Bizarre Voyage: Summoning The Fourth Crisis

Luo Ge’s face was placid. Wielding his Broken Sword, he slowly strode into the vast, pitch-black cavern.

SPLASH...

The sound of his feet parting the water’s surface echoed through the quiet cave.

Unlike the pitch-black tunnels that came before, the ceiling of this vast cavern actually emanated a faint, ink-green light.

Luo Ge looked up and discovered these glowing, moss-like plants.

The light they emitted filled the entire cave with a soft glow, which, when reflected on the water’s surface, created a deep and eerie atmosphere.

Averting his gaze, Luo Ge looked ahead.

There was a single pit in the entire cavern, appearing hazy and dark.

As it happened, the ripples from Luo Ge’s movements had already reached it.

BLUB BLUB BLUB...

Bubbles rose from above the pit, and the water churned as if something was about to erupt.

SWOOSH—

Luo Ge’s expression remained calm. Light gathered in the Devil Fish Tail Staff in his left hand, while an azure flame suddenly erupted from the Broken Sword in his right. The intense heat distorted the air and caused steam to rise from the pool below.

SPLASH!

A pile of ink-green algae suddenly spewed forth from the pit. Mixed within it seemed to be some scarlet human tissue and... fragments of iron armor.

Luo Ge watched this scene calmly, showing no reaction.

He naturally understood the advantage of striking first, but he was more interested in seeing if this was an intelligent being capable of communication.

Even if it wasn’t, he was confident he could deal with the thing before him.

Because according to the Spirit Candle’s perception, it wasn’t much of a threat.

BLUB BLUB BLUB...

The pile of algae quickly gathered, the flesh, tissue, and armor within it reassembling.

Before long, a ”human” stood opposite Luo Ge. It was clad in Rusted Light Armor, with its exposed parts mostly composed of strange algae.

It was hunched and stooped, and both its joints and overall posture looked utterly unnatural.

”Hello.”

Luo Ge offered a polite greeting, his face calm. Though with a Magic Staff in one hand and a Flaming Sword in the other, he hardly looked like he was just saying hello.

If the creature opposite him were human, or an intelligent lifeform capable of communication, its response might be friendly or hostile. Even an immediate attack would have made sense, in an extreme way.

But ”its” reply was unexpected.

”Revive... Lakemod...”

Its Ink Algae lips vibrated with difficulty, its face twitched uncontrollably, and its swollen, pale eyeballs showed no emotion whatsoever. The sounds it made were a garbled, eerie mumble.

It was less like speaking and more like unconscious muttering.

Combined with the gloomy environment of the pool, it was exceptionally horrifying.

Luo Ge’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He felt a tinge of regret that the creature was clearly unable to communicate, but he also found it strange that he could clearly understand what it was saying.

’It seems the Spirit Candle still hides many secrets...’

”Kill!”

Suddenly, as if schizophrenic, the Ink Algae monster let out a roar in a completely different, terrifying voice and raised its hand toward Luo Ge.

BOOM!

A large amount of black fluid erupted from the mass of Ink Algae like a fountain, carrying a thick stench and an unknown poison.

Luo Ge dodged to the side, the flames on his Broken Sword growing more intense.

’Since communication is impossible, there’s no need for more words!’

Not long after, a dreadful wail rang out. The Ink Algae monster could no longer maintain its cohesive form, and with a SPLASH, it disintegrated into the water, turning to Ashes.

[You have killed (Unnamed)]

[Acquired: Wax Oil ×20]

[Acquired: Rusted Light Armor ×1]

[Acquired: Rusted Light Helmet ×1]

[Acquired: Damp Nautical Diary ×1]

Luo Ge picked up the dropped items but didn’t rush to inspect them. Instead, he killed the monster a few more times.

This Ink Algae monster’s Resurrection time was much longer than that of ordinary monsters.

He obtained another clump of Battle Ash and a Rusted Iron Badge.

After appraising them, Luo Ge named each one and then casually put them away.

He also stored the Light Armor and Light Helmet, leaving out only the [Damp Nautical Diary].

’It really is damp... completely soaked.’

Luo Ge thought to himself. A faint light then glowed in his palm, emitting just the right amount of heat to slowly dry the diary.

A moment later, he opened the nautical diary. It was filled with incomprehensible text, but the Power of the Spirit Candle allowed Luo Ge to understand its meaning.

”My dearest mother... I have set out to sea without your permission. I know this will surely break your heart, and for that I am sorry, but I had to do this...”

”The glory of Lakemod has reached the brink of extinction. I cannot fail to live up to my father’s dying wish...”

”...If the path of self-achieved Burning Fire is closed, then I shall follow the example of my ancestors and perform... Fire Ignition...”

”...”

Beside the Spirit Candle, Luo Ge flipped through the pages one by one.

It was the diary of a young man from a fallen noble house. The residual flesh and tissue within the Ink Algae monster must have belonged to him.

In search of a way to revive his family’s fortunes, he had gambled all his savings on assembling a ship and crew—the skeletal sailors must have been part of it.

The outcome was self-evident. The young man’s passionate ambitions were forever buried in this cold, sunless cavern...

”Fire Ignition·Lakemod...”

Luo Ge sighed softly and changed the monster’s name.

Since the diary’s owner never revealed his name, Luo Ge could only use his family name.

He was the sole hope of that fallen family, and his failure likely coincided with the family’s complete collapse...

Beyond that, the diary contained two even more important pieces of information.

[Burning Fire] and [Fire Ignition]!

Although it was just a diary, and the information its owner revealed was incomplete, Luo Ge was more or less able to deduce its meaning.

...In this world, to grasp truly immense Power, one must ignite the ”Warfire.”

This Warfire didn’t mean literal war, but rather the fighting fire of life itself.

A life that has ignited its Warfire can possess numerous wondrous abilities and walk a brilliant, burning path.

There were generally two paths to igniting this Warfire: Burning Fire and Fire Ignition.

Burning Fire refers to a life igniting its Warfire on its own after a long period of honing itself and breaking through its limits.

And Fire Ignition, as the name implies, is the act of drawing the Life Flame of a being whose Warfire is already lit into oneself, for the purpose of possessing Warfire as well.

But it wasn’t hard to see from the diary owner’s words that this method was extremely dangerous. This young man had most likely died because of it.

”Warfire...”

Luo Ge closed the nautical diary, lost in thought.

He and the players were both Candle Spirit Bodies forged by the Spirit Candle. Could they ignite a Warfire too?

’If only the method for honing oneself to ignite the Warfire had been written in more detail...’

Luo Ge thought to himself, planning to study it more thoroughly after he returned.

After packing everything up, he prepared to leave. Before going, he scanned the surroundings with his perception one more time.

After this scan, he suddenly stopped and looked into the pit where the Ink Algae monster had appeared.

’There seems to be something else in there...’

Without hesitation, Luo Ge leaped into the narrow pit and found a strange little stone inside.

The stone was covered in tiny, strange, fleshy tendrils. It looked slimy and emanated a bizarre Power.

Luo Ge had a hunch that it was inextricably linked to the Ink Algae monster’s abnormality.

After sorting all this out, Luo Ge climbed out of the pit.

After looking around and carefully scanning the area one more time, he finally found a trace of the Gray Mist in a corner.

After placing another Milestone Spirit Candle as a marker, Luo Ge entered the Gray Mist and returned to the vicinity of the ocean whirlpool...