Ch.98Chapter 98 – Toward the Heart of Extreme Heat (2)

To repair the Heart of Extreme Flame, I followed Ironbeard’s guidance down into the underground chambers beneath the royal palace.

“The Heart of Extreme Flame, which is like a second sun to the dwarves of the Grendillet Mountains, is located in a very deep place.”

As we descended the spiral staircase leading us deep underground, Ironbeard explained about the Heart of Extreme Flame.

“The Heart of Extreme Flame itself was originally discovered while digging deep into the earth in search of flame stones. And because of its enormous size, bringing it to the surface is virtually impossible.”

I listened to his explanation in silence.

“Then you might wonder: how does the Heart of Extreme Flame transmit its heat to the surface? The answer lies in the existence of this spiral staircase.”

“What?”

“The pillar surrounded by these spiral stairs is actually a conduit that directly transfers the intense heat from the Heart of Extreme Flame. The heat emanating from the Heart spreads through this passage and supplies the entire Grendillet mountain range.”

“Is that so?”

The distance from the royal palace to the communal workshop must be at least several hundred meters, yet it maintains enough heat to melt and forge metal across such distances?

This was incomprehensible to me with my common sense from modern society.

“Heh heh heh. This too is a byproduct we obtained while creating the Heart of Extreme Flame. Using this, we’ve been able to transmit the extreme heat from the Heart throughout the entire Grendillet mountain range.”

“Truly an amazing discovery.”

“Of course, that’s only when the Heart of Extreme Flame is burning properly. According to reports from the managers on site, the temperature of the flames emanating from the Heart has been gradually decreasing.”

Ironbeard heaved a deep sigh.

“The heat is sufficient for heating purposes, but forging and smelting metal requires flames of a much higher temperature. Right now, they’re forcibly pumping in air to raise the temperature, but that too will soon reach its limit.”

Ironbeard’s voice was beginning to tremble.

It was hard to believe this voice was coming from someone who had appeared as solid and unyielding as steel.

“That’s why your help is desperately needed. If you don’t repair the Heart of Extreme Flame, we’ll have to leave this land where we’ve barely settled and return to our nomadic lifestyle.”

A nomadic lifestyle. Come to think of it, didn’t they say the dwarves wandered the world before settling here?

“I beg you.”

Ironbeard took my hand with a desperate voice.

I could feel the warm heat from his hand as it grasped mine.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you who received the artifact created by our lord Valkena!”

Yet despite his words of confidence, his hand was trembling severely.

He was afraid.

Afraid that I might fail to repair the Heart of Extreme Flame.

Afraid they would have to leave this land they had only just settled.

“Ironbeard.”

There was only one thing I could do for him.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you.”

It was just a simple promise to do my best, but that alone seemed to be enough of an answer for Ironbeard.

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I followed Ironbeard deep into the underground of the royal palace.

I had no idea how far down we had walked.

After walking for quite some time, Ironbeard stopped in front of a steel door.

“We’ve arrived. Now we’ll take this elevator down to where the Heart of Extreme Flame is located.”

Ironbeard lightly pulled the handle to open the steel door.

As the door opened, something resembling a construction site freight elevator, which I’d often seen at work sites, was revealed.

It looked rugged, but its reliability was unquestionable.

“Before we go down, put this on first.”

Before boarding the elevator, Ironbeard handed me a helmet.

“What is this?”

“The place where the Heart of Extreme Flame is located is extremely hot. It could thoroughly cook a large pig in just a few minutes. So you need to wear this. It’s a heat-resistant suit that will protect your body.”

A heat-resistant suit in the form of a helmet?

I put on the helmet with some skepticism.

Thin threads extended from the helmet and began to wrap around my entire body.

“What an amazing function. How is such technology…”

I now looked like I was wearing the same silver heat-resistant suit that subcontractors used to wear before entering the work site.

“To make good equipment, one must not be picky about methods. It’s a harmony of magic and technology.”

As expected of a master craftsman, the dwarves had apparently been attempting to combine magic and technology for a long time.

“Well then, let’s go now.”

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

Ironbeard boarded the elevator first, and I followed him.

As soon as we got on, the elevator automatically began to descend.

This feeling of floating as the elevator descended—it had been a while.

Neither of us spoke now.

Despite wearing the heat-resistant suit, we could feel the intense heat penetrating through it.

“With this level of heat, we should be arriving soon.”

Contrary to Ironbeard’s words about arriving soon, the elevator continued descending for quite some time before finally stopping.

When the elevator arrived and the doors opened automatically, we were hit by a wind carrying heat unlike anything I had ever felt before.

“Ugh!”

I transformed the hammer in my hand into a spear, drove it into the ground, and used it as support to withstand the blast.

“Whew, it seems more heat is escaping than before.”

Ironbeard was also holding his ground with his axe planted in the floor.

Only after the storm of heat subsided could we finally stand up.

“What was that we just faced?”

“That was heat that lost its way as the Heart of Extreme Flame malfunctioned. It seems the Heart is deteriorating faster than expected.”

Despite facing an enormous storm of heat head-on, neither Ironbeard nor I suffered any injuries.

This heat-resistant suit is truly remarkable.

Looking back briefly, I could see the elevator glowing red-hot.

It showed just how intense the heat that had swept past us was.

“Let’s go in. We have no time to waste.”

“Understood.”

I stepped forward with Ironbeard toward the Heart of Extreme Flame.

I thought the interior would have cooled somewhat after the heat storm passed, but the heat seemed to intensify the further we went in.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Fortunately, the temperature wasn’t so unbearable that it warranted Ironbeard’s concern.

After walking for quite some time, the Heart of Extreme Flame finally revealed itself before us.

“What is…?”

The Heart of Extreme Flame.

It was a massive donut-shaped structure with dozens of connected metal cylinders.

‘This looks familiar…’

The appearance of the Heart of Extreme Flame was something I had seen many times before.

Hmm, what was it?

“A fusion reactor?”

Yes. It looked exactly like the fusion reactor I had seen on the news.

There had been quite a commotion when they announced the world’s first commercial operation.

‘Could it be that the Heart of Extreme Flame was fusion energy?’

I was quite surprised to see a fusion reactor in this world.

But judging from the flames leaking from the cylinders and the steam escaping from the donut-shaped structure, it didn’t seem to be supplying heat through nuclear fusion.

Right. What would a fusion reactor be doing in a fantasy world?

I shook my head and approached the Heart of Extreme Flame.

The flames bursting from the cylinders scattered around threatened me fiercely, but they posed no problem.

Even when some flames hit me directly, nothing happened.

‘So Epitrina was telling the truth.’

As she had said, it seemed the artifact made by Valkena was protecting my body.

Thanks to Valkena’s artifact, I could walk slowly toward the Heart of Extreme Flame without being injured by the flames.

As I approached the Heart of Extreme Flame, I transformed the artifact into the shape of a hammer.

“Hmmph!”

I took a deep breath and, with the determination to fix this thing, swung my hammer at the donut-shaped structure at the center of the Heart of Extreme Flame.

—CLANG!

The sound of metal meeting metal was deafeningly loud.

But I ignored the noise and continued swinging my hammer.

I had only one wish.

For the Heart of Extreme Flame to be repaired so that carbonated beer and other carbonated drinks could be widely distributed throughout the world.

“For carbonated beer!”

As the second impact landed, more steam erupted from the donut-shaped structure.

But nothing could stop my burning passion for the distribution of carbonated drinks.

I prepared for the final strike.

“This ends it!”

As I swung the hammer with all my might and struck the donut-shaped structure, not a faint glow but an intense light began to envelop the Heart of Extreme Flame.

It was a dazzling light, but strangely, looking at it didn’t hurt my eyes.

The intense light soon subsided, and what appeared before me was the perfectly repaired Heart of Extreme Flame.

No more flames shot out from the cylinders, and no steam leaked from the donut-shaped structure.

And most importantly, the superheated air began to dissipate.

“Yaaahoooo! Success! It’s a success!”

The sight of Ironbeard running toward me confirmed that I had succeeded in repairing the Heart of Extreme Flame.