Season 1. Chapter 76: The Netherworld!
Chapter: "Into the Netherworld: The Red Path"
---
The Netherworld Gate rippled once… then twice… and in a burst of reddish light, Hale Eryndor and Garrick Ironhart stepped through.
Immediately, the air changed.
The Netherworld was unlike anything they'd seen in the surface world—volcanic winds, molten ridges, and skyless void above. Towering red-stone mountains wrapped around them, lit by glowing crevices and the faint, eternal flicker of subterranean fire.
"...This place smells like boiled iron and roasted regrets," Garrick muttered, fanning his face.
As they walked through a crumbling path of ashen cobble, Garrick's eyes caught something massive lurking behind scorched basalt pillars. A hulking Hogzil—a boar-like monster with stone-hide, embered tusks, and molten breath.
> "Is that... a bacon elemental?" Garrick whispered with a stupid grin. "Looks kinda dumb—"
Before he could finish, the beast snorted steam and charged.
> "WOAH WOAH—!"
The Hogzil barreled forward—until Hale calmly drew a reinforced steel arrow, laced with redwood threading. One perfect shot. The air cracked. The Hogzil collapsed, tumbling forward into the dust, its tusks embedding into the ground.
It dropped a Fresh Nether Bacon—still glowing faintly from its internal heat.
> "Low blue ranked beast," Hale said, brushing his gloves. "Not worth panicking."
Garrick gave a breathless chuckle. "Remind me never to make fun of monsters again."
---
As they climbed higher, the ground changed. Red stone turned into Netherstone, a crimson-black mineral known for its lava-channeling properties. The temperature spiked, and glowing veins of firelight moss twisted through the rock.
Ahead, the terrain split—giving view to a glowing Nether Sea, a slow-churning ocean of steaming red-hot magma. Bubbles larger than carts rose and popped, letting out otherworldly sounds. On the far side: a twisted, glowing crimson forest, and beyond that—
A silhouette of something ancient.
A Nethercastle, broken but massive, jutted from the cliffs like a spine, its towers bent and twisting like scorched bone. It pulsed faintly—almost… breathing.
> "...That's not a ruin," Hale said grimly. "That place still lives."
A howl echoed distantly. A warped, guttural noise, somewhere between a scream and a chant.
Garrick swallowed.
> "Y'know… we could turn back and tell Riven, and—"
Hale's hand raised, stopping him.
> "If we don't explore this… others might. People like Patchouli. Or Hibiscus's scouts."
He pointed to the Netherwoods across the molten sea. A faint shimmer sparkled over a bent bridge-like structure made of obsidian.
> "There. That's our route."
Garrick adjusted his iron gloves, eyes wide but heart rising.
> "Okay. Let's make history… or get toasted trying."
They stepped forward toward the crossing, the air thick with heat, mystery, and something very old—watching them from the shadows of the Nethercastle.
------
Chapter Continued: "Bridge of Cinders"
---
The red void loomed beneath them.
The Nether Sea, a bubbling mass of liquid heat and fire essence, hissed and groaned as Garrick Ironhart knelt beside the jagged ledge, fiddling with the Systematic App Build Menu. The holographic interface floated beside him in sharp orange font.
> "Okay… building mode activated. Let's place a bridge tile—there!"
A stone platform shimmered into existence… then promptly sank into the lava and melted.
> "GAHH—WHY!?" Garrick exclaimed, pulling at his hair. "That was like ten Mysticoins!"
Hale sighed behind him, arms folded, calmly flipping open a thick, charred encyclopedia titled "Atmospheric Behaviors in Non-Natural Realms". A cracked leather bookmark peeked out from a section labeled "Windless Realms and Induced Turbulence."
> "The Netherworld doesn't have ambient wind," Hale murmured, "but if we funnel heat pressure through controlled vents, we might create artificial uplift. That could stabilize a glider."
Garrick blinked. "Glider?! Like… hang-glider glider?"
Hale turned the book toward him. A dusty page displayed a sketch of an ancient flying device, part kite, part wing.
> "If we angle it just right—"
Garrick interrupted, opening a browser window in the Systematic device's secondary screen.
> "Wait wait. Look, look. There's like… 400k vids of Travelers trying crazy bridge methods."
He scrolled through:
"🍗 Bridging Over Lava With Chicken Meat—Will It Cook Itself?"
"👻 Spirit Possession Hover Trick—(Totally NOT Illegal)"
"💨 How to Ride a Lava Bubble Without Dying"
"🪂 Hang Gliding Across The Nether Gap With Style"
Garrick grinned. "Okay, maybe we can't afford a hoverboard like the sky elves, but…"
He stood up, opened his inventory, and pulled out:
4 wind-threaded cloths
1 iron framework
2 spare potion canisters of burst vapor
1 lightweight rod
> "Crafting time, baby."
Together, he and Hale bent over the ground, using the Systematic blueprint assist to guide the design. Steam hissed in the background as the lava below boiled stories, and finally—after much trial and one near-faceplant into the abyss—they finished it:
A makeshift glider, patchy and unstable, but wide enough for one person to ride across…if they caught the artificial updraft just right.
Hale tightened the bolts. "We'll generate a pressure burst using the vapor canisters. It'll simulate wind. After that… it's all glide and pray."
Garrick stepped back, eyes wide.
> "You're serious."
Hale nodded. "I'll go first. If I fall, tell Riven I want my Mysticoins buried with me."
> "What—no! If you fall, I'm filming it for my stream intro!"
Hale rolled his eyes but smirked faintly. He attached the glider straps, turned toward the chasm, and with a deep breath—
SSSHHFFFF!
—The vapor burst behind him, hurling the glider forward into a rising column of synthesized heat.
Garrick gasped as Hale soared over the Nether Sea, wobbling… dipping… then catching a strong lift and gliding just above the molten surface.
> "IT'S WORKING!" Hale shouted over the roar.
Garrick jumped in place. "YESSS!! Science wins again!"
Now came the next question:
> Could Garrick do the same without crashing head-first into lava?
He looked at the second glider frame… and then at the lava.
> "Welp. Guess I'm gonna regret being comic relief…"
---
Chapter Continues: "The Ember Keep of Antares"
---
WHAM!!
Garrick slammed straight into the castle window, his arms flailing like a ragdoll in a hurricane. With sheer, dumb-luck instinct, he latched onto the charred stone frame, legs dangling above the steaming Nether Sea.
> "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH—okay okay okay… I GOT IT—kinda!!"
He huffed, gripping tight. "Felt like kissing a meteor…"
Through the shattered, red-glassed frame, Garrick peeked inside—
Red shrubs. Twisted. Glowing. Spitting embers.
> "No way… That's it! The Nether Shrubs! The potion-grade ones!"
The whole room was lined with the flaming flora—black vines oozing red liquid, rooted in obsidian soil, radiating a heat so intense that regular containers would melt if used carelessly.
He turned his head toward the gap. "HALE!! THERE'S A WHOLE GARDEN IN HERE!!"
---
On the other side of the gap, Hale was halfway through strapping the second glider.
He raised a brow. "Nether shrubs? Confirmed?"
> "YES!!" Garrick yelled. "They're ripe! And possibly alive!"
That last part was not exaggerated.
Because when Garrick squinted deeper into the ruined castle chamber, something stirred in the shadowed halls. Heavy... molten... footsteps.
Out of the crimson haze marched one…
Then three…
Then at least eight figures.
Blaze Knights.
Armored in smoking bronze, plated with Netherforged steel, their visors glowed like twin furnaces. Flame spewed faintly from their joints as if they were walking kilns, and in their gauntlets burned charred glaives wreathed in orange heat.
> "...Oh no."
One of them raised a hand—FWOOOM!
A fireball cracked through the air, barely missing Garrick's hand by inches.
He yelped and nearly lost his grip.
> "OH NO OH NO THEY'RE GUARDING IT!! HALE!! WE GOT HOSTILES!!"
---
Hale, calm as ever, adjusted his scarf and lifted his bow.
> "Copy that."
> "No no not 'copy that,' bro I'm hanging off a LITERAL volcano window surrounded by medieval flamethrowers!!"
> "Relax," Hale replied. "They're slow. You're chaotic. Use that."
Garrick peeked again.
The Blaze Knights weren't fast. But their range was deadly, and some were forming up like a formation. Old military technique. Castle Guardians left behind by whoever built this Ember Keep.
Or maybe…
Antares himself.
---
Hale activated the second glider with a vapor burst and launched, windless currents rushing up behind him. He flew at a sharp arc toward the castle, this time aiming higher.
> "We grab samples. Retreat. No hero plays."
> "Deal!" Garrick called back. "Except maybe a tiny heroic dive if things go wild."
---
TO BE CONTINUED