Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 137

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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137
From the traces left behind, it was clear that Jerex had been heading toward the deepest part of this mine tunnel.
After pursuing Jerex’s trail for several hours, the Search Party was just about to reach the deepest depths of the Sleeping Fire Mountain Range.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, the mine tunnel shook as if it might collapse.
The Search Party members, accustomed to mines, didn’t panic—they shielded their heads and crouched low.
Bae Na-young immediately raised a shield over her head. Fortunately, the tunnel didn’t cave in.
“Jerex must have done something! Hurry!”
The moment the tremors ceased, they quickened their pace. Less than a minute of distance remained.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
The knight who had been running at the front came fleeing back, his face drained of color.
“What?! Why are you coming back?!”
Parchem shouted. They were already in a rush—why had he turned around?
“A wall of fire—!”
Roooaaarrr!!!!
A torrent of flames that filled the entire corridor engulfed the fleeing knight.
Bae Na-young quickly raised a shield to protect the knight.
“Fall back! Now!”
The overwhelming inferno caused her shield to buckle and waver.
However, with so many people trying to change direction simultaneously in the narrow mine tunnel, their movements were sluggish. Bringing such a large force to search through the complex tunnels had been a tactical error.
Though the mine tunnel was roughly three meters high, it wasn’t wide enough for people to run in two columns.
“Hyah!”
As the others passed through, Parchem swung his elongated hammer at the ceiling—a display of raw power that seemed impossible from a one-meter-tall goblin.
At the same moment Bae Na-young’s shield shattered under the flames, the ceiling came crashing down.
The cascading rubble blocked the wall of fire.
Beyond the collapsing passage, two luminous eyes gleamed within the inferno.
Parchem didn’t stop—he continued running while bringing down more of the tunnel behind him.
“Huff… huff… Parchem! What is that thing?!”
“It must be Salamander, the incarnation of fire.”
Parchem, now sitting on the ground, spoke to Jae-in.
“An incarnation of fire? Like the Darkness incarnation, Eres?”
“Similar, but on a different level. Compared to the Darkness incarnation, this one is several tiers weaker.”
“Does it naturally live here?”
“How could it?! The last time Salamander appeared was thirty years ago on the Eastern Continent. Even then, countless people died before we finally defeated it. So why is it here now…?”
“Can incarnations be killed?”
“They can be.”
“But killing it won’t make all the fire in this world disappear, will it?”
As someone from Earth, Jae-in lacked a proper understanding of what incarnations truly were.
“An incarnation is merely a manifestation of a certain phenomenon or primordial force—it is not the phenomenon itself. So even if that creature dies, fire won’t vanish from the world. Anyway… we need to get out of here. We need to call for reinforcements. Everyone, get up! If you don’t want to die, move!”
The Search Party members who had collapsed struggled to their feet. Having descended for two hours, the climb back up would take even longer. Moreover, they all bore minor wounds and their stamina was severely depleted.
“Did Jerex summon it?”
“Summoning an incarnation… If he possessed the very essence of fire, it might have been possible. But even if it were, why would he summon an incarnation he couldn’t control? He’d be the first to die.”
ROOOAAARRR!
“AAAAHHHHH!!!”
Salamander burst forth from the corridor ahead, and flames engulfed the guard standing in its path.
“Damn it! It came around through a side passage!”
Parchem rushed into the inferno to rescue the injured.
Bae Na-young quickly cast a shield in front of Parchem, and he seized another guard’s cloak, tearing it free to wrap around the burning guard.
Bae Na-young unleashed dozens of sharp mana needles at the fire incarnation that radiated unmistakable hostility.
The mana needles whistled through the air, piercing through Salamander and embedding themselves in the wall. Though it showed no visible wounds, the moment the needles penetrated Salamander’s body, its movements froze momentarily.
“Physical attacks don’t work on fire incarnations! Run!”
Parchem collapsed the passage behind them as they retreated the way they came.
After fleeing for some distance, they ducked into a side mine tunnel to catch their breath.
“Master… It’s following us, isn’t it? Why?”
“…Salamander is said to favor those blessed by fire.”
“Blessed by fire?”
“Someone as exceptional as myself—a master blacksmith.”
“…”
Jae-in stared at Parchem intently.
“What! This isn’t my fault!”
“No… who said it was your fault? But if it favors you, wouldn’t it not harm you?”
“That’s like saying a dog favors a bone. It’ll probably incinerate me until nothing remains. Blast it all!”
“Is the path upward blocked?”
Bae Na-young asked about an alternative route to distract Parchem from his self-recrimination.
“One of the paths is blocked. But there are still others. You two should go up first.”
Parchem drew a web-like network of mine tunnels on the ground.
“I’ll lure it away.”
“How was the incarnation that appeared thirty years ago defeated?”
Jae-in pressed on, ignoring Parchem’s words.
“I heard that mages poured thousands of tons of lake water to weaken it, and then the Empire’s Grand Master brought it down.”
“Wouldn’t you be sufficient, Master?”
“An incarnation’s attacks cannot be stopped by an ordinary human. Humans cannot even harm an incarnation. But a Grand Master is no ordinary human, so it was possible for them.”
“But you blocked it with a shield earlier, didn’t you?”
“…How did you? Were you a Grand Master?”
“I’m not sure?”
Bae Na-young tilted her head. There was no way to know the standard.
“No, it doesn’t matter. No matter how remarkable you are, you didn’t completely block the attack, did you? And your attacks didn’t work either.”
“You said before they weakened it by pouring water. Is there water nearby?”
“There’s no such quantity of water in the mine tunnels or the Forge District. The closest source is the valley below.”
Parchem pointed to one end of the map he had drawn on the ground.
“He won’t throw himself into the valley on his own… If I break through this wall, we’ll be closer to the valley. I’ll lure him there. Now, all of you, get out of here.”
Parchem steeled his resolve and spoke once more. He couldn’t allow everyone here—and everyone in the Forge District—to die because of him. By luring the creature into the valley and away from the Forge District, he could buy the survivors time to escape.
“Don’t do that. Lure him this way instead, and we’ll seal it here and here.”
Jae-in recognized Parchem’s determination and offered an alternative idea, marking the blocking points on the map spread across the floor.
“That creature is the incarnation of flame, a living inferno. If we seal it completely like that, we won’t be able to breathe… Oh!”
Parchem grasped Jae-in’s intention.
“What should I do, Jae-in?”
Bae Na-young asked.
“As we move, block the flames to protect the people.”
The plan was set. Half the group, including the wounded, turned back toward the Forge District, while the rest sprinted toward the marked positions on the map.
“Master, how much longer do we have?”
Jae-in called out as she ran.
“At this pace, we need another twenty minutes. I can execute the plan alone. Now, all of you, run.”
“You won’t last twenty minutes by yourself. We’re coming with you.”
Bae Na-young shook her head at Parchem’s words.
“We’ve come this far. Don’t say such things.”
Jae-in added her voice as well.
“… I’ll repay this debt. When we pass through, collapse the passage completely.”
Parchem gave the order to the Search Party.
“Master, I’ll see you above!”
The Search Party members, knowing they would only slow down these three, suppressed their grim feelings and spoke those words.
“Yes, I’ll see you above.”
Parchem didn’t seem like he would survive, but he said it anyway to reassure the others.
Beyond the tunnel, flames became visible.
“It’s coming! Go!”
Parchem, Bae Na-young, and Jae-in entered one tunnel while the remaining Search Party members went in another direction. And as expected, Salamander followed Parchem’s group.
One guard, hidden in wait, collapsed the tunnel through which Salamander passed after Parchem.
“Moving to the next position!”
The guards moved swiftly. Having memorized Parchem’s route in advance, they deliberately led Salamander through the tunnels, blocking them one by one as they repositioned to their desired locations.
Salamander, composed of weightless flame, moved with incredible speed. When it drew near, Bae Na-young blocked with her shield and fired needles, momentarily halting its advance to buy time.
“How much further do we have to go?!”
Jae-in cried out, her breath ragged.
“Right here! Goddess! Shield!”
The three threw themselves into a small chamber, and Salamander followed them in.
“Master! I’ll see you above!”
The last remaining guard collapsed the tunnel through which the three and Salamander had entered.
Salamander and the three faced off in a narrow chamber roughly ten meters across, the shield between them.
Salamander’s gaze, tongue flickering, fixed upon the three.
“You understand the plan, don’t you? If it goes wrong, only I’ll jump. You two, get back.”
“It will work out.”
Parchem gradually slipped to the side. While Parchem drew the creature’s attention, the two women needed to breach the wall.
“Huh…?”
As Parchem crept along the wall, the Salamander’s gaze remained fixed on Bae Na-young and Jae-in, unmoving.
“You weren’t following me?”
“Then me?”
Bae Na-young slowly retreated to the side.
The Salamander’s eyes were locked on Jae-in.
“Me…?”
“Don’t panic! Goddess! Just keep that thing occupied for a moment!”
The Salamander crept toward Jae-in, its flickering tongue resembling a puppy that had spotted a delicious treat.
“Good… good boy, right? Could you back away just a little?”
Jae-in gestured with her hand, hoping the Salamander would retreat.
That gesture became a signal—the Salamander erupted in flames and lunged at Jae-in, its inferno battering against Bae Na-young’s shield as if to shatter it.
Bae Na-young drew mana to the point of veins bulging across her forehead, holding back the Salamander.
However, as the Salamander ran out of oxygen to fuel its flames, the inferno weakened.
An ordinary person would have already suffocated, but the three superhuman fighters could endure even as their minds grew hazy.
As the flames diminished, it became easier for Bae Na-young to hold the barrier.
Now the flames had vanished, leaving only the orange body of the Salamander. Thinking it was over, Bae Na-young’s guard dropped for just a moment.
The Salamander rose and raked its claws across the shield, obliterating several layers in a single strike.
“Still going?!”
Bae Na-young layered her shields once more.
She was on the verge of collapse from expending so much mana.
“Now!”
Parchem swung his long hammer hard against the wall.
Crash!
The hammer blow tore a hole over a meter wide in the wall.
Roooaaarrr!!!
The Salamander in the oxygen-depleted space was sucked toward the opening where fresh air rushed in.
Parchem braced himself by hooking the pointed end of his hammer’s head against the floor to avoid being pulled away.
The Salamander, too, dug its claws into the hole’s edge to resist the suction.
In that instant, Bae Na-young unleashed a barrage of mana needles.
As the mana needles pierced through the Salamander’s body, it became translucent, and finally was sucked through the opening and fell.
“Done!”
Below was a valley. The flightless Salamander would plummet into the water.
Jae-in and Parchem collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
“It worked just like you said, Jae-in.”
“It’s a backdraft. When you puncture a hole in confined flames and inject oxygen, the fire explodes outward. Since the Salamander is made of insubstantial flames, I thought it might work.”
“Now we just need to escape.”
“Wait… just a moment…”
Everyone’s tension had eased, but Parchem’s green complexion grew increasingly pale.
“Did anyone hear the sound of something falling into the water?”
“…”
“If a flaming Salamander fell into the water, there would have been an enormous sound, wouldn’t there?”
Everyone rose from their seats.
The three of them leaned their heads through the opening with mounting tension, peering down into the darkness below.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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