Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
You can also read on my website:
tlmasters.xyz
I'd really appreciate your support. Every membership helps keep me motivated to continue translating and releasing chapters consistently.
*****
Right before his eyes, a massive swarm of fire demons was diligently excavating the bedrock, actively constructing a brand-new layout. Taking a closer look to ensure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, Fenye couldn't help but marvel; it appeared that beyond their knack for scaling vertical cliffs, these fire demons actually possessed a latent talent for architecture and construction.
However, scanning the subterranean workforce, Fenye failed to catch even a glimpse of Surtur's towering silhouette. Turning back to his guide, he questioned, "Where is he?"
"The King gathered us right here earlier!" The fire demon shook its head, indicating it had no further clues.
Observing the ongoing excavation of this new subterranean palace, Fenye reasoned that the creature wasn't intentionally misleading him. Activating the stealth protocol of Incursio, he blanketed himself in complete invisibility and soared down into the cavern depths to systematically locate Surtur on his own.
As he swept through the chamber, Fenye couldn't help but admire the sheer efficiency of the fire demons. Barely a single day had elapsed, yet this replacement palace was already taking on a cohesive and structured shape. It seemed that despite their abysmally low cognitive functions, they weren't entirely useless.
The guide had indeed spoken the truth. Before long, Fenye discovered Surtur submerged within a deep pool of churning magma, seemingly convalescing from his previous injuries.
"This scent... You actually dare return?!"
The moment Fenye located Surtur, the Fire Giant simultaneously locked onto his position.
This left the cloaked Fenye completely bewildered. Prior to departing his campsite, he had specifically utilized Golden Derivative Magic to give himself a thorough wash. Had Odin somehow planted a latent trace on him, or did he simply radiate the distinct aroma of Asgard by association?
Because of Surtur's impossibly sharp sense of smell, Fenye found himself harboring a sudden, random wave of suspicion toward the All-Father.
Seeing Surtur rise from the molten lava and stare dead in his direction, Fenye decisively deactivated his invisibility mantle, stepping into plain view with a casual wave. "Greetings. We meet again, Surtur!"
Surtur gripped the hilt of the Twilight Sword, his posture rigidly defensive as he eyed Fenye with intense vigilance. Although he desperately wanted to incinerate the boy into fine ash, the reality of his crushing defeat from the previous day loomed large, and his crown still throbbed with a faint, residual ache.
Refraining from launching an unprompted assault, Surtur demanded, "What is your purpose here? Did Odin dispatch you?"
The All-Father had instigated far too many cosmic conflicts in his youth, leading Surtur to immediately suspect that Fenye was acting as an operative of Asgard. Although he lacked a comprehensive intelligence network like the realms of Vanaheim to map out Fenye's precise background, his senses were sharper than a bloodhound's, allowing him to reliably sniff out the boy's close ties to the golden realm.
Hearing the giant's accusation, Fenye felt a touch of dark humor; Odin was currently doing everything in his power to curtail his extra-dimensional excursions, so there was absolutely zero chance the King would actively deploy him here.
"I am a Midgardian—a humble sorcerer from Kamar-Taj. My relationship with Asgard is strictly amicable; I am by no means an underling of Odin," Fenye clarified.
Given that he intended to cycle encounters with Surtur for the foreseeable future, it was best to clear up any structural misconceptions early on.
Surtur had no concept of Earth's cosmic coordinates, nor had he ever heard of Kamar-Taj, but he was acutely aware that Fenye's combat prowess was exceptional.
At absolute peak performance, he could have snuffed out Fenye's life with a casual flick of his wrist. However, stripped of the Eternal Flame and heavily weakened by centuries of dormancy, his current energy output didn't even constitute five percent of his prime authority. Bringing down Fenye under these parameters was going to be an uphill battle.
Nevertheless, the vast legions of underlings constructing his new residence nearby provided a significant boost to his tactical confidence. Furthermore, now that he was familiar with Fenye's bizarre reality-warping mechanics, a secondary clash definitely wouldn't culminate in a pathetic defeat.
Dragging the Twilight Sword along the stone floor, Surtur advanced toward Fenye while simultaneously projecting a mental pulse to rally his fire demons. "Hmph. Ignorant insect, you have committed a fatal error. You should never have stepped back into my domain!"
Observing Surtur's arrogant posture, Fenye couldn't comprehend where the giant derived such absolute confidence after being thoroughly thrashed just twenty-four hours prior. Elevating his combat alertness to maximum, he maintained a safe, strategic distance and fired back: "Whether it's an error remains to be seen. But judging by your tone, it feels like you're thoroughly dissatisfied with yesterday's results. How about a rematch?"
The mere mention of yesterday's skirmish—the absolute destruction of his comfortable throne, coupled with the lingering trauma to his skull—caused Surtur's volatile temper to ignite instantly.
It was a literal ignition; fueled by pure, unbridled fury, the Fire Giant's entire frame erupted into violent, roaring flames.
"Slay him!"
Surtur leveled his massive blade directly at Fenye, unleashing a deafening command. Instantly, a torrential wave of fire demons swarmed out from the excavation sites, barrelling toward Fenye from all vectors.
Fenye frowned slightly at the incoming horde. In the past, witnessing a swarm of this magnitude would have sent his adrenaline soaring in anticipation of massive experience gains. However, now that he was aware of the system's strict one-thousand-enemy threshold, these low-yield fire demons were nothing more than a nuisance. He was genuinely concerned their interference might inadvertently penalize the premium experience points tied to Surtur.
Fortunately, Fenye had zero intention of recycling yesterday's environmental-warping strategy, meaning their presence wouldn't drastically compromise his workflow.
Activating his breathing technique, he channeled a massive influx of pure Solar Energy directly into the core matrix of Incursio. The silver-white armor instantly burst into brilliant, golden-white solar flames, causing the rampaging Surtur to freeze momentarily in absolute shock.
Following the shock came an even deeper wave of humiliation.
As the absolute Lord of the Fire Realm, Surtur found it a profound insult that Fenye was choosing to utilize flames to engage him yet again.
In reality, Fenye had no intention of using thermal damage to bring down the giant; he was pivoting toward a pure, physical melee workflow. Activating the Flame Mode was simply a mechanism to scale his baseline physical attributes and strength to their absolute limit.
Within the parameters of Flame Mode, the broad edge of the White Dragon's Breath felt somewhat unsuited to his stance. Reverting the blade back into his storage space, he summoned the long-absent Ruddy Shrike. As an intrinsic accessory weapon to Incursio, the spear seamlessly absorbed the empowerment of his breathing technique, transforming into a brilliant lance of concentrated solar fire.
While Fenye preferred ranged magical engagements, he was far from incompetent in a close-quarters brawl. On the contrary, his martial arts foundations were exceptionally robust. The mystic arts of Kamar-Taj were fundamentally structured around close-combat sorcery, and he had spent over half a year systematically absorbing raw combat experience under the brutal tutelage of the Red Skull.
More importantly, when raw strength, velocity, and defensive metrics are optimized to their absolute peak, a basic strike carries devastating, extraordinary force.
If yesterday's encounter was a demonstration of Fenye using Golden Derivative Magic to weaponize the surrounding environment, today's strategy was centered entirely on maximizing his own physical capabilities.
"Strength Amplification!"
"Agility Amplification!"
"Defense Amplification!"
"Fire Resistance!"
Before the vanguard of fire demons could breach his perimeter, Fenye stacked a comprehensive sequence of enhancement buffs across his frame. Gripping the flaming length of the Ruddy Shrike, he lunged directly toward Surtur.
The second round officially commenced.
Faced with a combat style that diametrically opposed yesterday's workflow, Surtur found himself completely out of his comfort zone. He had mentally conditioned himself to counter Fenye's bizarre, conceptual magic, only to find the boy closing the distance to engage in a raw, unadulterated physical slugfest. Compounding the issue, he didn't dare drop his guard against potential spellcasting.
Consequently, pitted against a thoroughly buffed and optimized Fenye, the weakened Lord of Muspelheim quickly found himself forced into a defensive, losing stance once more.
---
The battle dragged on for a considerable duration. Although Surtur remained systematically suppressed across every exchange, his deep martial instincts kept him from suffering a rapid collapse. When he wasn't acting out of sheer arrogance, the raw combat experience of the Fire Giant was still incredibly formidable.
To sustain his peak physical output, Fenye's internal energy reserves were draining at a non-negligible rate. Furthermore, the persistent interference from the surrounding fire demons was becoming an annoying variable; he was constantly worried he might accidentally clear out a thousand of them in the crossfire, which would severely penalize his experience payout upon defeating Surtur.
Deciding that prolonging the encounter carried too many risks, Fenye resolved to bring the skirmish to a rapid, definitive conclusion.
(End of Chapter)