"Oops! I almost fell."

Merlin landed on the ground, his body swaying from side to side. Fortunately, he managed to regain his balance a moment later.

He looked around, feeling both amazed and afraid.

"What a terrible place. Why didn't the academy tell us about this? Did they deliberately hide it?" Merlin asked in confusion.

As far as he could see, there was nothing but a terrifying sea of endless magma.

Everything was red—even the walls around him, a clear sign of how hot the environment was.

Luckily, Lyserra had cast a spell on him, so he didn't feel the heat at all.

"So, where is it, Lyserra?"

Lyserra raised her head and pointed toward the far end of the vast area.

"About four hundred meters from here. I'll show you the way."

Merlin nodded slightly and followed her lead. He walked across a bridge made of rocks and towering earthen pillars.

The bridge was quite narrow—only two people could cross at a time.

Its surface was also fragile, forcing him to be extra careful.

After two tense minutes, Merlin finally made it across and reached the other side. But his journey was not over yet.

He still had to pass through several obstacles ahead, each no less terrifying than the last.

"By the way, Merlin, I forgot to tell you something," Lyserra said, her expression serious. "Just now, I sensed a mysterious aura from deep within the magma. It appears to be a level nine monster in hibernation. Be careful—don't wake it up. Otherwise, we will all die on this island."

Merlin's heart raced. He looked at Lyserra hesitantly and asked in a weak voice, "A level nine monster? Are you sure, Lyserra?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Its aura is unmistakably dangerous," Lyserra confirmed, instantly leaving Merlin speechless.

A level nine monster was a nightmare for everyone.

Although its power was said to be equivalent to that of a First Spirit Core, in reality, it was slightly stronger.

It usually took two or three individuals at the First Spirit Core level to kill a level nine monster.

That was because such monsters were not only physically powerful but also possessed other abilities, such as magic and mental powers.

They did have weaknesses, but those could only be discovered in the midst of battle.

Because of this, most powerful individuals preferred to seal level nine monsters rather than kill them.

And now, Lyserra was saying that a level nine monster was dwelling beneath him.

How could he not be afraid?

"Don't worry. As I said before, the monster is hibernating. It's impossible for it to come out—at least, not now," Lyserra said in a soothing tone.

Merlin let out a sigh of relief and nodded slightly. Soon after, he continued walking until he finally arrived before a stone gate embedded in the surrounding rock walls.

"Destroy the gate," Lyserra ordered.

Merlin clenched his right hand, channeled his mana, and struck forward.

Boom!

The stone gate shattered into pieces, revealing a small altar inside.

The altar was quite tall—about three meters. Floating above it was a red horn.

When Lyserra saw it, she froze.

"That's… my rear horn?!" she exclaimed.

"Your rear horn?" Merlin blinked in confusion.

"Yes, that's my rear horn." Lyserra composed herself before explaining, "Do you remember when we first met? At that time, I had already lost my rear horn. At first, I thought my previous master had deliberately cut it off and hidden it somewhere. I didn't expect it to be here."

"So that's how it is… I understand." Merlin gave a small nod. "Then, does the loss of your horn affect your strength?"

Lyserra let out a deep sigh and replied, "Of course. It greatly affects my strength. Did you know that every part of a dragon's body is a source of power, including the horns? Losing one of my rear horns reduced my power by about ten percent. That's because the horns are the part that store the most power."

Merlin was surprised. He had never known that a dragon's power depended on its horns.

This was extremely valuable knowledge.

"Then let's take the horn as soon as possible. The sooner, the better," Merlin said.

Lyserra nodded slowly and quickly leapt from Merlin's embrace before walking toward the altar.

Merlin followed behind. When they arrived, Lyserra transformed into her humanoid form.

Three horns slowly emerged from her head—two on the right side and only one on the left.

'So her horn really is gone,' Merlin whispered in amazement.

Lyserra rarely showed her humanoid form, let alone her true dragon form.

She usually only used her small dragon form, which had just two horns.

That was why Merlin hadn't known that Lyserra once had four horns.

Meanwhile, Lyserra raised both her hands.

In that instant, the horn floating in the air slowly descended and fell into her palms.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight. Without hesitation, she reattached it to the empty side of her head.

Suddenly, a red light burst forth, and the horn fused completely.

But something was wrong. Lyserra froze in place. Her body stiffened, and her eyes widened.

Merlin was stunned and hurried to her side.

"Lyserra, are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

No matter how many times he called out, Lyserra remained silent and unmoving.

Merlin's anxiety surged as he summoned the system. "System, what's happening to her? Can you help her?"

"[Don't worry, Master. Lyserra is fine. She isn't injured or anything like that,]" the system replied casually.

Merlin was still overwhelmed with anxiety and found it hard to calm down. Still, since the system had said so, he could only suppress his feelings.

Second by second, time passed. Before he realized it, Lyserra had been standing still like a statue for five whole minutes.

Just as Merlin's anxiety reached its peak once more, she finally came to her senses and looked around with a confused expression.

"Lyserra, you're finally awake!" Merlin let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was really worried when I saw you standing there like a statue."

Lyserra looked surprised. "Standing still like a statue?"

Merlin nodded and briefly explained what had happened.

After hearing it, Lyserra fell silent once more, but she quickly regained her composure.

"I understand. Thank you for worrying about me," she said softly.

"Don't worry about it." Merlin waved his right hand. "By the way, what exactly happened to you earlier?"

Lyserra opened and closed her mouth, as if she wanted to explain but hesitated.

Noticing this, Merlin smiled and continued, "Forget it. I won't force you. Let's go."

He stepped down from the altar, leaving Lyserra standing there, momentarily confused.

Lyserra took a deep breath and hurried after him. She transformed back into her small dragon form and jumped into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Merlin. I can't tell you," Lyserra said gloomily. "It has something to do with the future. If I say it, it will cause chaos."

Merlin glanced at her expression and realized how serious the matter was.

"I understand," he said gently.

Lyserra felt relieved and was about to say something when an angry voice rang out from ahead.

"Hahaha! Finally, I've found you, Merlin Clay!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.