The impact tore through muscle and exoskeleton, the spear burying itself deep into the weak point. Inferno's body lurched, one of its legs buckling under the sudden loss of stability.
"Gotcha." Ben growled.
He wrenched the spear sideways, ripping through tendons, the wound widening with a sickening crack. Inferno's balance faltered, but before it could collapse completely—its six burning eyes flared with fury.
The flas coating its body surged outward, wrapping around Ben's embedded spear like a living entity.
FWOOOM!
Heat exploded in all directions, forcing Ben to retract his weapon before the flas could lt through it. He leaped backward, arms raised defensively as the inferno raged before him.
Inferno's breathing was ragged, its injured leg trembling, but it refused to fall.
Instead, it lifted its gaze—anger giving way to sothing far more dangerous. Amusent. And then—it grinned.
The air around them ignited.
Ben didn't hesitate. Whatever Inferno was doing, whether it was evolving or preparing so large attack, he wasn't about to let it happen.
His four appendages twisted, rging into a single massive structure. The shape ford instantly—a brutal war hamr, its broad, jagged edges resembling the kind of tool used to mince raw at. It pulsed with violent energy, ready to crush everything in its path.
Ben dashed forward, the ground beneath him cracking apart from the sheer force of his movent. The heat was unbearable now. Inferno's flas had reached a new level—the air shimred, the very battlefield warping as the temperature skyrocketed.
Ben didn't care. He swung.
BOOOOM!!
The first hamr strike crashed down onto Inferno's side. The impact sent a shockwave of force rippling through its molten exoskeleton, splintering the charred armor plating beneath. Molten blood splattered in every direction, sizzling as it touched the ground.
Inferno roared, but it didn't collapse. Instead—it laughed. Its six eyes burned brighter, its molten veins pulsing like rivers of liquid fire. The flas expanded, wrapping around its entire body like a cocoon of living hellfire.
Ben's eyes narrowed. 'What the hell was it doing?'
A second later, he realized— it wasn't just getting hotter. It was concentrating. Inferno wasn't trying to withstand the damage—it was focusing all of its heat inward, compressing its flas to an impossible level.
'He's turning himself into a bomb?
'
Ben's gut twisted. If he let this thing go off, the entire battlefield would be reduced to ash. His grip on the hamr tightened. "You wanna explode? Fine."
Ben raised the hamr high. Flas curled around its edges, the heat trying to lt through—but he didn't falter.
Then, with every ounce of force his adaptive muscle could muster— HE SWUNG.
BAAAAAAAAAM!!!
The hamr collided with Inferno's chest, an impact so violent it shattered the very air. The compressed heat detonated on impact.
A blinding wave of fire, force, and destruction erupted outward And Ben was right in the middle of it.
anwhile Elvira staggered forward, barely holding herself together as she reached her destination. The mont she touched the walls of her portable lab, the White Gemstone pulsed, surging mana into her exhausted body.
A whitish aura blood around her, illuminating her silhouette like a angelic figure descending onto the battlefield. Her strength returned.
Then she saw it.
A blinding light rising from the battlefield, a sphere of pure destruction.
Ben was in the middle of it. Her heart clenched. Her fingers blurred through the air, tracing runes at inhuman speed. The magic circle forming beneath her was far more intricate than any she had conjured before. Symbols twisted and coiled together, layer upon layer of complex calculations woven into its design.
She could feel. It wasn't just fire. The sheer mana pressure inside was struggling to keep itself together. If she disrupted it at the right mont…
"Aetheric Reversal."
The magic circle activated.
BOOM—!!
The explosion froze mid-air, its expansion halted as a sudden, violent tremor ran through the mana itself. The very foundation of the spell wavered, its structure breaking apart at the seams. The compressed energy buckled under the conflicting forces—then collapsed inward.
The explosion didn't expand. It imploded.
The blinding inferno twisted back onto itself, its flas flickering violently before vanishing into nothingness.
A deathly silence followed. Elvira's body sagged with exhaustion, her breathing ragged—but her eyes never wavered as they locked onto the battlefield.
The fire was gone.
But was Ben still standing?
Smoke curled into the sky, swirling in the aftermath of the collapsed explosion. The ground was scorched black, molten rock still bubbling from the sheer heat. Everything was still.
Then a shadow moved. A figure stepped forward, slow, deliberate.
Ben.
His form erged through the dying embers, his body steaming, armor cracked and burned—but still very much alive. His arms hung at his sides, the edges of his flesh knitting back together, his regeneration already working overti.
His gaze flickered upward, locking onto Inferno.
The Ravager was still standing, but barely. Inferno's once raging flas had dimd, its body battered, cracked exoskeleton barely holding together. Its six eyes burned with fury, but there was sothing else there now. Unease.
Ben rolled his shoulders, flexing his fingers. He could still feel the searing heat licking at his skin, but he grinned anyway. "So you're the one that die first."
Inferno snarled, but before it could act—Ben moved.
A blur.
He closed the distance in an instant, his fused hamr-arm raised high. The massive weapon glowed red-hot from residual heat, its jagged edges gleaming.
BAM!
The first strike caved in Inferno's left shoulder, sending molten blood splattering across the battlefield. The second shattered its outer shell, leaving it exposed.
Inferno roared, flas bursting outward in a desperate counterattack, but Ben was already gone.
From above Ben's hamr shifted mid-air, segnts splitting apart, transforming into a massive serrated maul. "Burn in your own fire." He brought it down.
CRUNCH!
The impact ripped through Inferno's torso, shattering its weakened armor. A shockwave tore through the ground, sending fire and debris scattering in every direction.
Inferno staggered, its body collapsing to one knee. Ben didn't let up. His arm twisted, his body coiling for the final blow.
But then—the ground trembled. A low, rumbling growl echoed across the battlefield. The air grew heavy, thick with unseen pressure.
Ben's eyes snapped to the side. Sothing was coming. Sothing worse.
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