Part 23

After resting on the airship for the night, the airship took off and, after avoiding the airspace above the Chaos Shrine, went north towards Cardia Isles to finish their business at Hellfire Chasm. After several days of travels, they reached the island where the Chasm was located. Despite the protests of the dragons that were guarding the entrance, Warriors entered the cave housing it anyway. After passing through the lava filled room, they entered into another cave filled with people. Thinking they might have ended up in another dimension, they tried approaching an old man, but only got a telling-off in response, demanding that the party not go any further. While everyone tried to follow the old man to try and get an explanation, a pack of wild nakks suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Party quickly got rid of them, but couldn't figure out where did that pack come from. When they saw that man was unfazed by what just happened, they tried approaching him again, but again they were ambushed and this time it was a group of black goblins. Only by exploring the rest of the floor has the party figured out on what happening. No matter what person they approached, whether be male or female, old or young, all they got was a warning not to go any further in every possible variation, from pleading and begging to outright threats. As for the monsters that suddenly appeared, Mari noticed that some parts of the cave floor were glistening for some reason. As soon as anyone stepped on such a tile, monsters would appear. After more than half hour of these delays, the party finally found the stairs to the next floor and they gladly took it.

Their excitement evaporated immediately when they saw that it was a magma floor. After a quick look, they found a long hallway with the entire floor filled with magma. They ran like crazy, really hoping that their instinct was right and the stairs were at the end of the hallway. Their instincts proved to be correct and they almost ran themselves trying to be the first to get away from that floor. Unfortunately, they weren't so lucky. Third floor was just a regular cave and not a snow one. Rosch ended up casting a Blizzaga and creating a big block of ice so that they could rest their feet. Their feet were so hot ice was melting under them. After a good 5 minutes of rest, everyone picked themselves up and started exploring. There was nothing interesting there so they went down the stairs as soon as they found them.

The party cursed themselves when they saw that the 4th floor was another magma one. At least they didn't need to walk on magma for too long. After taking the long hallway, they found a door and found themselves in a maze in which fire lizards patrolled the lanes. While searching for the exit and fighting off those lizards, they ended up stumbling on a treasure chest with a Silver Apple in it. Soon enough they found the exit with the stairs waiting for them. The 5th floor was another one with magma, but now there was walkable space not covered by it. While exploring one of the hallways, they found a door and behind those doors a familiar dark flame and a teleportation circle behind it. Wishing to escape the heat, the party rushed at the flame to force the transformation. To their surprise, the flame transformed into a unusually large and hooded man. It spoke: "Ooooh... What a treat! What a treat to be the one to send you to your graves! Perish knowing that it was Scarmiglione who fed your corpses to the earth!" Already pissed by the heat, the whole party charged the hooded being without even casting defence spells. It seemed as if it refused to defend, allowing to be thrashed around before finally being slain by Mari. As the hood disappeared, the party prepared to move on.

But suddenly, Mari was hit by Thunder spell. While returning back to combat stance, they heard laughter coming from inside the room. "Hahahaha! You've given me a fine death! Indeed you have!" It reappeared as an ugly brown humanoid with bones protruding from its body and a face similar to a zombie with green hair. "And only in death can you know the true terror of Scarmiglione!" Mari, now recovered from shock, casted immediately Protera while Rosch casted Invisra. Kelin and Lewyn kept Scarmiglione away from others. Unfortunately, neither additional defence nor near perfect invisibilty could stop Scarmiglione's Poison Gas from hitting everyone. Mari immediately switched to healing everyone while Rosch casted Blizzaga to try and block more attacks. Scarmiglione just used its body to crash through the ice and made another Poison Gas attack. Unfortunately, this was its downfall. Its hand was still on the ice when Rosch recovered from the attack and, with another Blizzaga, trapped most of it into an ice block, allowing Lewyn to pummel down its bones and Kelin to make the finishing blow through its heart. It made a piercing scream as it wailed in pain disappeared into the mist. After making sure that it was actually dead and Mari healed off the poison damage, everyone took teleportation circle, which led them to the stairs to the next floor.

The 6th floor held a nasty surprise for the party. The knee-deep water was acid, making the pain in their feet much worse as they dragged their feet through the water until finally finding a dry patch of land where they could rest. They found what caused the water to be so toxic. A pair of silver dragons flew in party's direction and regretted that decision as soon as Mari casted Thundaga on them, making them crash into the water. That splash was heard across the floor, making other silver dragons and fire lizards to search for the intruders. That floor seemed to have been the breeding ground for those dragons and lizards. Knowing that their situation might be turned for the worse, the party dragged their weary feet through that acid water and looked around for the stairs. After finding them and going down, everyone discovered that their hell continued as  the next two floors were also magma ones.

When they saw a crystal blue water on the 9th floor, everyone jumped in, ignoring their surroundings and where they have ended up. They just wanted to cool down and rest their poor feet. After everyone had removed their boots, it was quite visible that the previous floors did a horrible number on them. Scarred, charred and bleeding, that was the extent of the damage that everyone suffered.  Everyone ended up swimming and just thrashing around for a good hour before they called it quits. After a nice rest, they went to exploring the island, though at a slower pace as they were enjoying the outside while they could. Only some trolls and death elementals were there, trying to sour their mood to no avail. They even found in a small cave two treasure chests with a War Hammer and a Soma Drop in them. Mari, who has been using Thor's Hammer for so long, was really happy to find something stronger to use. They eventually found the hole to the next floor.

Sensing the heat from far away, they knew that 10th floor was another magma floor, so with large sighs they pressed on. To their surprise, however, there was only a small patch of the floor covered with magma. The reason for such was revealed at the end of a long hallway. Another dark blue flame and a teleportation circle were waiting for them. Knowing what must happen, everyone stepped forward, triggering a response from the flame. "I suppose I underestimated you. I didn't think you would make it this far. No matter. Barbariccia's winds shall cut you down!" The flame transformed into a beautiful woman with a long green hair and she was hovering above the floor with her winds. Her galeforce winds knocked everyone around and only Mari's Protera stopped them from doing significant damage. Everyone switched to throwing spells at her from range in hopes of finding a good weakness to use against her. In the end it took everyone's effort was needed to slay her. With Mari, Lewyn and Kelin distracting her from afar, Rosch went in for a kill. Despite her best effort, even shredding Rosch's cloak in process, she stood no chance against his Lightbringer. After getting decapitated, her body disappeared into the mist, only leaving behind the sword Braveheart. With everything done, the Warriors stepped into the teleportation circle and teleported into another room with another circle. That circle held a nasty surprise for the party. Everyone ended up outside the cave next to the dragon guards.

Everyone: "Huh?"

Guard: "Wait, where did you come from? I thought you went inside."

Kelin: "We are. Or at least we are supposed to be."

Rosch: "Anyone having a guess on what's going on?"

Mari: "Maybe it's another situation like our first visit at Earthgift Shrine?"

Lewyn: "But wait. Wouldn't that mean we would have to go through all that, again?"

With the look of horror on their faces, everyone loudly groaned and then collapsed onto the ground. The guards were confused at what just happened to which Lewyn showed his legs. The dragons realized that the environments inside the Chasm was not suited for humans and so they tried to comfort the party but to no avails. The party ended up returning back to the Empress to ditch some stuff, including the sword that they just picked up and Mari's old hammer. Rosch ended up taking the recovered Silver Apples and Soma Drop for himself. He also replaced his destroyed cloak for an elven one that was picked up back at Earthgift Shrine. After spending the night on the airship, the party returned to cave next day and, with looks of indifference on their faces, restarted their treck into the Hellfire Chasm.

Last time the party visited Earthgift Shrine, they believed that the order was different compared to the first time, but, since it was a long time between the visits, they weren't completely sure. However now they had a clear proof and they were really happy because of it. The first floor was now the one with the knee-deep acid water. As their wounds were completely healed and they had yet to walk on magma, the water hurt much less. Still, it was no time for leisure walks as they still needed to find the exit as soon as possible before lizards and dragons discovered them. Following the path that they took the day prior, they were surprised by a pair of devil hounds. Though the hounds were quickly killed, their barks still alerted the silver dragons so the party had to make run for it. After finding and taking those stairs, they ended up on a magma floor with the labyrinth. Not wishing to walk on the magma with the feet covered in acid, Rosch casted Blizzard to create a big block of ice that started melting immediately, allowing the party to get water and clean their feet. After clearing the labyrinth of the the patrolling fire lizards, they followed the trail and passed through the stairs to go to the next floor.

After passing through another magma floor and the floor with people blocking the way and trap tiles, they were finally back at 5th floor with a brand new way that was opened up for them. After going through that long hallway and crossing over some magma, they found a door to a room with a familiar setup. Wishing to just get over with clearing the area, they approached the flame. It seemed happy to see the party. "You're just in time, my little playmates... I get so lonely here... Won't you keep me company?" The flame transformed into a strange blue humanoid with pointy ears that was walking on all 4 four limbs and had a turtle shell on its back. Not wishing to know what else was strange about it, the party immediately went on the attack. With Protera and Invisra, the monster had no chance at doing any damage to the party and was forced to watch as it was beaten by nearly invisible enemies and unable to do anything about it. In the end Mari was the one to put it out of its misery with a swift blow to its head, crushing its skull and killing it.

Feeling great after defeating the enemy so fast, they got second wind and ended up blazing through 2 magma floors and one cave floor before ending up on a island again. Though it was different island than before, they still ended up going for an half hour swim to cool off. After having a rest and being refreshed from a stream that they have found, everyone started exploring the island. By chance they discovered a battle between sahagins and yellow ogres. Unsure of what to do, the party wanted to leave them alone only to be discovered by another group of ogres. The ogres ended up paying dearly for that mistake. Meanwhile the surviving sahagins still stood in defensive stance, unsure of the newcomers' intentions. The party ended up leaving them alone. Memories from that floor in Whisperwind Cove still resonated within their minds. As they explored around the island and fought off more ogres, they noticed that they were watched from afar. Since the party didn't want too much troubles, they ignored that and continued on their way. That proved to be the right choice as, at the entrance to the stairs there were a war hammer and a Soma Drop awaiting for them. The party was surprised at the sight of this. It was as if sahagins were thanking them for the help. Not wishing to ruin the chance, they took the presents and left before causing any troubles.

They finally reached the 10th floor where they discovered a new passage that wasn't there before. Expecting the room with the usual set up to be at the end of that hallway, they went through it. To their surprise, rather than a dark blue flame waiting for them, it was a man in red cloak. As soon as he saw the party, the man started speaking. "To think that you would grow so strong and slay Scarmiglione, Barbariccia and Cagnazzo. I am glad that you had decided to listen to Dragon King's warning before. Now all that remains is me." With that he stood in stance, forcing the party to prepare for a fight. "I am Rubicante. Let us measure your worth, warriors, in the crucible of my flames." He struck first by going for Kelin with a charge attack, but Kelin blocked him with his shield. Seeing Protera and Invisra being casted, Rubicante switched to magic attacks. To his surprise, Kelin casted NulBlaze, making flame spells only half effective. Nevertheless, the spells were still highly effective, forcing the party to dodge around Rubicante's spells and his physical attacks. Rosch casted Blizzara to create a smoke screen, giving Lewyn and Kelin openings to strike him down. Not even point-blank Firaga stopped them from striking down Rubicante. As he was laying down on the floor, watching Kelin approaching him, Rubicante couldn't help but a crack a smile. Finally, suffering of him and his comrades was finally over. His last sight in life was Kelin's Deathbringer stabbing him through his chest. With him gone, the party took the teleportation circle behind him and exited the Hellfire Chasm.

After exiting the rumbling cave and seeing the light above the cave, Warriors were surprised to see that they had someone very important waiting for them. Dragon King Bahamut. He was quite surprised to see that the party returned back to the Chasm despite his earlier warning. In the end, after hearing the party's explanation, he had to begrudgingly admit that this was the right action to do. Having his reason for coming there be made null, he wanted to leave the party alone and let them on their way. He was surprised then to hear that Lewyn agreed to follow in his ancestors' footsteps and agree to the duel after all of this was over followed by other Warriors' proclamation to do the same. Bahamut wondered about why the change of heart happened, especially since they saw in what state were Mari and Lianna were after their fights. As he watched the Sky Empress take off and leave the island, he finally realized what was really that promise. A promise to the dragon that granted them powers return back alive once their duty was done. Promising that they will survive whatever Chaos Shrine will throw at them. With a feeling of hope that they will achieve this promise, Bahamut returned to his throne.

In the meantime, Sky Empress went straight south to pick up the promised swords from the dwarves. After several days of travel they reached Mount Duergar where the dwarves made quite a welcome. The party was escorted to forges where a very special blade awaited for Kelin. The beautiful golden edge shining like the morning sun, the guard made of the metal combined with his old blades and a blue gem as well a red hilt. For this sword, the dwarves have spent seven days and night using their finest techniques and tools. Finally, the rightful owner returned to receive his blade. Master smith, with a tear in his eye, gave Kelin his new sword, the Excalibur. For prideful beings, it was rare to see them cry in any circumstance and in this case it was part happiness for seeing it completed and part sadness for seeing it leave. Kelin was grateful for the present. He left Deathbringer in their care together with most of the spare weapons that the party had collected over time.

After the affair with the dwarves was over, the Sky Empress rook to the sky and went southwest towards Lifespring Grotto. Unfortunately, when they reached the location half a day later, they discovered a major problem. There simply was no place for Sky Empress to land anywhere near the place and the nearest part of Feinan was too far to be reached with canoe. There was only one option and that was something that the entire crew realized. This was the end of their journey with the Warriors of Light. They would have to take care the rest with other transports. While the airship was on its way towards Southport, the party decided to reward the crew with 10000 gil reward to each crew member. That helped with the sadness that the crew was feeling. Soon enough, the airship landed in Southport.

While the Warriors of Light were pursing their objectives, the crew of the Sea Queen was getting bored to death with the transport of goods between Pravoka and Cornelian ports being their only work. So everyone was quite shocked to see the airship landing near the port. They were wondering on why would Sky Empress land in Cornelia. They couldn't stop smiling when they heard that Warriors needed their help with the transport to Lifespring Grotto. Their grins got even bigger when they heard that Captain Rosch was to give them a large sum of money for their service until now. Expecting 2 or 3 thousand, many passed out of shock when they heard that they would receive 10 thousand gil reward. After they loaded everything from the Sky Empress onto the Sea Queen, the ship set sailed for exit of the inland sea and straight towards Lifespring Grotto. Arriving at the site, they were surprised to find a mermaid there. She was exploring around the place to inspect it per Queen's orders. The party helped her with few info that they had and told her to wait until the place was cleared and secured. With nothing else to handle, they entered the cave where the grotto was located and went through the gate separating the lair from the reality.