Belladonna careened wildly through the air as she burst out from the lava, moving from pure momentum as the last dregs of her mana had already disappeared. She flew over the lava, lunging serpents following her path, as she arced through the air and started to descend back down into the lake.

Before she could hit the lava again, however, a vine wrapped around her waist and yanked her out of the air, whipped her to the side and launched her towards the lake bank like a shot put.

Clutching the treasure chest to her own chest, Belladonna slammed into Lilith’s body, as the Demoness cushioned her landing and caught her. A moment later, a dozen illusionary soldiers with their shields locked together appeared between the party and the advancing serpents.

They might not have been real soldiers, but they gave the mindless serpents enough of a pause that it allowed the party to back away from the lake. Once they were far enough away, the serpents simply glared at them before retreating back to the magmatic depths.

They never left the comfort of their home.

"See? I told you I would get it." Belladonna said with a crooked smile, "Easy peasy."

"You wouldn’t be saying that if you could see yourself." Saige said with a disappointed sigh, trying to hide the smile creeping onto his lips, as he stepped forwards and started to heal Belladonna.

"Why would you say... Oh, that’s why. I thought I felt lighter." Belladonna said as she raised her head and finally looked over her body.

Her mana had not run out just as she broke the surface, that would have been too useful and perfectly timed. Instead it had ran out when she still had a few metres left to go, meaning that her body had reverted back to flesh and blood while she was still under the lava.

Her legs were burned to a crisp, reduced down to blackened bones that were crumbling into ash every time her body shifted. Most of her skin was either blackened or peeling off, revealing bone underneath. In fact her smile was crooked because half of her face had been destroyed by the heat, and even small portions of her skull were peeking through.

Ironically, it was the chest that had mostly saved her torso, as she had been hugging it so tight that her chest was completely unscathed. The same could not be said for her arm that had been holding it however. It was perhaps only due to that, and her cockroach-like tenacity, that she was still alive.

A cocktail of blood and healing potion, along with a heavy dose of Saige’s healing, brought Belladonna away from the edge of mortality and back to a survivable level, even if she still looked like a piece of chicken that had fallen into the grill and had been forgotten about.

"Someone is gonna have to open that chest for me, by the way." Belladonna laughed, gesturing to her arms with her head. One of which was missing and the other which was burnt to a crisp.

"I at least want to see if I got something good. Gods it better have been good."

Lilith laughed, patting Belladonna on her head, before moving over to the chest and opening it. A bright golden light poured out dramatically from within, drawing the rest of the party over as they gazed inside with wide eyes and even wider mouths.

Unfortunately that investment in the loot meant that old stumpy had been left on the ground, trying to roll over and crane her neck just to get a look inside.

"What? What is it? You need to show me, I can’t see from here." Belladonna groaned, flopping on the ground like a dying fish.

"It’s... a stick." Lilith said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"A stick? What do you mean a stick?! Let me see!"

"I mean that it’s just a weird stick." Lilith said again, turning around slowly to reveal a cylindrical rod made of a strange grey metal with cracks wrapped around its length. The rod itself was roughly seven inches in length, a very respectable size, and roughly two inches in diameter.

It looked like it should fall apart from the cracks in its body, but it stayed together. However there were cracks at either end, where it looked like it had been broken off from a longer rod.

Lilith frowned at it as she turned around, tilting her head slightly, before turning away again. Belladonna contorted her face in confusion as she watched Lilith sway back and forth, before starting to walk around the chest all while pointing her body in different directions and focusing on the rod in her hands.

"What is it?" Belladonna asked, trying to sit up and only managing to roll onto her stomach and have to twist her head in an awkward position,

"Is something happening?"

"It’s got a pull to it, like a magnet. But it’s not always there. Just sometimes, but always in the same direction." Lilith explained, turning back to Belladonna before striding over and helping Belladonna sit up straight.

She placed it in her lap, and twisted her body side to side, letting Belladonna feel the slight tug whenever she faced certain directions.

"Oh! It’s a dousing rod!" Vestra shouted with an excited gasp, clapping her hands,

"It’s like what the ancient people used to try and find water or something. The crystal cult are all over them, I’ve seen them in some of their material."

"Water? Here? No way, no one has ever reported water here. I has to be dousing for something else." Figg countered with a shake of his head.

"I think," Belladonna said, looking at the broken ends, "It’s dousing for itself. See at the ends? It’s part of a bigger whole. I bet it’s a secret of some kind, why else would they hid it at the bottom of a lava lake?"

"That means it must be a good secret, because what kind of idiot would go diving down there for treasure?" Saige laughed, sending a pointed and sarcastic look towards the burnt chicken called Belladonna.

A notification flashed before all of their eyes, interrupting the sibling bickering before it could truly take off.

[Attention all players, an emergency update will be implemented in 5 minutes.

Please use this time to secure any belongings on your person. All players and their belongings will be returned to the nearest spawn point.

All players currently inside Divine Trials will be sent back to the beginning of their current section, with all enemies respawned upon your next spawn. Any loot you have collected will not respawn.

We apologise for any inconvenience that this might cause. Great things are to follow.]