Fire Euphoria

Karsha continued to streak like lightning toward the blazing desert. With the lightning element now awakened, his speed had increased manifold. Initially, he could move at 200 miles per hour, but now he could reach over 450 miles per hour, demonstrating just how fast he had become.

However, this newfound speed didn't mean he could outrun any of the Overlords. Perhaps he could outrun the Scale Crusher; although it was an Overlord, it wasn't known for its speed. It was more of a juggernaut, excelling in offense and defense but lacking in swiftness.

Still, Karsha couldn't rely on speed alone in a one-on-one fight against an Overlord. He was far from ready for such a challenge. Even the weakest Overlord had a minimum attack power of 12,300, meaning that even if Karsha managed to use his domain ability against them, they would still possess more than enough attack power to either break free from the domain or overpower him with brute force.

He knew he was weak compared to the Overlords, who were just that powerful. To kill them, he needed all the help he could get. He might be a berserker, but in the face of a Tier 7 Terror Mutant, he was nothing more than a bug that could be crushed with a single swing.

"General Godwin will certainly laugh at me if he finds out I took another suicide mission for power," Karsha chuckled as he sped toward the blazing desert.

His training officer, General Godwin back on Earth, used to caution him against taking on suicide missions. The military had incentives for soldiers who managed to complete such missions. There was, in fact, a lot of money involved, which tempted those greedy for wealth to pursue these dangerous tasks. Of course, the mortality rate was extremely high.

"Your life is precious, and since you're not cats, I hope you value that one life," Karsha repeated, mimicking the tone of General Godwin.

"The Lightning Fruit is amazing, which means the Absolute Fire Crystal will be equally amazing," Karsha said, smiling foolishly. The temptation to absorb the Fire Crystal was irresistible. He could feel the electrical energy coursing through his veins as he moved.

The Absolute Fire Crystal is great, but so is the danger surrounding it. For a crystal to be called "Absolute," it must contain the pure, condensed essence of fire—the purest form of fire energy. Absorbing it will not only enhance the fire element running through the body of a cultivator but also grant a significant offensive boost.

A mage would receive a significant enhancement to their fire spells, while a swordsman like Karsha could imbue his sword attacks with fire essence, increasing their damage output.

Furthermore, there's the defensive aspect. The power of an Absolute Fire Crystal grants substantial resistance against fire attacks. If Karsha currently suffers 100% damage from a fire attack, after absorbing the Absolute Fire, that percentage could reduce to 10%, granting him 90% immunity to fire.

"Almost there," he muttered. Approaching the blazing desert, Karsha stopped using the Yan-Yang Lightning technique and started blinking from one point to the next.

He first appeared in the safe zone but slowly made his way to the danger zone. The desert was extremely hot.

Strangely, the deeper he moved, the hotter it got. Although the name suggests it is a desert, there are trees everywhere. The only odd thing about these trees was the dried leaves still hanging from the branches.

Of course, like any desert, it had dunes of sand. The whole place was like a sea of sand that kept getting hotter the further he walked.

"I mean, this place is a literal hell. Why not call it Hell Desert and be done with it?" he muttered. Flicking his hand, his favorite water bottle appeared. "Good thing I can always count on you," he said, gulping down a mouthful and pouring some on his head.

A sizzling sound was produced when the water hit the sand. "This place sucks," Karsha's voice echoed across the desert.

"It's been ten minutes, and there isn't even a single snake. What is going on?" Unlike the previous sections, where every three steps produced a monster, Karsha had already spent 20 minutes in the dune forest without encountering even a Tier 1 monster.

The mysterious forest had a strange appeal to it. Most of the monsters preferred the inner sections, where the heat was more intense. To find a single snake, Karsha would have to move deeper into the danger zone.

Of course, there were Tier 1 monsters, but they usually stayed underground and only emerged when disturbed. This peculiar behavior was one of the many reasons the Blazing Desert was considered one of the top three most dangerous places on Snake Island.

"Even though I didn't pay much attention in Madam Kathrin's chemistry class, I do know fire and ice don't have any similarities," Karsha said with an evil smile. "Why don't we lower the temperature around a 3 km radius?"

In an instant, his domain covered a 3 km radius. The ever-scorching dunes turned icy as his freezing ice domain took effect, giving the whole place a new feel.

Karsha waited. Ten minutes passed. He continued to wait, scanning through the admin privileges he had in his domain. Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes.

"Fuck, I am in a cemetery. Where the fuck are the snakes?" he wondered, brushing his hand against his temple.

-------------------

Simultaneously, the five shadow guards were engaged in a fierce battle with three Tier 6 Lava Wyrm snakes. About 20 kilometers away, another three Tier 6 Inferno Fang serpents were closing in fast.

Dhaka, their captain, was leading the fight. As a swordsman with water attributes, fighting the snakes was a headache. The pill Karsha had given them was working, but it wasn't enough to withstand a direct inferno attack.

Despite being a reptile, Dhaka was sweating profusely, his skin dripping with sweat. Ayarr, the assassin, was the only one having it easy since her role in the fight was to look for openings and attack.

Tifa continued to raise defenses while using her healing magic on her teammates. Killian, the shieldbearer, kept tanking the attacks with his robust shield.

Alida, the archeress, took to the skies, raining down arrow after arrow. "This is madness. How are you not sweating?" Dhaka asked, his voice dry.

"Benefits of being unique," Alida snickered as she continued her assault.

"This is not my domain. I am meant to be in the waters," Dhaka complained, his frustration palpable.

"Hey, what happened to 'Let's impress the Annihilator?'" Ayarr asked, her tone tinged with a hint of sarcasm.

"I guess our boss wants to use his charm on him. I mean, he is a great charmer," Killian said as she tanked a tail attack from one of the Lava Wyrms. "Don't get me wrong, Darkyboy, you are a real charmer. I'm sure you can win him over with just a smile."

They all laughed, Dhaka included.

"Let's wrap this up. I think we have some company 10 km away," Alida said as her arrow struck the head of one of the Tier 6 Lava Wyrms, killing it instantly.

"I have a question, though," Ayarr said, stabbing a dagger into the neck of the second snake. She smiled and asked, "What is he going to do with the Venoms? I mean, the Annihilator."

"You tell us. You were the one that spent two weeks tailing him," Dhaka replied, his sword cutting a deep wound into the belly of the last snake. Tifa's ice shard finished the job.

"We can always ask him. No need to be ignorant about everything," Alida said. They all gazed at her before nodding in agreement. With that settled, they charged at the approaching enemies, raining down countless attacks as if their lives depended on it.

---------------------

After waiting for almost 40 minutes, Karsha deactivated the domain. No monster snakes had shown up, and the mark the system gave him as the location of the Absolute Fire Crystal remained unchanged.

"Deeper we go, then. I've escaped an Overlord before; I can do it again," Karsha muttered as he started blinking deeper into the forest. The deeper he went, the hotter it got, but somehow, Karsha was only sweating on his forehead.

"That smells nice. I wonder what could smell like that," Karsha thought as his nose picked up a unique, intoxicating aroma coming from within the dune forest.

A good smell at the center of a demon forest screamed danger, but the Annihilator decided to approach it and experience it up close.

The closer he got, the more intoxicating the smell became. "Wow, this feeling is great. I want more," Karsha said, despite the distinct smell making him wary.

< The host is getting closer to an Absolute Fire Crystal. Be cautious. >

"Finally. That was a long 40 minutes wasted," Karsha said, realizing he had been searching in the wrong place. Now, he had found something euphoric and wanted more.

However, 2 km away from him, a 24-meter-long, 1.5-meter-wide snake opened its fiery red eye. It flicked its long serpentine tongue and gazed in Karsha's direction.

"That feels ominous. Let's see what we're dealing with," Karsha said as he activated his 3 km wide domain, now only 1.5 km away from the creature.

"Oh shit, that is large. I'm out of here," he muttered, ready to make a run for it. However, the system message halted his steps.

< Absolute Fire Crystal discovered. >

< Quest activated >

< The host has 30 minutes to kill the Tier 6 Dark Mutant and extract the crystal. >

< 29:59 >

"Oh shit, I'm fucked..." Karsha muttered, feeling the pressure of the ticking clock and the looming danger.