I, The Dragon Overlord

Chapter 657 - The Magma River and Burrower Beneath

"Hurry up, everyone, hurry up, don't stop, the safety of Seoul now depends entirely on us!"

The commander shouted, ordering the troops to advance. The soldiers from South Korea who entered the underground were all tight-lipped, silently following the commander, only the rapid breathing of each soldier could be heard inside their gas masks.

The underground tunnels dug out by the Burrowers Beneath under Seoul were too huge. These soldiers were all moving with heavy loads. Even though they often trained for such situations, the mental tension of actual combat and the long journey made each soldier feel exhausted.

But even so, no soldiers complained. Everyone gritted their teeth because, as the commander said, if their mission failed, a huge crisis would likely occur in the entire Seoul area, and countless civilians would be affected.

Compared to the ordinary soldiers, the commander actually knew more. For example, he knew that the South Korean government could have prevented this disaster. However, the South Korean government had let Lee Uijin run amok in Seoul for its own selfish reasons, resulting in the entire South Korea being played by Lee Uijin. It was too late to try to solve the crisis now.

‘The people cannot bear the disaster caused by the South Korean government!’

The commander thought to himself. But then he thought of the situation in South Korea as a whole. For example, many people in South Korea believed in cults. The cause of this disaster was undoubtedly an evil god. To some extent, this was also a result of the people of South Korea inviting it upon themselves. If it weren't for the fact that most people here believed in cults, the evil god would not have targeted this place.

The army commander used this kind of divergent thinking to forget about his physical exhaustion. Although he didn't carry as much weight as the ordinary soldiers, the commander was getting old, and his stamina couldn't compare to that of a young man. In such a fast-paced march, even he was starting to struggle.

But the commander knew that he absolutely could not collapse. Otherwise, the morale of the entire army would plummet. He had to take advantage of the momentum of just defeating those ghouls and press on.

"A little faster, we should be there soon!"

Gradually, the army found that the underground tunnels were becoming less complex, instead becoming more straightforward. This made everyone feel a surge of energy, sensing that their destination was close.

"Sir, it seems like the temperature here is getting hotter."

One soldier's vision blurred, as sweat flowed into his eyes. However, because he was wearing a gas mask, he couldn't wipe it away.

"Now that you mention it, I've noticed it too."

The commander temporarily stopped and, as they went deeper underground, the temperature kept rising. The soldiers were using more and more energy, and many of them were now nearing dehydration.

The commander picked up an instrument and measured it. He gritted his teeth and said, "We can't take off our gas masks for long. The air here is harmful to the body. Let's take a break, everyone drink some water eat something, and conserve our energy!"

He knew that if they continued with such exhaustion, many soldiers would collapse before the battle even began. So, even though he was anxious, the commander could only order the troops to stop and take a break.

As soon as the order was given, the soldiers sat down neatly where they were. Some soldiers remained vigilant, while the seated soldiers quickly took off their gas masks, drank water in small sips, and then took out some energy bars to munch swiftly on, followed by sitting on the ground with their eyes closed, breathing deeply.

No one spoke, as talking would waste energy. They were all using the limited time to recover their strength as much as possible.

After fifteen minutes, they began to change positions. Those who had rested well stood up to be vigilant, while those who had been on guard began to rest. Another fifteen minutes passed, and the commander felt they couldn't continue like this. Half an hour of rest was already a luxury.

"Alright, everyone get ready to move out!"

No soldiers spoke. Each one stood up, shouldered their burdens, and followed behind the commander to continue forward.

The deeper they went, the hotter the temperature became, reaching a point that was difficult for ordinary people to endure. Every soldier was drenched in sweat, and at this point, no one cared whether the air here was harmful to the body. They had to take off their gas masks to drink water frequently, otherwise, they would easily become dehydrated.

Before long, the commander leading the way noticed a light at the end of the tunnel. He immediately became alert and shouted back, "There's something ahead!"

The soldiers raised their guns and slowed their pace, following the commander.

After turning a corner, they all inhaled deeply at the sight before them.

In front of them was a huge underground cavern. The ground was a lake of magma, with bubbles rising from the magma river. The burning orange light illuminated the entire cave, and from time to time, they could see rocks and magma rocks rising and falling inside. The heat in the tunnel was caused by the temperature changes brought about by the magma, which reached up to a thousand degrees.

"How could there be magma underground in Seoul? There are no volcanoes here!"

Seeing this magma lake, the commander was somewhat astonished. At the same time, he was in a predicament because the tunnel had reached its end here, and there was no way forward. However, apart from this magma river, they had yet to see the main target they were looking for.

"What's going on here? Could it be..."

The commander pondered for a moment, then looked at the magma, his eyes filled with horror and fear of his own thoughts.

But then, everything that happened before them confirmed the commander's thoughts were correct.

A whirlpool suddenly appeared in the center of the huge, bubbling magma lake. From the whirlpool came a nauseating, dizzying sound that sounded like metal scraping against a blackboard, causing panic in anyone who heard it, and goosebumps to rise on their skin.

Then, to the astonishment of everyone watching, a giant creature, nearly thirty meters long, crawled out of the center of the magma.

The creature looked like a mass of tentacles gathered together. It had strands of undulated hair-like tentacles, and at the junction of these tentacles, there was a disgusting mass that looked like a tumor. The tumor was a disgusting gray-black color, oozing with disgusting pus, and beating like a heart.

In the center of this tumor, there was another lump with some organs that looked like a human brain. It was filled with grooves and was incredibly nauseating.

This thing was simply a collection of pathological biological organs!

Although they had never seen this creature before, the many soldiers of South Korea immediately recognized it as their target—the Burrower Beneath!

"It's a good thing this monster isn't like those evil gods, where just looking at it would drive you crazy. This monster, apart from its disgusting appearance causing physical discomfort, doesn't seem to have any other strange abilities."

"These things from the Cthulhu Mythos really stimulate the limits of human imagination. How do these things grow? They are all so hideous!"

The commander took a deep breath, raised his hand high, and shouted, "Fire, fire!! Pick up our weapons, the enemy is here, don't hesitate, kill it!"