As he ruminated on the nature of his existence, Sam continued to do battle with the Eruption Demon alongside Jacob. The creature wasn't exactly a threat to Sam. All of the cultivators he had faced on the last few layers of the Gemlands had been far stronger than this thing. The only difference was how hard a five mile tall E Ranker was to kill. While the Titans had been E Rank in name only, with the durability of F Rankers, or even less, this creature was just as tough as most E Rankers of its level. It achieved this by coating its body in a thick layer of obsidian scales, torn from the world's heart.

Each of those scales was like a piece of armor and they were layered in such a way that penetration was impossible. Instead, anyone trying to assault an Eruption Demon had to punch through with brute force.

Sam and Jacob flashed around the monster like insects, stinging it with disproportionately large techniques. Glakassa remained behind and used her ice manipulation to embrittle the monster's scales. As a result, the Eruption Demon was covered in roses of rapidly spreading frost. Its scales cracked as the near absolute zero temperatures spread across its body.

Sam eyed a particularly weak area of the demon's chest. The scales there looked like the safety glass from a car's windshield. It was so fragmented that it looked like it was covered in inscrutable text. As Jacob distracted the monster, weaving a path of red around its head, Sam teleported in. Terra's Will accelerated until the air cracked like a whip. The weapon grew and grew and as it did so, Sam imparted a devastating amount of his Dao energy into it. Within the few milliseconds before impact, he wove together the skill matrix for Manifestation of Vengeance.

In its new form the skill was adept at armor breaking and single target damage. Sam didn't really have much Vengeance aligned conceptual energy to go around in this battle, but the raw might of a Fourth Step Dao Seed was nothing to be scoffed at.

A spectral spear formed before his hammer's end and slammed into the center of the Eruption Demon's chest. The sound of a thousand shattering glaciers rang out as the monster's flesh exploded. For nearly five hundred feet in every direction, scales broke asunder, revealing the molten flesh beneath. The actual body of the demon looked akin to monochrome red flesh, similar to a slice of meat. It flowed slowly like lava, inching its way in rippling waves.

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Terra's Will forced its way into that gently seething tranquility and blasted it apart. The Eruption Demon doubled over. A vast plume of red and blue burst out from its back. The skies above boiled as a ray of light seared across the firmament.

Sam didn't miss a beat. With a single stride across the fabric of reality, he teleported to the side of the Demon's head. Nodding once at Jacob, Sam struck. His father struck with him. On the left, a fist of vibrant red hammered into the center of the monster's ear. On the right, Sam swung Terra's Will, using Manifestation of Vengeance another time.

The Eruption Demon deformed between the immensely powerful attacks. Its head bent in at the impact points. Blood as hot as lava, or perhaps actual lava, sprayed out. The two techniques met in the middle in the form of a speeding fist of burning light and a fulminating lance. Then they exploded. The Eruption Demon's head detonated. Its massive carcass fell to the ground, shaking it for dozens of miles in every direction. Its body fell apart and returned to the land below. Lava ran like rivers into the nearest canyons and obsidian scales melted away into the rock.

Left floating at the center of its being was another scarlet gemstone. Its facets caught the light, and it shone like a tiny sun. Sam teleported over to it and grabbed the crystal. It was identical to the other one. Sam scanned it a moment later, curious as to what the stones actually did.

Volcanic Heart

E Rank Magical Item

These gemstones are famed for the depth of Fire elemental power that they contain. Whether to be used as the inset crystal of a powerful elemental focus or as the battery for a city's power arrays, these stones are valuable and varied in their usages. They may also be consumed by a sufficiently powerful Fire cultivator as fuel for their ascension. Be warned, doing so without the prerequisite mastery is a recipe for a quick demise.

Sam sighed. They weren't anything that he could use, or indeed, that anyone in his party could use. They were probably just meant as tokens to buy one's way out of the event.

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