"Heart of Lava!"