The beating he took earlier meant nothing. Whether these people sought to protect or destroy the Erdtree didn't concern him. Years of unwavering loyalty had eroded into exhaustion, leaving them stranded like forgotten souls on a snowbound peak. But the fire—that was non-negotiable. The fire belonged to no one else.
"Are they out of their minds?"
Melina's gaze locked onto the swarm of enemies charging toward her. She unleashed Golden Land, cutting through the first wave and sending them plummeting into the sea of clouds below. Yet, the relentless tide behind them showed no hesitation. No strategy, no fear of death—just fanatics, like moths drawn to a flame. The Fire Monk Prelate swung his massive hammer, shattering her golden barrier.
Flames roared overhead, raining down in a relentless cascade. Melina clenched her teeth, her right hand tightening on the hilt of her short blade while her left pressed firmly to the ground. The phantom of the Erdtree materialized behind her—a small, radiant tree casting golden light like an unyielding standard. She stepped onto the iron chain and surged forward into the chaos.
A whip of flame lashed toward her, forcing her to leap into the air. From above, she saw an ocean of crimson—flames and fireballs surging like a storm. The golden light from the Erdtree tempered their fury, reducing their power as they passed through its aura. Boom. Boom. Boom. The sky ignited with blinding flashes.
Melina emerged from the smoke, her figure smeared with soot. Her short blade extended into a golden arc several meters long, slicing through the flames and fire. She rolled forward along the scorching chain as a sweeping hammer knocked her hood loose.
She arched her back, driving her blade into the Prelate's weakest point—his groin. His hammer froze mid-swing, and before he could scream, Melina darted behind him. She leaped lightly and kicked his back with enough force to send him staggering. Bang. Not as brutal as Throne's strikes, but Melina's strength was nothing to scoff at.
The Prelate stumbled, clutching his groin, and tumbled into the sea of clouds. His scream faded into the void. Melina didn't look back. Using the momentum from her kick, she lunged at the second monk.
Before he could raise his flame blade, she thrust her short sword into his eye socket and shoved him backward with her weight. The third, the fourth, the fifth—she moved like a dancer in a deadly performance. Decapitations, slit throats, mounted strikes, and neck snaps with her long legs.
In less than ten meters along the chain, corpses fell like rain into the sea of clouds below. Why hadn't they broken yet? Was the craving for fire truly this consuming? Melina gritted her teeth, rationing her stamina with precision. She drove her blade into another monk's chin, stepped back, and kicked the corpse's chest with all her might.
As bodies tumbled into a heap, she gathered a slender spear of light in her palm. Golden—
Boom!!! A cannonball exploded on the chain, shaking the massive iron links and reducing the monks within ten meters to pulp. Lingering flames splattered, and the roar echoed above the sea of clouds. Aganti stepped forward, his great shield raised.
"What are you all standing around for? Attack! Wipe out these fanatics!"
The narrow chain limited their options, forcing them to unleash a barrage of flame incantations. Most missed the chain, plunging into the sea of clouds, but a few slammed into the front lines.
Clatter—
The chain swayed unsteadily, the thin ice on its surface long gone, replaced by a glowing red heat. Yet Aganti did not slacken in the slightest, instead pressing the flames directly into his own chest.
"O Fire, grant me power!"
A bright red color appeared on his body. He held his great shield in one hand and raised his right hand.
"O Fire, pierce through all!"
A spear of raging flame gathered in his hand. He passed through the thick smoke and lingering fire, then his pupils contracted. No one!? Could she have fallen into the abyss under the cover of fire? Hesitating for a moment, he rolled forward violently.
Ding—
A short blade appeared, bursting into a shower of sparks on the red-hot chain.
Aganti rolled too quickly; he even threw his spear while rolling. Whoosh—
The dust was swept away, and the crimson spear plunged straight into the sky, but the girl who had launched the sneak attack had vanished. A sense of unease enveloped this Chief Monitor. To switch between the void and reality so quickly—is she a ghost?
Without hesitation, after casting a Flame Protection, he pointed the cannon muzzle on his great shield toward his feet.
"Fire, explode and scatter everything!"
Rumble—
A flower of raging flame rose beneath his feet, enveloping him as if in a suicide attack. But under the protection of the Flame, this caused him no harm.
Instead, a few azure particles were ignited, forcing Melina, now covered in flames, to reveal herself. So strong, and so ruthless. Melina was enveloped in flames and blown away by the shockwave. What assassins fear most is saturation fire, and they fear even more these ruthless people who don't care if they hurt themselves or their enemies.
"Found you, skilled assassin."
The Prelate raised his head. Seeing Melina gather a long golden whip, he hurriedly raised his shield, but this was not merely for defense.
"Flame, explode!"
Unlike the high-energy fireball blasted out before, it fired a massive amount of shrapnel like a shotgun, nearly covering the entire sky.
However, Melina had no intention of breaking the turtle shell; that long whip was actually coiled around the chain. Sparks bloomed in the air. The girl reached out and pulled, having already fallen in advance. She swung like a person on a swing, with the bottomless abyss beneath her feet. A warm wind blew against her face.
After tracing a beautiful arc, she landed right behind Aganti and, without a pause, executed a backstab. Pfft. The short blade pierced through his palm, making Aganti scream. Without thinking, he swung his shield, but Melina had already stepped forward in advance, pressing against the Chief Monitor's chest and hiding in the blind spot of the shield bash.
Then, using the strength of her legs, she pushed him backward. Sizzle—
Her leather boots scraped against the slippery chain. Aganti's veins bulged. Ignoring his bleeding palm, he forced himself to hold back the short blade. He lowered his head and saw the sharp tip of the blade pressing against his chest, unable to advance any further.
"You cannot kill me!"
He roared, pushing the blade away, while hundreds of monitors surged onto the chain, rushing to attack Melina from behind. The girl remained expressionless, ignoring the scorching killing intent behind her. She raised her elbow and twisted her waist and abdomen.
Clang!
Like a hammer striking a nail, her elbow struck the hilt of the blade, breaking the balance of power, and the blade plunged into his chest. Aganti's expression froze instantly, and he felt his strength fading rapidly. He hadn't expected this girl to be so resolute. Had she not seen the monks surging toward her?
"Kill her!!"
With a violent shout, he simply pressed down on Melina's back, letting the short blade run him through. The monks didn't know how to hold back. A Prelate lunged at Melina's back, raised his great hammer high, tensed his muscles, and brought it down with all his might.
"Turn into minced meat for me..."
Bang!!!
The monk's words choked off mid-sentence. A meteor streaked down, shattering the air, and crushed his massive frame into the dirt. Blood sprayed like a fountain. Throne stepped onto the corpse, his weight compressing the two-meter body into something flat and unrecognizable. He twisted his ankle, grinding bone and flesh into powder, then raised his right hand toward the Fire Monks crowding the iron chain.
Crimson flames erupted in Throne's palm—purer, hotter than anything the Fire Monks could conjure. The fire burned with such intensity it seemed alive, calling to them, demanding worship. Aganti dropped to one knee, his vision blurring as he stared at the flame. It was sacred, untouchable.
"The Fire of Ruin," he whispered, his voice trembling.
Throne held the flame as if it were nothing. For centuries, monks had tried to steal it. Most burned alive. A few succeeded, betraying the Golden Order for its power. But Throne was different. The sheer scale of what he'd stolen dwarfed even Adam, the infamous traitor. How much fire had he taken? How had he survived it? Aganti's eyes burned with greed as he watched the flames roar and expand, stretching into a blade of pure destruction.
The burning blade surged upward, slicing through the sky like a second sun. Throne's voice was cold, devoid of emotion.
"Since you all want to touch this fire—" He swung the blade down with brutal force.
"Perish with it."
Crimson flames arced through the air, unstoppable. On the narrow iron chain, there was no escape.
The monks realized too late. By the time they understood, the flames were already upon them. Whoosh—
The icy wind turned to fire. A torrent of crimson swept up the chain, igniting frozen trees and clinging to rocks. The mountain became a purgatory of blood and flame. The monks didn't scream or struggle. They stood like statues, burning silently, their forms melting into terracotta figures.
Throne swung his greatsword again. A hurricane blasted through the flames, extinguishing them in an instant. The terracotta figures vanished, leaving only crimson sparks floating in the air. Millions of red fireflies danced against the night sky, beautiful and deadly.
The chain glowed red-hot, vibrating with heat. Would the mountaintop cauldron collapse into the sea of clouds? Even the snow wind couldn't cool the air. Sweat dripped from the remaining monks, their faces twisted with fear, disgust, and longing.
The Thief of Fire. The most vicious the world had ever seen. Previous thieves had stolen slivers, barely enough to alter their flames. But Throne? He eclipsed them all. Even Adam, the traitor, paled in comparison.
The disparity was staggering. The monks stared at the crimson sky, the sparks filling the air, and retreated. Slowly at first, then scattering in panic. The Fire of Ruin was their god, and Throne had stolen its power. No human could oppose him.
"Did you succeed?"
Melina leaned in, her tone teasing, rhetorical.
Throne grinned, his blood boiling—literally.
"Stealing fire's just looting. And I'm good at that."
He didn't care about the danger, only the prize. The Fire of Ruin burned endlessly in his grasp, and he was more than satisfied.
The Frenzied Flame had been madness incarnate—this was different. The Fire Giant's sealed Evil God meant its connection to the source was severed. No all-consuming hunger, no whispers in the dark. Just raw, untapped power. Pity I can't haul this entire forge away.
Throne's tongue flicked across his lips before he could stop it. The giant snake writhed in ecstasy, its withered body shuddering as black flames licked its scales. For a creature that devoured worlds, power was the only currency that mattered.
Melina stepped forward, her finger aimed at the chained giant.
"You're not planning to kill it?"
The Fire Giant hadn't moved. Fire Monks scrambled past its legs like insects, but its gaze never left Throne. Confusion burned in those molten eyes—how had this thief stolen so much flame?
Throne stared back. A single thought pulsed through him: Kill it. Devour the god behind its fire.
His foot shifted forward—then stopped. He crushed the hunger rising in his chest, forced his breathing steady.
"Not yet."
A desperate god was still a god. And this one had nowhere left to run.
Greed and reason balanced on a knife's edge. The black flame's damage lingered, but worse—he wasn't some Tarnished fool here to burn an Erdtree. The Fire Giant's defiance was just the Golden Order's last gasp. The Evil God hadn't even died properly; it had clawed back vengeance. Fighting now? That was just contract fulfillment.
But Throne wanted its life. And he'd never torch the Erdtree. If the thing had half a brain, it would fight to the last ember.
Melina tilted her head.
"You're letting it go?"
"Let it go?" Throne barked a laugh.
"It's stronger than I am. And we both know how sacrifices work—the bigger the offering, the bigger the payoff. That giant's a god's vessel. If it burns itself to ash, the real deal steps out. And then I'm the kindling."
He didn't care if she understood. Right now, he could trade blows with demigods—outmatch Ranni in a death match, even if Mohg and Radahn still stood taller. But gods? Different league entirely.
Melina gave a slow nod. She trusted his instincts. This man gutted vaults when the prize was worth it, and vanished when the stakes turned lethal.
"It's blocking the path down. Unless you plan to negotiate?"
"Negotiate?"
Throne's grin was all teeth.
"I'm a thief knee-deep in its treasury. You think it'll chat while I pocket its flames?"
His mirth vanished as he raised a hand.
"Besides. We're out of time."
Dawn lit the mountainside in brutal clarity. Throne's finger traced the chaos below—Monitor's Fortress was a kicked anthill. Soldiers bottlenecked the roads, half deserting, half clinging to duty.
Melina's eyebrow arched. Upgraded intelligence sharpened her vision, but these weren't warriors. They were chaff.
Then she saw them.
Eight knights charging uphill.
A mere eight.
They moved like a landslide.
After her intelligence had upgraded, she could already see the truth in their formation—these weren't just soldiers. They were a blade aimed straight at the heart of the mountain.
The armored riders came in a tide of crimson—plates scorched dark by battle, warhorses frothing at the bit. They plowed through the scattering monks like a scythe through wheat. Fresh screams split the mountain air.
"Crucible Knights!?"
"Persistent bastards."
Throne spat.
"Battle noise drew them like flies to shit."
"They'd chase you to the ends of the earth?"
Melina looked at Throne in shock, thinking to herself that this man was just too hateful; they had traveled thousands of miles just to come and kill him.
"My life's worthless."
Throne flicked a jagged shard between his fingers—the same cursed fragment they'd pried from the Shaded Castle's corpse.
"But this? They'd burn the world to get it back."
Melina's fingers itched for her blade.
"What does it even do?"