"Ahem...... Ahem, ahem! ”

An unbearable tingling pain came from his throat from thirst, and Koichiro woke up from his coma.

【It's hot!】 】

This was the most immediate feeling he had after waking up.

He was lying on the hot ground at this time, and the sweat had just oozing out of his skin.

[Where is this?] Am I not soaking in hot springs? 】

[And where are all my clothes......]

He noticed that he was barely wearing, and even the bath towel that he used to wrap his body in the hot spring was gone, leaving only dried Western-style shorts.

Ichiro forced himself to brace himself up, supported his body with his hands, and found that his body was actually dark.

The only source of light nearby was a strong red glow emanating from the low walls around them, as if some kind of blood was circulating underneath.

Not far from the ground, on the foundation of the wall, revealing orange-red scars on the inside of the rock mass, occasionally emitting a burst of dark smoke accompanied by an annoying heat wave.

And under the ground, from time to time, there was a squeezing sound like muffled thunder, which was terrifying.

Ichiro smelled the scent in the fog and immediately felt a burning pain between his mouth and nose.

And the surging heat made him feel as if his skin was about to crack.

【Magma?】 】

He thought he was wrong.

But feelings don't deceive.

Even the most vicious sun he's ever experienced can't do this.

Where the hell am I? Smoky Lake or Stone Tooth Tunnel? 】

The only thing Koichiro knows about the lava landscape comes from the two ruins of the games Dark Souls and Demon's Souls.

This is clearly the interior of a cave.

The scorching and foul smell of the air made it almost impossible for him to think carefully, and Genichiro stumbled dizzily towards the darker interior of the cavern, but as soon as he entered the dark area where the red light was not enveloped, he immediately tripped over something soft.

[Not a stone......]

Genichiro's body just fell on top of the thing.

He reached out and fumbled for a look.

"It's a human?"

Although the man's skin was horribly dry, the shape of the bones was always correct.

Due to the overall temperature in the cave, Koichiro couldn't even determine if the other party was still alive by his body temperature.

He had no choice but to use his strength to drag the man and move him to a place where the red rock wall could be seen.

These strings Ichiro saw clearly.

It was a man with his mouth open and not staring.

Not to mention the chapped skin, the eyeballs are a little shriveled, and it looks like they must have died due to the temperature and gas in the cave.

After all, I'm afraid that very few people can breathe here for a long time.

But that's not the most important thing.

"He's a member of the Ghost Slayer Squad!"

Genichiro recognized the guy's outfit at a glance.

The pitch-black team uniform and silver reflective buttons are exactly the same as Murata's.

[Could it be that I, like those missing ghost killers, was caught here by ghosts? 】

[However, when I was soaking in the hot springs, it was still morning...... I remember feeling very comfortable and then I ......]

[I don't know anything!] 】

Ichiro tried to think back to what had happened, but that was the end of it.

The hot spring was shining directly from the sun, so he was not wary at all, on the contrary, it was very pleasant.

There was something magical about the hot springs, and it made him let go of all the baggage in his heart.

But if there's anything wrong with the hot springs themselves......

[And that little ghost named Sansuke! 】

Ichiro's instincts connect Sansuke to what happened to him.

[However, since there are ghost killers who have died here, Murata should be nearby. 】

Thinking of this, Genichiro immediately took off the clothes of this ghost killer and put them on his body.

No matter how hot it is here, if you want to keep your body hydrated, it's better to wear clothes than nothing.

It doesn't matter if the trousers and sleeves are a little long, Ichiro directly cut them short with a sharp and qualitative gold and steel summoning thunder.

"I'm sorry."

After symbolically apologizing to the corpse, Genichiro closed the other's eyes and left the corpse in place.

As for himself, he continued to explore in the direction in which the body had just been found.

As expected, after those ghost slayer members were trapped here, they should have gone there with the idea of staying away from the lava.

After taking a pill and extinguishing powder, Koichiro's body flashed with red and green light.

"Ryoji!"

"Flame-resistant!"

Suddenly, he felt that his body was much lighter, his mind was far less dizzy than before, and the burning sensation in the air was no longer strong.

Most importantly, he can use himself as a source of light for pathfinding.

As he expected, as he walked inward, in the darkness, many of the ghost slayer members sat or lay still.

Some may be afraid of the heat, spreading their bodies alone in the corner, lying on the ground wearing only a crotch.

If you have it, you will hold hands with your teammates, hoping to encourage each other.

However, after Genichiro's examination, all of these people, without exception, have all died.

They had been missing for at least three days, and if they had stayed here for all three days, the thirst from dehydration alone would have killed them, even if they hadn't been killed by the gas and heat.

"But with the addition of the people I stripped off, there are only nine people here."

Ichiro counted them and found that there were still 3 people missing, including Murata.

So, where did these three go?

It's such a big location, it's already the end of this cave.

Unless, somebody's risking to wade over the surface of the lava gushing out there.

But there is no "heavy sweat" here, and the "Black Knight Suit" allows humans to be themselves in the fire, so it is not very likely.

However, at this moment, Genichiro suddenly heard a dry coughing sound!

"There are living people?"

There was only a little light around Genichiro's body, and for a moment he wasn't sure where the sound was coming from.

"Anyone?" He could only shout, "Where are you?" ”

His voice echoed through the cavern, and if there were people here, they would never go unheard.

"This ......"

Sure enough, the sound of cracked stone responded, uttering syllables that were almost indistinguishable by the ear.

And Genichiro quickly lay on the ground, and finally relied on the glimmer to find that at the end of the cave, there was actually a low hole that people could drill through.

So short that you have to crawl around to not get stuck.

"Could it be Murata?"

With a little hope, Genichiro hurried into the hole, he was still a child, and he easily got to the other side.

Inside is a smaller space, but at the top there is a small skylight-like hole that glows brightly.

It's not as hot as outside, the temperature is just right, and the hole in the zenith connects to the air on the ground!

No wonder someone survived here!

Although the small hole was not enough to illuminate, Koichiro used it as a reference point and quickly walked directly below it.

"Is it Murata?"

The kung fu he asked had come to the front.

"It's a ghost...... Is it? ”

The voice asked weakly, and the sound of a knife being drawn was heard.

Knowing that it was very strange to have two kinds of light wrapped around his body, it was not strange to be recognized as a ghost, so he quickly stopped, but at the same time, he also erected the iron summoning thunder in front of him, just in case.

Although the voice sounded weak, the potential of the human person cannot be generalized.

"No, I'm a tourist who came to Xinshangquan Village for vacation, and you're from the Ghost Slayer Team, right?"

"That'...... You...... How to ......"

So how do you shine all over?

Naturally, Ichiro completed his unfinished words.

"Believe me, it's just a family secret."

Genichiro said, trying to dispel the other party's vigilance: "I know Kanae, the flower pillar butterfly of your ghost killing team, we were originally together, but I was accidentally caught by a ghost. ”

"Flower ...... Column, well......"

"If you believe me, please put the knife down, I still have medicine here to save you."

Ichiro extracted the remaining three pills at once.

He thought the remaining three were here.

"Save Him First......"

The man was silent for a moment, and then suddenly uttered a relatively complete sentence.

After receiving permission, Koichiro hurriedly stepped forward and found two men in team uniforms sitting side by side against the wall.

The guy who also has the strength to open his eyes is a guy with a scar on his face and an open chest, and the teammate next to him has already hung his head.

Maybe it was because he saw Ichiro's appearance clearly, and Scarface finally put his mind at ease.

It's just a child.

"Right flat ...... Someone is coming...... Saved us—"

He didn't even have the strength to turn his head, and said to himself.

But his teammates didn't respond.

Ichiro put his hand on the man's neck, and after about half a minute, he said with some regret, "He's out of breath." ”

The silence lasted for a while.

The scarface didn't show any emotion, just moved his throat with great effort, and it took a long time to say, "Take the medicine...... Give me ......."

Ichiro opened his mouth and stuffed the pill inside.

"The power of the medicine will melt on its own, and you don't need water."

He reminded him that he would let the man digest the medicinal power on his own, while he himself explored the surroundings.

However, after walking around, he did not see Murata in the dark.

There is no more hidden entrance to this small space.

"What a strange medicine."

Although he was still a little hoarse, Scarface was able to speak fluently under the green light.

"Is it just the two of you here?"

Seeing that he had improved, Ichiro hurriedly asked, "Where is Murata?" He should be with you too. ”

"Murata ......"

Scarface stood up against the wall, "I'm sorry, I'm not popular, and I don't know everyone's names. The one you're talking about may have died out there. ”

When he talked about sacrificing his teammates, he looked bland, but as a person who had come over, he knew that he was just forcibly suppressing it.

"There are nine outside, two inside, and only Murata is not there."

It felt like God was joking with him.

It was not easy to find the missing team member, but there was no Murata that he wanted to find the most.

Could it be that he is very special and can't be eaten by ghosts?

"I don't know, I didn't count the number of people before."

The man took two steps forward and came to Genichiro, taking advantage of the light to look at him carefully for a moment.

"You say you're a tourist, but why are you wearing a team uniform?"

"I've never heard of such a young player."

Ichiro was a little irritable at the moment, "Shouldn't you introduce yourself before you ask about other people's affairs?" ”

"I'm Minoru Immortal, a member of the second class of the Ghost Slayer Team."

Genichiro couldn't help but glance at Minoru Immortal Kawa more.

Only two levels smaller than the column.

According to Murata, every time you move up the ranks, you have to deal with almost 5 ordinary ghosts, and if you kill more than 50 ghosts or twelve ghost months, you can be promoted to a pillar.

So this guy is actually a big guy who has killed at least 30 ordinary ghosts.

But after the guy said his name, he suddenly became a little angry, "What about you, the little ghost who saved my life?" ”

"Koichiro Reina."

Ichiro replied, "I was caught while I was in the hot springs, and I woke up without clothes, so I could only borrow one of your dead team members." ”

He had thought that this guy, who seemed to be a little grumpy, would get angry for some reason to desecrate the corpse.

But Immortal Kawa Minoru just rolled his eyes: "As long as it's useful for killing ghosts, I don't think they will mind." ”

Between the words, there was actually some relief, as if he felt that at least that person did not die in vain.

"Okay, so how did so many of you get caught by the ghost?"

Those players were not injured, and they were obviously all suffocated and thirsty to death, which made Genichiro puzzled.

Immortal Chuan was silent for a while, the little ghost in front of him was calmer than many old people in their ghost killing team, maybe he was someone who could figure out a way together.

Then, he talked about what happened to the Ghost Slayer team.

It turned out that after being driven away by the village, Immortal Chuan and the others met Yamasuke at the entrance of the village.

Yamasuke told them that he had found strange traces on the southern mountain before, but his parents wouldn't let him tell them.

When everyone heard this, they thought they had found the whereabouts of the oni, and at the same time followed Sansuke to a cave near the southern slope.

Because it was daytime, the members of the Demon Slayer Team were just like Ichiro and were defenseless.

As a result, after entering the cave, the surrounding rocks immediately began to move on their own, and soon sealed them off, and all ways out were sealed.

They tried to smear and march in the opposite direction of the cave, but the walls began to turn red, and the heat was intense, and magma began to gush from beneath the ground, holding them back from moving.

When the team encountered such a situation, they were helpless, so they began to be irritable.

And because it is difficult to get along with others, Immortal Chuan stays alone in the innermost.

After some time, a few people died on the closest side of the lava, and he also fell down in a daze, but because of this, he happened to feel the cave under the wall, so he used his last strength to drill in with one of the closest team members to him.

As for the others, no matter what he said, it was difficult to even move, and it was estimated that it was not good at that time.

And he and Youping were already exhausted, and they couldn't go back there and pull them in one by one.

In this way, the two stayed in this cave with low temperature and fresh air to breathe, until just now, Genichiro stumbled into it by mistake.

Ichiro said thoughtfully, "In other words, you haven't seen the true body of this ghost, have you?" ”

"Well, all I know is that he can manipulate rocks to block the sun, can easily change terrain, and is a guy who can't be underestimated during the day."

Immortal Minoru thought for a moment, "After you fainted in the hot spring, it is very likely that he changed the rocks at the bottom of the hot spring to successfully capture you during the day. ”

"That makes sense."

Ichiro calmly analyzed, "The temperature of the hot spring is related to the magma; The quality of the hot springs depends on the rocks. Since he can manipulate rocky magma, he will definitely be able to participate in the hot springs that make people linger and even dizzy. ”