The Sun God said nothing.

Alex watched as the man continuously pointed his finger toward the sea of lava, as if showing the place where Alex needed to go.

The place where his destiny awaited.

The place that the Sun God called their graves.

Alex thought for a moment, staring at the glowing sea. After a short period, he pulled out his sword. "Fine! Let's get this done with."

He flew back in. The gale strengthened, aiding him on his way inside. The cold wind began heating up the closer he got toward the lava sea, the smog growing somewhat thicker.

Soot grayed Alex's black hair by the time he got to the shore. Instead of sand, the shore was covered in a glossy layer of volcanic glass.

Alex landed at the shore for a moment, feeling the heat from the lava. The heat was quite strong, which surprised him. Alex had been close to lava before, but never had it been this hot. It wasn't just hot. There was also a destructive property to the heat, as though someone had taken the Dao of Destruction—one of the fire daos—and overtuned it until it was all that remained.

Alex flew over the lava, watching out of the corner of his eyes where the Sun God pointed his finger toward. He tried to match the direction and flew straight in that direction.

The world changed soon enough, becoming lava all around. The constant smog that blew out of the lava made it hard to see far away, and if Alex used his Demon Eyes, he was just bombarded with red all around.

He managed to protect himself from the aura rather easily. About a few kilometers in, however, he sensed something plop out of the lava. Turning his head, he noticed a bubble grow out of the lava, glowing pure yellow.

The bubble burst, and suddenly from inside of it appeared a fire bird.

"Shit!"

Alex attacked the fire bird before it could even move. This time, however, he made sure his attack carried a strong spiritual energy.

The attack flew toward the bird, instantly carving it in half. Alex waited for the bird to speed up suddenly and overtake him by surprise just like it had last time, but that didn't happen.

This time around, he had done the right thing in using his spiritual attack.

'It's just like I thought. These birds have a weak spirit inside of them, and they easily die when I destroy that spirit.'

They were just like Sun Wraiths, only made of fire instead of the Sunheart's strong yang aura. Understanding that he could deal with them, Alex continued flying in the direction the Sun God pointed out of the corner of his vision.

Alex had merely managed to go 5 seconds when he heard the same sound again. He turned around with narrowed eyes as he saw bubbles on the surface of the lava.

This time, there were 2 of them.

Alex swung before they could even be born. Just as the birds appeared from the bubbles, Alex's attack had already cut them down. The fire dissipated, disappearing as if they never existed.

Alex turned to leave, only to hear the bubbles plop out of the lava again. This time, there were four of them. He quickly cut them down, destroying them before they were even born. And then came 8 bubbles.

'Dammit!' Alex thought, realizing he couldn't stay here. He had to go. He flew away immediately, making his way toward where the Sun God pointed. The fire birds came out of their 'eggs' and followed him again.

They chased Alex, quickly gaining speed as time went on. Within 10 seconds, they were faster than Alex. Alex tried to teleport at the last moment, only to have a suppressive aura slam onto him out of nowhere, nearly making him fall unconscious.

He loosely caught hold of himself and swung his sword, managing to get 5 of the 8 birds. The remaining 3 slammed into him.

His left arm, right thigh, and face were hit by the three birds, immediately charring as they burned through the skin, flesh, and deep into the bones. Pain subsumed Alex within it, a pain that didn't disappear even as his body tried to heal itself.

The wounds healed very slowly, to a point where it took several seconds before the burnt flesh vanished. As his eyes were restored, Alex stared down at the lava just in time to see the horrifying sight of 16 emerging bubbles.

'Nope.'

Alex flew back out toward the shore as fast as he could. The 16 birds flew out of their eggs, chasing him. Alex swung back, cutting them down one at a time. Even as their speed increased, Alex continued flying back out.

He didn't try to teleport, as that just seemed like a death sentence in this place. Instead, he cut the birds one at a time while continuously staying ahead of them.

The birds weren't as fast as they were before, presumably because this time he was escaping the lava. When Alex cut them all down, none more emerged, allowing him a safe path out of the lava.

Alex left the sea of lava finally, flying past the shore without stopping, and even went beyond the gale. Only then did he finally stop and turn around to stare at it again.

It took a moment for him to calm his breathing, at which point he stared at the Sun God, who still pointed straight in.

"Are you trying to kill me or what?" Alex asked with a mirthless laugh. He took a few deep breaths.

Considering the Sun God kept pointing back at the sea of lava, Alex understood that he needed to go there. But this was not the way.

'Those fire birds have to be defensive constructs,' he thought. 'I need to find a way to go past them. But how?'

He turned around, looking at the distance where he could see civilization.

"Maybe the locals have the answer."

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