Fwoooosh!
The flas roared around . Fierce and wild—like they ant to devour the entire world—they surged violently from my body. Gray ashes spun in the air as the blaze intensified.
"What the...!" Astaroth shouted, his voice laced with urgency. He called forth the Blessing of Distortion, and a violet aura spread like a spiderweb, warping the space around him. It swelled into a massive shield, enveloping him completely.
Crash! Crack! Shatter!
My flaming sword t the distorted space. Where it had once been deflected, it now pushed forward, carving through with overwhelming force. The more I pressed, the more violently the fire burned. The sword, engulfed in fla, sliced straight through the distortion.
"This is insane...!" Astaroth barely managed to cry out.
My blade shot through the split space like a beam of light.
Slash!
"Aaaaargh!
"His scream ripped through the air as his left arm was severed. Blood poured from the stump as he clutched it, staggering back.
"Damn it!" he snarled, fury erupting in his expression. Gone was the calm, composed archbishop. Now, he was nothing but rage and disbelief.
"I’m so sick of this!" he spat.
Sure, I expected variables. Plans never go perfectly—but even so...
’This is ridiculous!’
I’d shattered his Veil of Illusion, a barrier born from the sacrifice of two hundred subordinates, in re monts. I was a re cadet, not even officially a hero. Yet I wielded power beyond any professor. Even after he’d managed to kill —I’d co back. Again.
’I thought he’d run out of mana. That he wouldn’t be able to interfere this ti.’
But flas were erupting from my body now, spewing mana in every direction.
’What kind of freak is this?’ he seed to think, staring at like the world had turned against him.
He wasn’t the only one confused.
"...Hah."
I stared down at myself, my entire body wrapped in roaring fla.
’What is this...?’
There was no pain. My clothes weren’t burning. My skin wasn’t seared. I should’ve been ash.
’Is this... the Primordial Fla?’
After so many failed attempts... why now? Why was it suddenly embracing ? Burning so fiercely?
’No. That’s not the issue right now.’
I pushed the questions aside and turned toward Iris.
"D-Dale!" Her eyes widened when she saw like this.
I walked straight over and gave her a light smack on the head.
"Eek!" She flinched and covered the spot with both hands, tears forming in her eyes. "W-What was that for?!"
"I told you earlier to stay put, didn’t I?"
"But—!"
"No buts."
I sighed and placed myself between her and Astaroth.
"Don’t get involved this ti. Stay here."
"...Okay," she muttered, looking sulky, but nodding.
I turned back toward Astaroth.
Thud.
His severed left arm rolled to my foot.
Clutched in his dead hand... was a twisted tool—bent like a spoon.
’The tool he was going to use... to gouge out Iris’s eyes.’
My burning mind instantly went cold.
’If it weren’t for the Primordial Fla... Iris would’ve...’
The fire responded to my thoughts, flaring in my chest and spreading deeper—consuming whole.
It wasn’t just fire anymore. It was a demon. A colossal, wrathful fla demon preparing to devour the world.
"Astaroth."
I t his wary gaze and spoke clearly.
"Earlier, you said we should see who’s more loved by the gods, right?"
The records said the Primordial Fla was forged by the Demon God. Still a god, wasn’t he? Sa as the other seven.
"Well then. Don’t just stand there."
I raised my sword.
"Let’s finish this."
Boom!
I stomped the ground. Mana surged from the stigma etched in my body, flooding through my veins like a tidal wave. It felt like I might explode.
For soone like —soone who’d always suffered from a crippled mana core, in both my past and present life—it was a sensation beyond belief.
’I don’t know why the Primordial Fla finally responded...’
But I had a guess.
They said the Primordial Fla generates mana by burning the Tree of Creation.
So...
’What exactly is it burning right now?’
I looked at the flas covering my body and let out a bitter laugh.
"I never thought I’d end up as firewood."
There were no swirling gray ashes around this ti. No sign of the Blessing of Revival. Which ant only one thing:
’It’s burning . My life force.’
The Primordial Fla was consuming to produce mana.
In theory... as long as I kept burning, I could generate infinite mana.
"...Hah."
A shiver ran down my spine. I felt light. As if every shackle that had ever held back had fallen away.
And sohow—I just knew.
The techniques I’d only ever been able to imitate before...The forms I had practiced endlessly, over and over in the white snowfields...
’Now...’
I could unleash them.
"I’m coming."
Rumble!
I stepped lightly—and the earth shook like an earthquake.
In an instant, I was in front of him.
His eyes widened. My fist was already flying toward his face.
It was a technique from Berald’s Martial Arts—Mountain Breaking.
Boom!
A deafening roar and a burst of wind swept the field.
"You... madman!" Astaroth cursed, desperately invoking the Blessing of Distortion again.
The distorted space flared—but even that couldn’t hold back for long.
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