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*****
Unlike his lower-tier fire demons, who would suffer catastrophic damage from even the slightest exposure to water, Surtur was far less affected by his sudden submersion into the swimming pool. On the contrary, the sheer intensity of his core body heat managed to completely evaporate nearly half of the pool's water within a matter of seconds.
Instantly, the already dimly lit underground palace became filled with thick, billowing plumes of scalding white steam, reducing visibility to almost zero.
"You damned... glub glub... insect... I... glub glub..."
A standard Earth-sized swimming pool, even an Olympic-sized one, wouldn't have given Surtur much room to maneuver. Therefore, when Fenye conceptualized the dimensions of the pool using his magic, he intentionally bypassed conventional structural metrics.
Even with Surtur's massive, multi-meter-tall physique, the depth of this conjured pool was vast enough that his feet couldn't reach the bottom.
As a Fire Giant, Surtur was accustomed to occasionally bathing in molten lava, meaning he had absolutely zero experience with actual swimming techniques. He desperately tried to curse and threaten Fenye from within the deluge, but his chaotic flailing only resulted in him swallowing several large gulps of water instead of climbing out.
Involuntarily creating a water feature of such immense proportions required a non-negligible amount of energy, leaving Fenye catching his breath for a few moments. Ignoring Surtur's garbled attempts at profanity, Fenye peered through the heavy mist at the giant thrashing wildly in the pool.
"Inject water!"
"Lower temperature!"
"Sink!"
Fenye continued to issue direct commands through Golden Derivative Magic, attempting to forcibly drag Surtur down to the very base of the pool and encase his massive form in solid ice.
BOOM!
However, even though Surtur was in a severely weakened state, he was still a cosmic entity of immense power. A sudden explosion of crimson fire erupted from deep within the pool.
The scorching thermal energy instantly vaporized massive quantities of water, far outpacing the speed at which Fenye's magic could replenish it.
Simultaneously, a bizarre wave of energy rippled through the cavern, causing Fenye's mind to suddenly drift into a state of deep, scattered distraction. He inexplicably found himself contemplating an incredibly frustrating math problem from his childhood back on Earth:
If a water tank takes three hours to completely drain and four hours to completely fill, how many hours will it take to fill the tank if you are filling it and draining it at the same time?
Why would anyone ever do something as fundamentally pointless as filling and draining a tank at the same exact time?!
Under the influence of this sudden mental divergence, the cohesive focus required for Golden Derivative Magic plummeted drastically, causing nearly half of the swimming pool to instantly destabilize and vanish.
Just as Fenye was about to seriously ponder the logistics of the water tank problem, a sudden spike of instinctual danger flared within his mind. His consciousness snapped back to full alertness, and he instantly realized he had just been hit by a subtle psychic assault.
Although he had managed to break free from the mental trance remarkably quickly, the brief lapse in concentration had allowed Surtur enough time to scramble out of the receding water.
Staring at the towering form of Surtur, whose eyes were literally blazing with unbridled fury, Fenye elevated his combat alertness to its absolute maximum. He realized he had significantly misjudged Surtur's baseline capabilities.
In the original timeline, Thor had secured an incredibly easy victory, which had inadvertently led Fenye to believe that Surtur's current power level was mediocre at best. Now that he was experiencing the battle firsthand, he realized that the harbinger of Ragnarok was far more complex than depicted.
For instance, this latent ability to project psychic or mental interference had never been showcased in the original cinematic events.
Furious beyond the capacity for words, Surtur let out a deafening roar. Gripping the glowing, red-hot Twilight Sword with both hands, he brought the massive blade down in a brutal, heavy cleave.
"Shield!"
Fenye opted not to dodge this time. Utilizing Golden Derivative Magic, he manifested a thick shield comprised of pure vibranium directly in front of him.
While it wasn't the iconic star-spangled shield wielded by Captain America, the raw material composition was sufficient to narrowly absorb the brunt of the heavy impact. However, the sheer kinetic force of the blow left the barrier covered in deep structural fractures, rendering it incapable of taking a second hit.
Nevertheless, this had been created purely as a disposable, single-use item. Dispersing the fractured shield, Fenye capitalized on the split second Surtur required to reset his stance and immediately issued his next command:
"Hammer!"
During his time fighting alongside Thor in Vanaheim, Fenye had spent a considerable amount of his leisure time researching the mechanics of Mjolnir. Although he lacked the means to unravel Odin's divine enchantments or the specific cosmic metallurgy utilized by the Dwarves of Nidavellir, he had still managed to deduce a few key concepts from the weapon.
Most notably: how to manipulate a weapon's weight to a disproportionate degree.
An exceptionally large replicate of Mjolnir—modeled exactly after the original but scaled up to nearly a hundred times its normal size—suddenly materialized directly over Surtur's head.
Fenye had originally intended to save this particular technique for a future spar against Thor. Unfortunately, because Golden Derivative Magic faced specific ambient limitations within the realms of Asgard and Vanaheim, he had never found a proper opportunity to test it.
According to his research on Mjolnir, the massive hammer possessed an intrinsic density that allowed it to weigh significantly more than its physical volume suggested.
THUD!
Following a heavy, resonant impact, the colossal hammer struck Surtur squarely on the crown, flattening the giant onto the stone floor.
Consecutively manifesting so many high-tier constructs had left Fenye thoroughly exhausted. Watching Surtur dizzily attempt to push himself off the ground, Fenye rapidly flew directly in front of the giant's face.
"Explosion!"
Fenye fired a point-blank Explosion. Although the overall damage output wasn't as high as usual due to the giant's innate resistances, Surtur had just been subjected to thermal blasts, sudden water immersion, and a massive physical blunt force strike to the skull.
Having barely recovered his bearings before receiving this final, concussive spell, the Fire Giant could no longer withstand the onslaught and finally lost consciousness, collapsing into a heap.
Seeing Surtur finally down for the count, Fenye didn't immediately relax. It was only after checking his system interface and confirming that the experience points had been successfully credited that he let out a long, jubilant sigh of relief.
As his adrenaline began to fade, Fenye allowed all of his active magical constructs to disperse. He glanced around at the cavern walls, which were still actively collapsing, before turning his gaze back to the unconscious Surtur lying on the ground.
After a brief moment of deliberation, he ultimately decided against killing the giant.
Eliminating Surtur wouldn't necessarily yield a favorable outcome, and Odin himself didn't particularly desire that result—unless Fenye possessed a definitive method to destroy the crown currently resting on Surtur's head.
Was Asgard truly incapable of locating Surtur's whereabouts?
Setting aside the fact that Fenye had managed to track down the fire demons using nothing but fried chicken rolls, the original timeline proved that Thor could easily locate this lair. This indicated that Surtur wasn't hidden particularly deep within the cosmos.
Odin simply chose to leave him be, because launching an offensive against a weakened Surtur served no functional purpose.
Without a permanent method to destroy the crown, any aggressive action could inadvertently trigger the premature arrival of Ragnarok. Thus, the All-Father chose to leave Surtur entirely unmolested.
In fact, Fenye suspected that Odin was perfectly content with the current status quo: a heavily weakened Surtur hiding deep within the subterranean depths of Muspelheim.
As long as the giant remained safely tucked away in the dark, he would never have the opportunity to come into contact with the Eternal Flame, ensuring that the prophecy of Asgard's demise would remain permanently deferred.
Casting one final glance at the fallen giant, Fenye opened a Sling Ring portal and left the underground palace behind.
Surtur's physiological recovery rate was exceptionally high; he managed to regain consciousness shortly after Fenye's departure. Realizing he had suffered a humiliating defeat and that his ancestral palace had been reduced to absolute ruin, a torrential wave of rage surged within his chest.
"Fenye Hal—"
Surtur attempted to let out a furious roar to vent his frustration, but halfway through his shout, the structural integrity of the heavily compromised subterranean palace finally gave out. The entire ceiling collapsed inward.
The massive cave-in completely buried Surtur, stifling both his voice and his rage beneath tons of volcanic rock.
---
Fenye remained entirely unaware of the secondary physical setback Surtur experienced after his departure. At that moment, he was sitting quietly inside his cave, meticulously evaluating the shortcomings of his performance during the battle.
Because the magical expenditure from fighting Surtur had been immense, he could currently only muster enough energy to construct a single, basic chair. If he wanted to enjoy the luxurious accommodations he had set up previously, he would need to rest and recover his mana reserves first.
Carefully replaying every detail of the skirmish in his mind, Fenye noted the specific tactical errors he had committed before turning his attention toward the experience bar in his system interface.
(End of Chapter)