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*****
Fenye frowned slightly. Ever since he discovered that the system capped his experience gain at a maximum of one thousand enemies, his interest in these fire demons—who were staggering in number but abysmally lacking in experience points—had plummeted.
If they were replaced by a thousand Surturs, he would probably be ecstatic. Then again, if a thousand Surturs actually materialized in front of him right now, he would be the one running for his life.
Watching the fire demons crawl down the massive pillars like a swarm of insects, Fenye leapt directly downward into the abyss.
The moment his boots touched the ground, the Fire Giant slumbering upon the throne jolted awake.
"The scent of Asgard... Are you an Asgardian?"
The Fire Giant suddenly gripped the hilt of the broadsword resting beside him and stood up. Looming over Fenye with a domineering gaze, he corrected himself: "No, you are not an Asgardian!"
While Fenye silently wondered what exactly an "Asgardian scent" smelled like, he offered a polite introduction:
"Greetings. I am Fenye Halsey, a sorcerer from Kamar-Taj on Earth. I am currently on a journey of self-cultivation, seeking out powerful individuals to challenge."
"Earth!?"
The Fire Giant was visibly taken aback by the mention of Midgard, but he dismissed the thought just as quickly. Looking down at Fenye, he gripped his greatsword and sneered, "I did not expect a little insect like you to find your way to this place."
Fenye scrutinized the colossal entity before him. Judging by his stature, demeanor, and raw aura, this was almost certainly Surtur.
"You carry a heavy scent of Asgard upon you. Have you been in contact with them?"
Seeing how utterly obsessed Surtur was with smells, Fenye briefly considered whether he needed to take a shower. He nodded and replied, "Yes, I arrived here via Asgard's Bifrost."
"Asgard... Asgard..."
Surtur muttered the name twice. Suddenly, he slammed the Twilight Sword into the ground with explosive fury, his voice roaring like a volcanic eruption: "I am Asgard's doom! The Ragnarok! I will bring an end to everything they hold dear!"
"Mm-hmm, structural sense!"
Fenye did not bother arguing with Surtur. Instead, he nodded in polite agreement.
The prophecy of Ragnarok was quite peculiar. Many knew of its contents, and many truly believed that Surtur was the destined executioner of that prophecy.
Odin was one of them.
Desperate to avert Ragnarok, Odin had defeated Surtur and stripped him of the Eternal Flame. He had undoubtedly contemplated killing Surtur to end the prophecy once and for all.
Unfortunately, it was impossible.
Surtur was a Fire Giant, but he was far from ordinary. His crown and the Eternal Flame were the twin sources of his cosmic power. As long as his crown remained intact and the Eternal Flame unextinguished, he could never truly die.
Thus, Odin could only delay the inevitable. He separated Surtur's power, tearing the crown away from the Eternal Flame in an attempt to keep the giant in a perpetual state of weakened dormancy.
One had to admit that Odin succeeded. Although he failed to completely eradicate the prophecy, he managed to delay its onset almost indefinitely.
Yet, as the All-Father grew increasingly frail, rumors circulated that the wheels of fate would soon spin again. Even so, many Asgardians pinned their hopes on Thor, believing the God of Thunder could push the prophecy back just as his father had done before him.
Only Fenye knew the ultimate truth: if he didn't intervene to alter the timeline, the one who would choose to trigger Ragnarok would be Thor himself—out of sheer, desperate necessity.
---
Noticing Fenye's bizarrely casual reaction, Surtur paused in surprise. He reassessed the boy before him and demanded, "What is your relationship with Asgard?"
"I suppose you could call us friends," Fenye replied after a moment's consideration.
Though he had previously shared some friction with Odin, his overall relationship with the realm was amicable. More importantly, Thor and his companions could formally be counted as his buddies.
"And yet you dare to show your face before me!?"
Surtur sat back down upon his throne. As a cosmic figure who once stood on equal footing with Odin, he naturally disdained the idea of lifting a finger against an obscure, nameless whelp like Fenye.
"Well, how should I put this... I like to think my strength is somewhat decent," Fenye remarked.
He didn't harbor any delusions of grandeur regarding his current capabilities, but he wasn't going to deprecate himself either. He chose his battles carefully; he naturally wouldn't provoke entities he absolutely couldn't handle.
"Hahaha!"
Surtur barked out a harsh laugh. Glancing at the youth, he said, "Where did you say you came from again? Forget it, it doesn't matter. It is a pity—if you weren't associated with Asgard, I might have spared your life."
Surtur waved his massive hand, signaling the dense swarm of fire demons to launch their assault. Seeing this, Fenye sighed softly.
Truth be told, Fenye hadn't intended to engage Surtur in direct combat today. For one, his body hadn't fully recovered from his prior skirmish with the thousand fire demons.
Furthermore, even if he somehow managed to defeat Surtur right now, the experience points rewarded would likely be severely penalized due to the daily threshold.
His primary objective for this excursion was to scout the terrain and confirm whether the ruler of this subterranean realm was indeed Surtur. Now that both objectives were checked off, it was time to make a tactical retreat.
Casting a final glance at Surtur lounging on his throne, Fenye casually drew a fiery circle in the air, opening a Sling Ring portal.
"I'll be back!"
Leaving behind a classic cliché that sounded entirely out of place in Muspelheim, Fenye stepped through the portal and vanished from the subterranean palace instantly.
Following his departure, Surtur surged to his feet once more. Gripping the Twilight Sword, he stared at the fading spatial anomaly where Fenye had stood, muttering to himself:
"A sorcerer!?"
He immediately commanded the surrounding hordes of fire demons: "Find him! Bring him to me!"
Upon receiving the order, the fire demons swarmed outward like molten insects. Only the lone fire demon who had acted as Fenye's guide remained rooted to the spot, entirely bewildered by the intruder's sudden disappearance.
---
The exit point of Fenye's portal was the exact location where he had first arrived in Muspelheim; after all, he barely knew any other coordinates in this realm.
Brushing away the soot drifting through the stifling air, he decided to find a secure spot to rest. Once the system's daily experience limit reset, he would come back to settle the score with Surtur.
During his time in Jotunheim, Fenye had developed a habit of using caves as improvised campsites. He intended to maintain that tradition here in Muspelheim.
However, because the mechanics of his 'Golden Derivative Magic' adapted differently across the various realms, his living conditions here were bound to be exponentially more luxurious.
Within minutes, the dreary cavern was transformed into a high-end suite. A plush, king-sized bed, a whisper-quiet air conditioner keeping the scorching heat at bay, a sleek desk, comfortable chairs, and even patterned wallpaper he had conjured up on a whim—Fenye had essentially used his magic to turn a bleak, volcanic cave into a stylized, modern apartment.
As Fenye settled down to enjoy his comfortable, air-conditioned sanctuary, he remained entirely oblivious to the thousands of fire demons turning the wasteland outside upside down in a frantic manhunt.
Meanwhile, back in Asgard.
Heimdall had chosen to trust Fenye, but to ensure he wasn't caught off guard should Odin request an update, the gatekeeper decided to cast his gaze toward Muspelheim to check on the boy's progress.
His piercing vision traversed countless galaxies and starlight, eventually locking onto Fenye, who had just finished his 'cave renovation' and was currently preparing to take a peaceful nap.
Withdrawing his gaze, Heimdall stood frozen on the Bifrost observatory, a profound look of bewilderment washing over his face. He couldn't help but question reality:
"Is he truly there to wage war... or did he simply travel to another realm to enjoy a vacation?"
(End of Chapter)