Chương 77: The Door That Should Not Be Seen

And with the goal now turned on being the Virtue Bandit boss, having defeated two and kind of beaten the other one in a challenge, I wanted to measure myself against the strongest as fast as possible. My ego having reached its highest threshold accompanied Heart Flame pumped wildly inside my chest like a war drum beating louder with every step. The fire in my veins roared with anticipation and hunger for the final challenge.

With the directions given to me by the still-shocked Xhufan, we headed straight toward the first house where the boss should be. When we arrived the building stood eerily silent under the constant falling ash. We looked inside and saw it had not been used in quite a while. A thick layer of fine volcanic dust had piled up on every surface like a grey blanket of forgotten time, covering tables, chairs, and shelves in a soft, suffocating coat. I argued heatedly with Xhufan about where the real boss could be hiding.

While searching the empty house we found a scroll in a drawer that held important information. It revealed that inside the volcano itself was another hidden base, deep within the heart of fire and ash. Without hesitation we ventured toward the ash-spewing volcano. The heat gradually rose with every step. The sulfuric acid reeked heavier in the air and made our eyes water constantly. The ground grew hotter under our feet, small cracks releasing faint wisps of steam. Still we marched on, determined.

Once we reached the summit I saw for the first time a true volcano in all its terrifying glory. The magma fumed and burst out like massive geysers of liquid fire, exploding lava flying upwards in bright orange arcs before raining back down in molten fury. The sky itself seemed to burn. I held my Animo high, protecting us from the falling heat and embers.

My vision became super blurry in the highest level of ashen mist imaginable, since being in inside its epicenter, the thick grey clouds swirling so densely that the world felt like a fever dream where shapes melted into one another. Every breath burned my lungs. But thanks to the helpful Xhufan, who carried goggles, he told me the way and guided me carefully through the blinding chaos. We went down deeper into the epicenter of activity, right into the main heat zone.

On the left, inside the rock, was a narrow pathway barely wide enough for a man to pass through. We squeezed ourselves inside and found the hidden base while running deep down for five minutes, covering a good distance through twisting tunnels that grew hotter and darker with every step. Once inside, the area was super spacious, carved directly into the living volcano. Many parchment papers hung on the walls with X marks on them, indicating many sought after items on the Ashen Territory.

A huge marble table carved out of granite stood clean in the center functioning as the boss's bureau. There was a detailed map spread across it with more X marks all over his territory, which have been paint out with a green marker. It looked like he was searching for something very important in this region. Xhufan's curious eyes first wandered toward the maps.

He thought aloud that he did not know what those markers meant and wondered about them for a moment, then eagerly walked toward the books on the shelves to check them out. Meanwhile I looked deeper into the chamber. On the right there was a room with a door that did not match anything aesthetically. It felt strangely reminiscent of something I had seen once before... something ancient and forbidden. My head started hurting immediately, trying to recall something that has been wiped/blocked of my mind.

Sharp pain exploded behind my eyes. I screamed as the blocked information from Mister Phenomena's protection seal hammered my brain for seeing something I should not even see anymore. The pain was unbearable, like red-hot needles stabbing into my skull over and over, twisting deeper with every heartbeat. Xhufan came running to me in panic upon seeing my rolling on the ground via immense pain looking at this ancient Door. He opened the door, but nothing happened.

To him it was just a mysterious door of ordinary old stone. But to me it was something far worse, something that awakened a sealed nightmare inside my mind. But unwillingly, I transformed into my Fire-to-my-Soul Vestuto. The charcoal-grey, shadowy armor with a silver sheen erupted around my body in a violent storm of black fire and silver light. My exhaust pipes in the back fumed the hot heat of smoke in a irregular manner.

The shadowy plates formed over my skin like living smoke solidified into armor, while intense flames licked through every joint and crack with uncontrollable fury. My eyes burned with dual fire and soul energy, one side blazing orange, the other glowing cold silver. The power was overwhelming, yet the transformation came unwillingly... forced out by the searing pain in my mind and the instinct to protect my brain membrane, which took over as a last resort.

But because it did not overlap like usual with my cor flamma, it tried to suppress it. Heat exploded outward in a massive wave that made the air itself scream and the stone walls glow red. Even in my most powerful form, as my instinct took over, I attacked the door with blazing fury, swinging my weapon with the Elsa di Fuoco again and again with all my strength.

Every strike released roaring flame-aura cuts that should have vaporized anything in existence, waves of superheated fire that melted rock and turned air into plasma. Yet, I did no damage to the door, which seemed to mock my strength as feeble. The problem turned to, was everything around me caught fire instantly. The parchment papers burst into flames like dry leaves, the books turned to ash in seconds, and the granite table cracked and exploded from the extreme heat.

This was something I would regret for a long time, having triggered a cascade of events I never should have set off, all thanks to that door. My instinct-driven self took over even more now and completely shut me off. It ran away from the burning cave into the volcano, screaming in agony, jumping upward through the ash and lava, then rolling on the scorching, ashen ground outside. The pain finally subsided after what felt like an eternity.

My instinctive self had protected my cerebral cortex from imploding, thanks to Mister Phenomena and his supposedly foolproof trap of seal breakage meant to squish the brain into smithereens. He had never considered a Soul Vestuto using instinct to shut down its host brain and save it from peril. I de-transformed, breathing heavily on the volcanic slope, my brain now remembering the door like a new painful memory core burned directly into my soul, giving me access to the sealed memories.

Still," I did not know why it hurt me so much, what this door truly was, or why it triggered such a violent reaction. Why was it active here in the Ashen Territory of the Virtue Bandits anyway? It all confused me; it made no sense for someone like him to have any interest in a place like this...." Xhufan joined me again, coughing from the smoke. I explained my issue as best as I could through the lingering headache giving him information of the hidden meaning behind the Door.

He sat down and listened carefully, his face pale with worry about his Bandit´s, " if the boss is connect with such a powerful man, than why are we so depended on Drugs" were his thoughts. In that moment we both forgot that we had burned the whole cave with all the books and parchment papers reduced to ash. We knew it was fucked beyond repair. He would now die for sure when the boss found out so we argued to seal the entry with rocks, which we did.

While putting the hot rocks on the Cave I argued fiercely that a Virtue Bandit like the boss would only get angry at the true culprit, which was me, if he would find out about it.

"You will be fine. Tell him I forced you, which is not wrong at all, i did kidnap you." Xhufan nodded and was now more calm about this whole ordeal and had different worries clouding his judgement. Well, since this was done I decided to move on. I wanted to battle someone strong with my own strength, not get near brain damage. It had been an interesting experience, but not one I wanted to repeat ever again.

I brought the bandit down to a near outpost and ran toward a new destination, again not knowing that what I had caused would have big repercussions that I would carry with me for a long time. My half-assed attempt to use nature, like a volcanic eruption, as the cause for the burning of the hidden base would turn out to be a weak ruse after all, but not today. After hours of running through the ashen lands I finally reached a small tavern near the border.

My stomach growled loudly, so I stepped inside and ordered a big bowl of noodles with chili. The spicy aroma filled the air as I ate with great appetite, sweat already forming on my forehead from the heat of the dish. A vagabond sitting nearby watched me closely. He saw a Suren eating noodles with chili so well and wanted to ask my name. I told him honestly, "Erumes Flamma." His eyes widened with recognition. He turned his weapon on me as if he already knew of me.

News of my battle with Feng-Dao had clearly grown far and wide. He wanted to fight me for glory. I finished my plate and we battled right outside the tavern in the dusty clearing under the falling ash. He was strong. His mask was a fierce green demon with glowing red eyes that burned with wild excitement. He wielded a bamboo staff made of iron-coal that whistled through the air with terrifying speed, leaving faint afterimages with every swing.

He thrust his weapon again and again with incredible precision his fast strikes aimed at my ribs, my legs, my head, then sudden sweeping low attacks that forced me to leap backward. Each thrust carried real killing intent mixed with pure joy for the fight. The staff spun like a black whirlwind, cracking the ground where it missed me by millimeters. I dodged with my body, twisting and weaving at the last moment, feeling the wind of the staff brush my skin and tug at my clothes.

I closed the distance in a burst of speed and cut his front with a clean horizontal slash from my sword-axe. Blood sprayed across the dust, but he kept coming without hesitation, laughing wildly under the demon mask. We exchanged dozens of blows that turned into hundreds. The sound of iron-coal staff against my blade rang out like ringing bells across the border. Sweat dripped down both our faces, mixing with the falling ash.

He was very hard to combat against his relentless, creative, always changing angles and mixing thrusts with spinning strikes that created small gusts of wind. I barely kept up in my base form, my muscles burning, my breath growing ragged. He refused to Vestuto, choosing to face me in pure base form just like many vagabonds I had met before. That made the duel even more honorable and raw. In the end, after a long, grueling exchange where both of us refused to back down, I barely won.

I slipped inside his final wide swing, stepped close enough to feel his breath, and delivered a decisive upward cut with my sword-axe that opened a long wound across his chest. He staggered back, dropped to one knee, and planted his staff into the ground for support He looked up at me with deep respect, breathing heavily, and said, "The newest Vagabond named Xhife. Yes, this was a great duel, could have been different with Vestuto, but only a weak man uses excuses!"

We both clapped each other on the shoulder during a firm handshake, sweat dripping, smiles on our faces despite the exhaustion and minor wounds. The crowd that had gathered around the tavern clapped and cheered for the intense display of power.