"Avdima?" Emilio repeated.

"That name..I don't recognize it from any country in Arcadius," Blimpo said, rubbing his chin.

The stranger named Avdima turned around tiredly, scratching his unkempt hair as he began walking back to the direction he came, "That's because I'm not from Arcadius."

"Huh? You're not?" Blimpo said in surprise.

"You're from a different world?!" Joel reacted.

"You're all loud," Avdima said, "I'm from a world called Gaia–don't ask me about it. Don't care."

Since it seemed the rather dangerous stranger, who fortunately seemed to be aiding them instead of acting hostile, knew the layout of the cave better than them, they followed. The only problem was, Avdima hardly moved as if he had anywhere to be, dragging his feet and depressedly answering whatever questions they had with minimal words.

"How'd you kill those monsters? I mean, it was you that did that, right?" Emilio asked.

Avdima kept moving forward, "I already told you I did. I didn't do anything special."

"I'd say killing them on the spot from afar is special.." Joel wryly remarked.

There was an uphill portion of the cave, leading to a crossway where a humble cottage was present, somehow thriving in the depths of the After with crops and cattle that definitely stood out almost like a sick joke to Emilio.

'Even in death, cattle can't escape being cattle. Talk about depressing–oh well,' he thought.

"This is where Illya and I live–oh, Illya is my sister, by the way," Avdima said, stopping in front of his home.

"Oh, okay, well..thanks?" Emilio said, still confused by the entire ordeal.

The entire time, Vandread looked ready to grab his daggers if the stranger proved to be hostile, though it was definitely a fight both avoided. Each and every single one of them knew it, if not just by feel alone; if all of them fought "Avdima" together, victory would be questionable.

"No need for thanks. I was going to let you all die if it wasn't for Illya," Avdima told them.

"We had that handled anyway!" Joel argued.

Avdima didn't so much as look at the silver-haired man, "Uh-huh. Well, safe travels."

Clearly, the baggy-eyed man wasn't one for conversation as he went back into his cottage without another word, leaving the group standing there in the surprisingly life-bearing cave before a unique bridge.

"Let's keep moving," Vandread said.

"Yeah..that guy gave me the creeps," Joel said.

"I wonder who he is," Asher displayed a surprising level of curiosity, "You felt it too, Emilio? That mana of his was unlike anything else."

"Yeah," Emilio nodded.

As they moved onward, the bridge that connected two different halves of the lower depths of the After was made purely of clammy stone, suspended over a chasm that had no foreseeable depth. He could see it through the knowledge imprinted on his mind; they were drawing close to the Quandary Gate–the destination he sought so purposefully.

"Can you see where this is leading us, 'Milio?" Blimpo asked.

The question brought the attention of his companions to him before he nodded, looking forward towards the path beyond the bridge, "Past this is..err, a lava pit."

"A lava pit?" Joel repeated, "That sounds.."

"Fun!" Blimpo remarked.

"Sure, fun, yeah," Joel wryly muttered.

The stone bridge was colossal in size, but what it gained in scale it lost in stability; pebbles continuously dropped down from it as they marched over it, resulting in periodic echoes of fallen rock from the chasm below.

"Long fall, huh?" Joel gazed over the edge, seeing only a darkness that stretched far, far down.

"Careful."

The sudden word of caution made the silver-haired man jump, nearly tumbling over the edge as he flailed his arms around, "Waaa–!"

–Before any such embarrassing end could be found, Joel was caught by the back of his collar by Asher, who pulled him back onto the bridge with a sigh.

"What did I just say?" Asher asked him.

"Hey, don't sneak up on me next time and maybe I'll be careful," Joel huffed.

Continuing on, the other side of the bridge amidst the shadow-crept caverns led to a vast opening in the side of a grimy mountain, leading into a new, underground region that put them one step closer to the Quandary Gate.

"You weren't kidding," Joel remarked.

Waiting for them inside the following cavern was a far-spread interior containing a sea of bright-orange, steaming magma, filling the area with a heat unlike any summer.

"Come on," Vandread said, leading the way without batting an eye.

"How–?!" Joel asked.

Leaping from one point to another, Vandread landed on a slab of stone acting as a small island amidst the lava before turning back to face the others, "Just follow me."

"This guy is crazy.." Joel muttered.

Careful hops were needed to move from one piece of land to the other while avoiding a dunk into the skin-melting liquid as it bubbled and popped. Blimpo attached augments to his boots, giving him an extra "oomph" to his jumps so that he could keep up with such physically demanding tasks.

"Hpp!"

The elven man jumped from one rock to the other, crossing a larger gap than the previous as he stumbled onto the following stone, though Emilio helped catch him.

"--I gotcha," Emilio said.

"Thanks," Blimpo nodded.

A few minutes in, it felt as though barely any progress was made, though there was no choice now but to keep moving ahead as jumping back would only prove to be even riskier than forward.

"This pit of lava is huge, isn't it?...Like way too huge," Joel breathed out.

They had taken a small breather atop a sizable stone that could fit all of them on its platform, leaving Joel to remark just how vast the sea of lava truly was, in a more frightened discovery. It seemed to go on as far as the eye could see.

"We just need to keep moving," Asher suggested.

"At the very least, it seems like this is meant to be crossed..I mean, it isn't a coincidence all of these rockets are placed at crossable distances, right?" Blimpo asked.

"That's true," Emilio agreed, "--Every step of the way in the After..It all feels preset."

This time, the young Dragonheart decided to lead the way as he took in a breath before jumping over to the next platform, feeling it sink back a bit and dunk into the lava before he quickly moved to the other side to balance it.

"Woah–hold on!" He called out before any others jumped.

–Though it was too late, Joel already jumped across, leaving the two of them on the rather narrow platform of stone in the vast sea of bubbling lava.

"Huh–?" Joel reacted.

"This one can only fit one at a time–hold on," Emilio said, sweating.

It took a lot of shuffling around in order to keep the rock afloat and not sink into the depths of the lava. There was something about the hot, incredibly dry air of the sea of lava; Emilio didn't have a good feeling about what it did for his body.

"Can't you use some magic to balance us out–?!" Joel asked.

Emilio tried to invoke rock magic to create another platform or to at least stabilize the one they stood on, but shook his head out of surprise, "I..I can't!"

"Huh?!"

"It's the air in this place–I can't focus my mana at all," he remarked.

Whatever the case, after a balancing act, he tossed himself over to the next platform in a hurry so that he didn't cause a submergence into the lava. He was forced to quickly jump to the next platform so that the others could follow suit, though there was nothing more unnerving than looking back and watching his companions make the leap.historical

"Hey, quick question, but can I die twice?!" Joel asked nervously as the platform shifted beneath his feet against the scalding lava.

Blimpo hopped next to him, "Oh, yes! You definitely can! It's a fate even worse than 'death', too!"

"Err, thanks for the info.." Joel groaned.

There was no problem for Emilio himself in crossing platform-to-platform, same with Asher who followed alongside him, though Joel and Blimpo definitely seemed to feel the effects of the dry, overwhelming temperature.

Vandread kept himself cautious, pulling his scarf down as he caught his breath, "Blimpo."

"Yes?" The elf stumbled over onto the platform Vandread was on, leaning down to catch his breath.

"Are there any creatures in the After who inhabit the lava?" Vandread asked.

The question asked by the scar-covered man caught the attention of the others, though they were all separate but still close–Emilio and Asher were the furthest ahead, on the same, large platform of smooth rock; Vandread and Blimpo stood on one; Joel was alone, the farthest back but right behind Vandread and Blimpo.

"Lava creatures?...Never heard of 'em, no. Why?" Blimpo caught his breath.

"--" Vandread was silent for a moment before pointing to a spot in the vast sea of lava, "Something has been moving around there."

They each fell silent, watching in the direction pointed at by the cautious man for a minute before "something" was seen; lurking beneath the surface of the boiling magma, the shadow of something large swimming in the burning sea could be briefly seen.

"What the hell is that–?!" Joel asked.

"Calm down," Vandread said, "It hasn't made a move against us this entire time, so let's just try and keep it that way."

Joel gulped, "Yeah, calm, totally."