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Fire Demons were not Fire Giants. Their strength was actually quite limited, and unlike the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, they did not possess unique elemental powers like ice sorcery.
Aside from their bodies being extremely heat-resistant and their proficiency at climbing, they didn't have many special traits. Of course, one could not ignore their sheer numbers; it wasn't impossible for a swarm of ants to bite an elephant to death.
But for a massive "elephant" like Fenech, their numbers weren't quite enough. Moreover, if Fenech wanted to leave, he only needed to take to the skies.
The surging waterfall was turbulent and fierce. Although it evaporated quickly under Muspelheim's extreme temperatures, more water continued to gush out under the influence of the *Golden Ars Magna*.
White mist swirled as steam rose in thick plumes.
Under the massive evaporation of water vapor, Fenech found it difficult to see his surroundings clearly, hearing only the sporadic, agonized shrieks of the Fire Demons. By now, none of them dared to approach the water shield; they fled as fast as they had initially charged.
Fenech ceased the summoning of the waterfall and generated a localized gale to disperse the steam, which had turned the area into something resembling a sauna.
As his vision cleared, he found dozens of soaking-wet Fire Demons collapsed on the ground, the slight rise and fall of their chests the only proof they were still alive. Fenech didn't move in for the kill; instead, he surveyed the area and saw that every demon still capable of moving had retreated back into the volcano.
He checked his experience bar. As expected, he hadn't gained much.
Fenech turned his gaze toward the mouth of the volcano, where thick black smoke continued to billow. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to head inside.
Even though the experience value of a single Fire Demon was low, their numbers were vast. He had missed the opportunity to verify certain theories about the system's experience mechanics back in Jotunheim, and he wasn't going to let it slip by again.
---
Pushing through the drifting ash, Fenech entered the interior of a volcano for the first time.
His primary sensation was heat—pure, unadulterated heat. Even though he was in Water Mode with a protective shroud surrounding him, he still felt a dry, searing irritability. At the base, glowing molten lava flowed slowly across the ground, radiating temperatures that an ordinary person would find unbearable.
Seeing that Fenech had actually pursued them into the volcano, the Fire Demons hesitated to lunge again, their fear of the previous waterfall still fresh.
"I'm here for a spar! Come down!"
Fenech looked at the demons clinging to the volcanic walls. Because of their inherent resistance to 'Explosion' magic, he decided to stick to physical attacks this time. He didn't want to exert ten times the effort for half the result by boosting his magic, nor did he want to risk collapsing the volcano and burying himself alive.
However, the Fire Demons didn't budge. They stared at him with terror, the trauma of the "water attack" weighing heavily on their simple minds.
Fenech frowned. He could fly up and attack, but with so many of them spread out, he couldn't possibly stop them all if they decided to scatter and run.
After a moment of thought, a plan came to mind.
He found a relatively clean patch of ground and reached out his hand to begin summoning *Violet Special Fried Chicken Rolls*.
At a rate of six rolls per second, the ground was quickly covered. The rich, savory aroma mingled with the scent of sulfur, wafting aggressively through the cavern.
"Come down and fight me, and there's food to eat!" Fenech shouted while continuing the summoning.
He wasn't entirely sure if the fried chicken rolls would appeal to a Fire Demon's sense of smell or taste, but he couldn't think of a better lure. If this failed, he would just have to go on the offensive.
The Fire Demons looked at one another. Soon, a few closest to the pile began to move. They didn't attack Fenech; instead, they bolted toward the rolls, grabbed a handful, and scrambled back to the safety of the walls.
Fenech didn't stop them. He wanted to see if they could even digest such food.
The thieves sniffed the rolls a few times before stuffing them whole into their mouths without a second thought. Fenech watched their reactions closely, but because their faces were so alien, he couldn't decipher their expressions.
However, while expressions were unreadable, their behavior was clear. After finishing the first bite, the demons' eyes fixed greedily on the heap of chicken rolls.
The *Violet Special Fried Chicken Rolls* truly never disappointed. Fenech could tell from their reaction that they could indeed eat them—and likely loved them.
Soon, more demons crept down to steal some. Fenech allowed it until a significant portion of the swarm had tasted the reward. Then, he finally stepped in.
He summoned another massive pile of rolls, then detached the water shield from his body, expanding it to its maximum range to encase the food. He looked at the swarming demons and spoke again:
"Defeat me, and they're all yours!"
Had they not tasted the food, their fear of water might have kept them at bay. But now, with the memory of the flavor fresh and the rolls encased in a taunting blue sphere, their hunger overrode their terror.
The Fire Demons began throwing themselves at Fenech in waves. A large portion even ignored him entirely, clawing at the water shield in an attempt to snatch the food. Fenech didn't care; the shield's defense was so high that even he would have trouble breaking it quickly. For these demons, it was an impossible task.
Watching the swarm rush him, Fenech sharpened his focus. He gripped the *White Dragon's Breath*, picked his targets, and whispered a count:
"One!"
He swung the staff. Having accidentally killed one earlier, he held back significantly. Even though these creatures wanted to eat him, he decided to spare their lives.
It wasn't a sudden bout of mercy; he simply wanted to test if defeating enemies on a large scale without killing them would affect the experience yield.
Fenech counted as he fought. When the number of defeated Fire Demons reached exactly one thousand, his body suddenly stiffened.
"Just as I thought!"
Fenech had been checking the system's experience bar after every hundred enemies. He discovered that after the thousandth demon, the already pitifully small experience gain dropped even further, becoming almost negligible.
"So, the threshold is one thousand," Fenech mused.
Up until now, he rarely had opportunities to face over a thousand enemies at once. Before the Chitauri in the Battle of New York, the closest he had come was facing Ivan Vanko's drones at Stark Tower. But those drones weren't living beings, and their numbers likely hadn't crossed the thousand-mark. It wasn't until he wiped out the Chitauri fleet that he first noticed this specific trait of the system.
(End of Chapter)