Fenrir wanted to sacrifice herself to buy enough time for Axel and everyone else in Witcheria to escape. However, Axel had different plans.

He didn't allow her to lose her life... after all, she's an important bodyguard for him!

With or without trust, as long as she needed to follow his commands thanks to the Gleipnir, then he'll never let her waste her life away!

"We're going back!" He shouted, pulling Fenrir into a tight embrace.

The Return Scroll is usually for individual use; however, there's a loophole where, when two figures are tightly pressed against each other, they're considered as one figure and teleported together. Axel learned of this from idle chatter with the witches inside the Humvee, and now wanted to make use of it!

Fenrir didn't resist, albeit in confusion.

She just stuck tight against Axel's body, fitting perfectly in his embrace.

The man, on the other hand, was busy unfurling the scroll with one hand. With great difficulty, the scroll was soon unfurled and exposed. It was about to activate!

A bright flash of light covered Axel's vision.

"...!"

But when the light faded, he felt... wrong. The brief weightlessness that came with teleportation—he didn't feel such a thing at all. With fear, he slowly opened his eyes...

"No way..."

And realized that even after using the scroll, they remained in the same place as before!

He looked around in confusion, but all his senses told him that they didn't move anywhere at all. They were still at the newly fixed fortress, with the witches busy retreating through the magic formation.

The temperature was rising rapidly, too, now shooting past 45 degrees. It was as sweltering as soaking in a hot spring already, despite standing in place!

"Why did it fail?!" Axel cursed, throwing the useless scroll to the ground. "Never mind! Fenrir, we'll join the witches and escape too!" he added shortly after.

Although his senses weren't as sharp as Fenrir's, he could still tell that the witches were slowly disappearing. In short, although his scroll failed, the array was working without a hitch!

"Master..." Fenrir gently pushed Axel away, smiling sadly. "It's too late."

"What...?"

The next instant, the temperature rose rapidly.

Axel felt as if his back was burning, as if he were standing before a house on fire. Sweat covered his entire body as a giant presence loomed over him.

"..."

With fear in his heart, Axel turned around.

There, he saw it.

A figure standing about a hundred meters away. Its height easily passed that of a Cyclops. Its stature was over fifty meters tall! Eyes burned a bright yellow, with smoke rising from their edges. A body covered in seemingly flowing lava, dripping down and burning everything nearby.

An embodiment of chaos, and the end of all beginnings.

[You... Fenrir, huh?]

The giant spoke, his voice echoing loudly, making the very earth shake.

Just that one sentence forced Axel to one knee, his breathing becoming difficult, his vision rapidly dwindling.

[So you've truly been released from the Lord's control... How unlucky for you.]

The giant continued, his voice carrying neither sympathy nor worry, only arrogance.

[If you remained on our side, I wouldn't have needed to eliminate you.]

Fenrir took a step forward, placing Axel behind her.

Then, her body started to release a powerful frost, enough to negate the heat the fire giant exuded. Axel felt the chill cancel out the heat, allowing his breathing to become stable once more... but he knew this was only temporary.

Fenrir wasn't an ice wolf, after all. The cold she used came from the effects of a spell she quietly cast. In short, it would only last as long as her mana could support it.

"Vulcanus..." Fenrir growled, her aura rapidly expanding. "You think you can kill me so easily? Think again...!"

Along with her shout, the frost expanded even further.

In moments, the field split in half—half boiling hot, the other freezing cold! The terrain split in the middle between the two powerhouses, as sparks flew where cold and hot air merged, creating lightning at ground level.

Despite her bravado, Fenrir knew she was far too weak. Defeating Vulcanus was next to impossible.

"Master... please escape."

Thus, she pleaded in a soft whisper.

Axel didn't miss it at all, despite the rumbling thunder filling the space between them.

"Alright, I understand!" Axel didn't hesitate either.

He stood up, turned around, and started to run toward the fortress where the teleportation array was... or at least, he tried to.

"S-Sir Axel...!"

Only to see a panicked Nina running toward him from the gate.

"No way..." Axel knew something was wrong instantly.

Nina rushed to his side, breathing white frost from the cold surrounding them, and announced,

"E-Everyone successfully escaped, but... t-the teleportation array suddenly broke when I was the last one left!"

Of course, they weren't aware that the cause of the malfunction was the chaos induced by the clash of hot and cold. If they knew, then Axel would've turned to the culprit and blamed them... the two powerhouses clashing right behind them!

"Fuck..."

Axel cursed.

He tilted his head up, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.

His worst worries truly came to life!

"W-What do we do...?"

Nina was trembling, hugging her arms tight—not from the cold alone, but from their desperate situation.

"True, I wonder what we can do." Axel could only shrug.

Right now, their survival relied on Fenrir.

However, the person herself claimed that the enemy, Vulcanus, was stronger than she was. In short, their situation was basically hopeless...

'Wait...' Axel suddenly realized a sliver of hope remained. 'Fenrir mentioned Vulcanus was stronger than her wolf form... but is she talking about her sealed form?'

Even in her giant wolf form, Fenrir could only exert about five percent of her strength. The Gleipnir's power was suppressing her, after all.

And now...

"Gleipnir."

Axel called to the mysterious golden chains, gripping them tightly in his hands. The smooth surface, the gentle golden glow, and the faint heartbeat he felt through their connection.

"This..." Axel nodded, convinced. "This might be our only way out!"

He gripped the chain, closed his eyes, and prayed.

"Gleipnir! Release Fenrir from your restraints!"

The next moment, the scenery was painted white—a great explosion of light and power.

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