Ambushed

Once the two groups crossed the first checkpoint, the terrain changed dramatically.

Now, the volcanic ground was a lot more active.

Boom!

Lucivar's pupils dilated as he quickly rolled to the side in the nick of time before the ground underneath him spat out a torrent of glowing lava. One touch, and his flesh would melt. Fortunately, his reflexes were quick enough to react.

Glancing to the side, he also saw the others experiencing the same thing.

In a random but deliberate interval, the lava shot skyward right underneath the others.

Clearly, there was some sort of trigger that incited the lava like this, but there was no time to think.

Along the way, there were only a few kingdoms that got hurt from fighting or the lava.