In the camp of the search team.

Everyone who heard the beast-like roar had only one thing in mind—to escape. However, even when they all used the Return Scrolls they carried for emergencies... the result was disappointing.

None of the scrolls worked!

"N-No..."

Despair swept through the team immediately. But Penelope didn't give up. She raised her voice, rallying the team's fighting spirit and lighting a beacon of hope—no matter how abysmal it was.

"Everyone!" she shouted. "Run to the south! Don't slow down, no matter what!"

Everyone tried to follow her order.

However, due to the fear induced by the voice, some of them lost strength in their legs. To retreat, some had to carry those unable to move!

Despite the panic, their team spirit was flawless.

As soon as they realized some weren't able to run, they hoisted them over their shoulders and began to dash. Although their speed was lower compared to running unburdened, it was still better than leaving their allies behind!

"This isn't good...!"

But despite all their efforts, the looming threat of death still filled their hearts.

No, it was growing bigger even now—at the same pace as the temperature around them was rising. At present, the heat was already enough to give them first-degree burns!

"Cheetah!"

"Buffalo!"

"Rhino!"

But even in the depths of despair, a saving hand appeared.

The shamans called their fastest mounts and pulled as many of the immobile witches on top, increasing their average speed by at least fifty percent!

With that speed...

"Ah!"

They were caught up immediately.

A looming shadow approached from behind. A towering giant several dozen meters tall. His body released heat enough to melt steel—a manifestation of his anger and desire to kill.

[Humans...!]

Upon seeing the search team, the giant, Vulcanus, didn't hold back.

He pointed a palm forward, gathering flames into a sphere—a giant fireball. As the flames gathered, the temperature increased further, causing the girls' skin to blister.

'Is this... the end?'

Penelope stared at the fireball, her heart wrapped in defiance and despair at the same time. However, before the great being in front of them, she couldn't even move a finger.

She grabbed her sister Gwyn's hands tightly, steeling her heart for what was to come—until that moment.

"Bullying the weak?"

A radiant voice echoed, along with a powerful wave of ice washing over the field. The hellish scene of melting rocks and tongues of flame disappeared, replaced by a frozen, icy landscape.

With the frosty air, the gathering fireball froze immediately!

[...!]

Vulcanus's attention was pulled toward the interloper.

A gray-haired woman floated mid-air between the search team and the giant—a familiar figure that made Vulcanus's face warp in anger and irritation.

With a casual wave of her hand, dusting icy particles from her shoulder, she glanced at one of the Four Heavenly Kings with a smirk and said, "Why don't you pick someone your size?"

[FENRIR...!]

Of course, Vulcanus was enraged.

All his attention turned to the presence that had called him there in the first place—the one who had almost killed him a few days back, if not for Surtr's intervention.

And that was just as they planned.

"W-What is...?"

As the witches and shamans were confused, Fenrir glanced at them and frowned.

"You should run now. I can't guarantee your lives if you're this close."

"...!"

Penelope wasn't sure who the figure was—Rosaria and Mimika had no time to explain either. Thus, she decided it was someone on their side coming to save them... which technically was correct.

Biting her lips and ignoring the bleeding, Penelope pushed down the fear in her heart and raised her voice. "Everyone, don't look back! Retreat at full speed!"

With a hearty shout, every member of the search team continued south.

Although the frozen earth slowed them greatly, it was still far better than melting away under Vulcanus's heat.

[You should be dead already, you damned mutt...!]

Vulcanus roared as he sent a fiery fist forward, as if to crush Fenrir, who was almost ant-sized compared to his stature.

[I don't know how you survived Lord Surtr's move, but I'm here to send you on your way...!]

The fist, clad in world-ending flames—Surtr's Flames of Ragnarok—struck where Fenrir had stood. However, before it even landed, she was long gone.

Her figure reappeared by Vulcanus's shoulder, her fist clad in blue chill.

"Kill me?" she said, throwing a straight punch to the giant's cheek. "Sorry, but you're not qualified!"

A resounding boom echoed as the fist struck, followed by Vulcanus's head twisting at a painful angle. Despite the difference in size, Fenrir's fists were far more powerful than his!

Her assault didn't end there.

After the punch, she kicked down the fire giant's clavicle, cracking it along with several ribs. Then, using that kick as leverage, she spun and brought her ankle down like an axe, smashing him headfirst into the ground.

[UGH!]

It was a three-hit combo, and Vulcanus couldn't evade a single strike!

The damage was severe but not fatal; he could regenerate. Despite the pain, his will remained firm. He pushed himself up, shaking the earth as if an earthquake had struck.

[Take this...!]

Without delay, he swung his arm, hurling the Flames of Ragnarok like a ball toward her.

"You're too predictable."

Fenrir sighed as her body vanished, reappearing right before Vulcanus's nose. Her fist pulled back, gathering strength, before releasing a single, devastating punch.

Shockwaves exploded, debris scattering as Vulcanus's massive body was flung backward.

A punch so powerful that the Fire Giant was lifted off the ground, if only for a moment!

"You rely too much on borrowed power," Fenrir scoffed, shaking her fist as if it were dirtied. "Without it, you're nothing."

[Borrowed... power...]

Vulcanus's voice trembled as he spoke, uncertain—but a powerful will still burned within him.

[Right... I'm merely borrowing Lord Surtr's flames... This can't be called my strength...] he muttered as he slowly stood.

"...?"

At that instant, Fenrir felt something change.

The flames covering the giant's body shifted—starting red-orange, turning orange, then yellow, before locking into a deep golden hue. An impossible-looking color of flame.

[I... am Vulcanus! Fourth seat of the Four Heavenly Kings!]

The giant roared, shouting at the top of his lungs.

[And as our Lord decreed, I—With my life on the line—Will erase you from the surface of the earth...!!!]

"...!"

Fenrir felt it without doubt. Her frown deepened with each passing moment.

'His power... doubled instantly!'

The realization struck her like a truck.

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