I Became a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 233

A massive, earth-shattering explosion rocks the place, and most of the group ducks low.

"Corleone Junior, have you lost your mind! What are you doing all of a sudden?"

Luca yells, looking up at me from where he's lying flat on the ground.

Tsk tsk. This is why guys who only learned raiding from textbooks are told they can't do it.

"We came from below, scouring the peaks like that, and they wouldn't stand still, of course they'd set up all sorts of traps and ambushes."

"And what if the temple collapses on us? We might not even be able to get in!"

"It's home to a fire giant, would it be destroyed by an explosion like this?"

Indeed, as the smoke settled, the temple was revealed to be standing firm, with only the entrance having collapsed, but otherwise seemingly untouched.

In the meantime, the columns of followers of the cult are predictably crumbling.

" What the hell."

"Once you've checked it out, let's move in, now's probably the best time, before they regroup from the explosion."

"Oh, yeah, power in!"

The group heads inside the still-smoldering temple.

"Let's get in there too."

I picked up Michaela and Elena from the floor and headed inside with the others.

"What the hell did you have to do to make it look like this inside?"

As we entered, we could clearly see the debris of the traps and the fanatics scattered about.

Apparently, I've destroyed all the traps, as well as the furniture and passageways inside.

This makes the initial entrance a breeze.

"Well, this should be easy, thanks to Corleone Junior."

The mercenary group that had gotten ahead of the others began to collect their loot as they slaughtered the still-breathing cultists with glee, while Venezia members treaded cautiously, just in case.

-Kishaaaaaah!

Meanwhile, some Cultists fell from the ceiling in an attempt to ambush them, but their attacks were hampered by the explosion, which left them with splinters of wood embedded in their arms and legs.

Eventually, they fell to the ground in a heap.

"I was just going to throw bombs and go through this comfortably."

If I posted a video of Luca's performance on the community, I'd probably get a lot of flack for being the epitome of inefficiency.

And so the people continued to move towards the inside of the temple.

The interior of the temple began to grow larger and larger, gradually revealing enemies unaffected by the explosion, but the mercenaries and members of the Venezia Guild, already experienced in many dungeons, had no difficulty clearing the temple.

A cultist hiding behind a pillar, traps that spewed poisonous gas as soon as you stepped on a tile and the monsters that appeared in between.

It was a classic dungeon strategy as we advanced.

-Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank

The clanking of chains signaling the end of the raid began to draw nearer.

"Beyond here."

At the end of the temple's long corridor, we were greeted by a massive, jet-black door that seemed to dwarf everything around it with its sheer size.

Its surface was studded with elaborate carvings.

On one side, a man holding a lightning bolt in his hand, and on the other, a gigantic monster with a half-human, half-animal body.

"Typhon."

Elena muttered, as if she recognized the creature.

"Typhon? Do you know what that picture means, sister?"

Michaela asked, cocking her head, and Elena smirked and lifted her chin, realizing that she didn't know much about Greek mythology.

"It's a monster most Sicilians know about. The ultimate monster, created by the earth goddess Gaia herself to punish the gods. It was a monster of monsters, with the upper half in the form of a man and the lower half in the form of a snake, so tall that it reached the sky, and if it spread its arms out, it could touch the ends of the east and the ends of the west."

"That there is a picture of such a monster on this door means."

"Do you think this dungeon has something to do with Typhon?"

While the two were chatting like that.

"Let's go in."

Luca, who was in the lead, slowly approached the giant lever that flanked the door.

In the years since the dungeon had been created, many people had attempted to enter the Etna volcano.

Men who were once called Italy's greatest heroes, criminals who hid the treasures of the Etna Volcano, and even the top guilds.

All of their attempts ended in failure, but they were not entirely without gain.

At great cost to themselves, they succeeded in destroying the third and fourth peaks, leaving a record of how they got here and what monsters dwell within.

"Hmph!"

And according to the records.

Koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-.

In here lives a giant of fire.

* * *

As I stepped through the gate and into the giant chamber, the heat began to torment my skin.

If this level of heat is too much even for me, clad in my DisPater, I can't imagine what it must be like for others.

But that's no reason to give up on the raid, so we all grimace and keep walking.

And finally, the boss of this dungeon looms in the distance.

-Gurrrrrr!!!

In the distance was a gigantic thing with fire all over its body, as if it were the sun that had come down to earth.

It shook itself constantly, flailing its arms and screaming in agony, as if the flames were causing it pain.

Each time it does so, the massive chains connecting its arms vibrate around it with a heavy grinding sound. It was the source of the noise I'd been hearing all the way here.

"That's the Fire Giant."

Elena swallowed hard as she gazed at the creature.

The creature was bound to the floor by chains that prevented it from leaving a certain range.

This was the Phase One I knew so well.

"Mages to position!"

Upon spotting the creature, the wizards form up and prepare to cast a strategic spell on the creature.

You might be thinking that since he's tied down, all you have to do is attack him from afar with ranged attacks, but unfortunately, he has the ability to disrupt the magic around him, making it difficult to hit him with magic alone.

Nevertheless, there are two things you can target with this spell.

One is to target the cultists gathered around him, and the other is to bring the damn temperature down a bit.

If I just jumped on this guy while his whole body was on fire without doing anything, I'd be the one melting.

So lowering the temperature somehow was a priority.

-Enemies of God! Kill them!

-Kill! Kill! Kill!

-Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Was it because he felt the flow of magic?

The cultists around him grab their weapons and start screaming at us but we're ready for them.

Snow begins to fall slowly from the sky.

The snowflakes turn to rain, but only for the first time.

"Everyone, hunker down and channel your magic!"

The snow continues to fall, and then it turns into a blizzard of flurries.

The volcanic blizzard was a beautiful sight to behold, but the situation didn't allow for much time to appreciate the surroundings.

"Sweep it all away!"

"Let's go!"

Feeling the temperature drop, we started running towards the cultists.

Our opponents are the high priests guarding the Fire Giant, but for now, we are outnumbered.

"Sister, Elena, leave the fanatics to Venezia and the mercenaries. We go straight for the fire giant."

"Yes!"

"Understood."

A large-scale battle on a common side.

Normally, it would have been normal for them to be surrounded by monsters from behind and slowly wither away to death, but since they had destroyed all the wells that spawned this dungeon, they didn't have to worry about them coming.

That meant I could just focus on the here and now.

My arm was already throbbing just from the contact, so all the conditions were already in place.

-Grrrrrrr!

It must have spotted us running toward it, because it turned its head this way and opened its huge, cave-like mouth.

"Elena! It's breath!"

"Pen!"

-I'll stop him!

Pen, who had been following Elena's call, came to the forefront.

At the same time, crimson flames erupted from the giants mouth. In response, Pen enlarges his body and begins to devour the flames that are directed at us.

-Crrr! It's hot!

The flames were so hot that even a mid-level spirit would struggle with them.

Still, Pen somehow managed to swallow all the flames spat out by the fire giant' as if he understood the command.

-I need a break!

Instead, it swallowed enough fire to make its body swell, and then fell to the side.

"That's enough!"

I was halfway there, having blocked the most difficult of the creature's attack patterns, the Breath.

He'd used a Breath so he wouldn't be able to shoot flames for a while.

"Junior, I'll run if you say so, but do you have a plan? We haven't even dealt with the cultists yet."

Michaela, running alongside me, asks.

"We need to prep him so hes easier to cook when they come."

"When you say prep, what do you mean?"

"I'm going to hit him with a big one!"

I have a trick up my sleeve that would be great to use on this guy.

"A big one. That's a good plan."

"Isn't it?"

-Goooooooooooooo!

As we approached the creature, it began to move, the heat making it hard to breathe, even though I had lowered the temperature with magic.

It swung its giant fist at us, as if it wanted to crush us once and for all.

In response, Michaela summoned the gauntlets she'd used to fight the priest and began to run ahead of me.

"That big thing. You'll have to feed it properly."

"Of course."

Facing a giant creature dozens of times her size, Michaela threw her own fist at the punch that was coming towards her.

Tchhhhhh!

A tremendous roar that makes you wonder if this is the sound of organic matter colliding was heard.

Even more impressive is the fact that her punch stopped his fist in its tracks.

So, for the time being, it was completely unable to stop me.

Time for a punch, then.

I lifted my arm toward him, activating the imprint that had been throbbing there all along.

"You're not the only one who can use the Breath. You asshole."

[Imprint: Dragon (Emissary of the Immortals): You plunged your dagger into the heart of the one who ruled the Abyssal Flame, and in a shower of deadly blows, you drank the blood of an Immortal. You are the emissary of death who brought the Immortals to rest.]

From my fingertips, black flames shot forth, as if I had colored the darkness with flame, and began to shoot toward the creature.

An ordinary breath would have done no damage to the creature, but would have been absorbed and further scorched the surroundings, but alas, my flames were far from ordinary.

The reason for this is this item I received from my godfather.

[Name: Abyssal Flame Ring]

[Rank: Unique]

[Type: Ring]

[Description: This ring was quenched with black flames from the Abyss. When worn, it causes black flames to appear in a visible location 3 times per day.]

[Skills]

[1. Abyss: This ring was forged in the Abyss. Increases your stats in the dark]

[2. Black Flame: Adds Darkness damage to your flames]

[3. Light Devourer: Your Black Flame burns more intensely as it absorbs light. You can extinguish the flame with your will]

My Black Flame has the reverse property of absorbing the opponent's light, i.e.

-Burn!

The sound of flames eating flames.

The creature, whose entire body was covered in black flames from Breath, wrapped his arms around his face and started screaming.

The black flames slowly began to cover the creature's body, like ink invading a pure white drawing paper.

"Okay, it's working. Junior! Let's put the finishing touches on it!"

Michaela pumps her fist in determination.

"Sister!"

"?"

"Let's go!"

"?"

Now was the time to run if you didn't want to get caught.