"Cough, cough... here."
Beneath the dungeon's ruins, an iron hand painfully reached out.
Painfully crawling out of the deep passage, the Ascender whose entire face and body had been scorched black, leaving only layers of steel and broken parts, finally emerged.
He opened his mouth and spewed out a huge cloud of black smoke.
Sparks flickered around his pupils beneath his cracked silicone face as he coughed violently.
"Say, did you forget you still had teammates?"
Even though he had been racing for his life every second since escaping the devil's clutches, Raymond had still been one step too slow. Only able to temporarily merge with the Red Dragon, he had nearly died on the spot in that explosion.
"That's not right. I calculated the yield. With the Red Dragon's shield on you, you should've been completely fine."
Huai Shi scratched his head and looked to the other side. "See? Professor Anton is fine too, isn't he?"
From beneath the ground Raymond had dug open, a mechanical lift rose. The old man staggered a few steps, smoke still rising from his spacesuit-like heavy protective gear. Viscous shock-absorbing material leaked from the seams and rapidly solidified upon meeting the air.
"Barely... I suppose I'm fine."
Anton collapsed onto the ground, rubbing his aching lower back as he said helplessly, "Next time, please remind me to install two more shock absorbers on my chair."
Even after going deep underground and building three layers of shelters, he had almost failed to withstand the explosion's aftershock.
"Definitely next time, definitely."
Huai Shi awkwardly looked away. Once the Red Dragon had carried over the remaining two teammates, he pointed Raymond toward the boiling molten metal in the lake beside them.
He eagerly rubbed his hands together.
"Go ahead, my friend."
He said, "It's time for