Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 749 Muspelheim

As he passed through the great portal in the center of the Capital of Mibothen, Bloody Lily saw a flash of scenes in his mind. Among these scenes were the battle scene, a strange talking squirrel, a gigantic tree, the branches of Yggdrasil and finally a castle that seemed to sink into the core of a volcano. So, before she could even process all these images, she could already feel the searing heat of Muspelheim.

When she opened her eyes, she contemplated the image of this kingdom born of primordial flames. A land of fire and flames, where the most vibrant colors were red and orange.

The sky, a palette of intense reds and glowing golds, seemed to be constantly erupting, as if the very firmament of this world was woven with eternal fire. There was no room for darkness, the luminosity of fire and lava bathed the entire landscape in a perpetual, warm light. The ground, forged by the incandescent elements, was a mixture of volcanic rock and incandescent ash. Here and there, rivers of lava flowed, meandering between the rock formations and creating a visual symphony of liquid fire. 

The slopes of the mountains, sculpted by the intense heat, glowed like incandescent metal, because there were fire crystals there as big as entire buildings.

On all sides, towers of obsidian rose majestically, their structures black as night itself, but glowing with the intensity of burning embers. These towers were lost in the heights, reaching into the blazing sky like pillars supporting the firmament itself.

Bloody Lily had once heard that these towers were to the players of this world as the underground dungeons are to the players of Midgard. This meant that it didn't matter which world Rise Online was set in, the mechanics were the same, i.e. to level up you had to kill creatures and so it wouldn't be uncommon to encounter monsters out there.

Various igneous creatures roamed the desolate landscape, beings formed from the very essence of Muspelheim. 

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Dragons of fire, with glowing scales and wings that left a trail of sparks, hovered in the sky. 

Flaming beasts roamed the ground, their silhouettes jagged against the constant glare.

The sounds of Muspelheim were a peculiar symphony. The incessant crackling of flames, the distant roar of active volcanoes, and the sounds of dragons. It was as if the world itself was alive, pulsing in harmony with the flames that fed it.

Looking at this, Bloody Lily was in shock, and when the warmth finally embraced her, she had a headache so severe that it brought her to her knees.

"Damn..." She complained.

Blood Lily remained on her knees for a moment, her mind adjusting to the sudden transition from the icy atmosphere of Mibothen to the scorching heat of Muspelheim. The images of the scenes projected by the portal still swirled in her mind, a fleeting echo of the journey she had just undertaken.

The heat enveloped her like a relentless embrace, the intense luminosity of the realm of fire making her feel as if she were inside a forge. Her skin, accustomed to the comfortable shadows of Midgard, burned under the scorching touch of Muspelheim. 

Blood Lily pressed her hands against her forehead, trying to relieve the headache that throbbed like a constant beat and it helped a little, but it still wasn't enough. Possibly, that was the reason why only Evolved and unique species, like the Lizardsmans, were able to live here. Aware that prolonged exposure to the heat could be dangerous, Bloody Lily searched his inventory for some gadget that could offer some protection. Among his items, he found a peculiar magical artifact: the Cloak of Twilight.

The Twilight Cloak was an enchanted item with specific properties to adapt to different environments. She used it when she explored the scorching deserts of Vrikhodour once. 

When Bloody Lily wrapped the cloak around herself, she instantly felt the difference. A gentle, almost ethereal breeze arose from the fabric, and the cloak began to emanate a cooling aura, forming a magical barrier against the overwhelming heat.

"Whew..." She took a deep breath, feeling more relieved.

She stood up, appreciating the cloak's effectiveness in mitigating the effects of the hostile climate. Her eyes once again admired the vast landscape and when she turned her back to it, she saw that the portal that had brought her to this realm was still pulsing. It was a surreal sight, two such distinct realms separated only by a magical threshold.

"I need to hurry, the portal will probably close when dawn breaks or when the demons are back. I should have less than ten minutes." She thought aloud.

Then she walked a little to the left and saw that behind the portal there was a large iron door, and the castle she had seen while traveling between worlds stood before her. Its tall towers seemed to be lost in the clouds of volcanic smoke that hung over Muspelheim and gargoyles adorned the entrances, with their grotesque forms that seemed to have life.

"I knew it, they wouldn't leave a portal like that active anywhere."

With the cloak's magical protection able to dissipate at any moment and time running out quickly, she understood the need to be quick. 

So she took the first step and realized that the ground beneath her feet consisted of bricks concealed by a delicate layer of volcanic ash, making it almost inevitable that she would make some noise as she moved, even slowly. Even so, she continued on to the iron door and as she approached this entrance to the castle, Bloody Lily noticed that the structure was enveloped in an aura of black magic, and the massive iron door was ajar. 

It was a peculiar situation, as it gave the impression that the castle was inviting her in, but her intuition warned her not to rush in too quickly, as rushing in could cost her her life.

What the fearless Bloody Lily didn't yet know was that, in fact, the blazing landscape she had contemplated earlier was not the true horizon of Muspelheim, but something infinitely darker. In reality, at that moment she was in an area just below the first circle of hell, a place no human had ever set foot in. 

The true horizon of Muspelheim, the surface, where the real obsessing towers stood, not their foundations, was much less chaotic, more gray than fiery, and the sky she thought was below her head was just a cavernous ceiling filled with clouds of gas.