Chapter 125

Chapter 125. Interlude – Intense Flames

After unintentionally finishing a striptease(?) in the abyss,

I didn’t even have the chance to tell Professor Elisha to delete the photos before I passed out.

When I opened my eyes again, a full day had passed, and beside me were neatly folded new clothes that Professor Elisha had bought from Valhalla City.

After hurriedly putting on the clothes, I asked her to delete the photos.

-Request denied.

All I got was a firm refusal.

Professor Elisha stroked the Hero Watch containing my photos like a treasure and smirked.

-I’ll keep these photos safe.

Was this how Juliet felt when she had her cross-dressing photos taken (well, technically, she just transferred the files she took herself)?

I could only blankly watch Professor Elisha’s retreating back as she hummed a tune.

Anyway.

After parting ways with Professor Elisha, I finally returned to my cozy dorm room after 3 days… no, exactly 4 days.

“Haah.”

The C Dormitory, mainly used by scholarship students.

Compared to the A Dormitory where Yuren and Iris reside, it’s as shabby as a building in a slum.

“…It feels a bit comforting to be here.”

Still, after spending months (or years if you count my past life), returning to my dorm room and lying on the bed felt like coming home.

Just a day ago, it felt like a dream that I had fought a desperate battle against Behemoth deep in the abyss.

‘It can’t be a dream.’

I forced myself to shake off the comfort and sat up.

Sitting on the bed, I slowly recalled the battle with Behemoth.

Specifically, the Primordial Flame that blazed fiercely, threatening to engulf the world at the end of the fight.

‘I was right.’

The activation condition for the ‘Fire God’ state, where the Primordial Flame wraps around the body and generates infinite magic power.

When pushed to the brink of consciousness, the Primordial Flame dormant within the Holy Mark flared up as if doused in oil, burning my body.

Recalling that sensation, a thrilling shiver ran down my spine.

“As I felt before… this is beyond addictive.”

The infinite magic power filling my body.

The sensation of using magic power as if an endless ocean had filled my body was more exhilarating than any thrill I’ve ever felt.

It felt like I could crush and explode the entire world.

‘I actually killed Behemoth like that.’

To kill Behemoth, I didn’t need precise swordsmanship, flashy martial arts, or complex magic.

All I did was gather magic power in my palm and swat it like squashing a crawling bug.

That was all.

The King of the Abyss Monsters, who reigned over the abyss, was crushed to death without even leaving a proper form.

“The problem is… I can’t use this whenever I want.”

Calling it an extreme situation is an understatement; this battle with Behemoth was more like a mock battle set up with conditions favorable to me.

‘First, any creature with even a bit of intelligence wouldn’t just mindlessly charge at an immortal enemy for three days straight.’

Behemoth was a monster with almost no intelligence, and among them, it was the ‘King of the Abyss Monsters,’ whose violence was amplified dozens of times due to the influence of the Devil God, so it kept fighting without retreating.

‘If I had fought a Mine, the situation would’ve been different.’

Unless it was a crazy Mine like the Grand Archbishop of Madness, no one would keep fighting an immortal undead for three days straight.

‘Even if I was lucky enough to activate the Fire God state in a day instead of three, it’s still a problem.’

This time, since I assumed I’d fight alone and entered the domain by myself, it wasn’t a big deal, but imagine if a battle broke out while I was with party members.

There’s no guarantee that the other party members would be safe while I died and resurrected dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

Without the Blessing of Resurrection, they wouldn’t come back to life like I did.

‘I can’t fight expecting the Fire God state to activate in a real battle.’

The risks were too great.

“…But.”

I ignited Ash Fire on my palm.

Although I failed to activate the ‘Fire God’ state at will.

It wasn’t a complete loss.

“Bloom.”

The Ash Fire burning on my palm slowly enveloped my body.

Previously, I had to experience ‘death’ by exploding my own heart to use Ignition.

But now, I can use Ignition just by consciously moving the Primordial Flame.

‘The duration of Ignition has also significantly increased.’

What used to last only about 5 minutes can now be maintained for over 10 minutes.

The reason for this increase is simple.

‘My control over the Primordial Flame has increased after the Fire God state.’

The Primordial Flame, which wouldn’t budge no matter what I did before, now moves according to my will.

“At this rate… I can take it a step further, right?”

If the Primordial Flame I could control before was the size of a small campfire, now it’s as big as a bonfire you’d see at a festival.

With the amount increased so much, it’s only natural that I can do more.

‘Then.’

What I’m trying to do now is generate ‘magic power’ through the Primordial Flame.

‘Of course, I can’t create infinite magic power like in the Fire God state.’

But having more magic power to use immediately isn’t a bad thing.

Especially since I mainly use techniques that consume a lot of magic power, like Ash Fire.

‘The principle is the same.’

Just as the Primordial Flame burned the Tree of Creation in the distant past to create magic power.

I just need to burn my life to create magic power.

“Let’s see… the technique name… yeah.”

I didn’t ponder for long.

“Let’s call it Intense Flames.”

Ignition lights the fire seed, and Intense Flames fuels it.

A simple, easy-to-visualize name.

“Ssshh.”

I slowly inhaled and ignited the flame.

The small flame that had been wrapping around my body like a heat haze gradually intensified and turned gray.

I imagined flames engulfing logs.

Boiling my blood, burning my flesh, scorching my bones.

“Burn.”

Whoosh!

The Ash Fire wrapped around my body and blazed.

I felt the magic power being created alongside the dizzying pain of my body burning.

‘It worked!’

I clenched my fist, forgetting even the pain of my body burning.

This isn’t just about recovering magic power like with Ignition.

It’s like adding logs to a flickering fire to make it bigger.

I’m burning my life to create entirely new magic power.

‘About twice… no, maybe three times my current magic power?’

Of course, the magic power created by Intense Flames doesn’t entirely become my own.

Like flames that die down after burning all the logs.

When the Intense Flames state ends, the explosively increased magic power will scatter and disappear.

‘But still, this is something.’

Even temporarily, being able to boost my magic power by three times is insane.

‘Three times is crazy.’

It’s not like my magic power is low anymore.

Of course, it’s nothing compared to someone like Yurina, who’s naturally rich in magic power, but I have a decent amount that wouldn’t be looked down on anywhere.

And now, three times that?

“Hehe.”

I couldn’t help but grin.

‘Now… could I take on the Grand Archbishop of Madness?’

Hmm.

I can’t say for sure yet.

The Grand Archbishop of Madness probably hasn’t shown all his power either.

‘Anyway.’

The results of this abyss exploration were very satisfying.

I gained information about the Fire God state, significantly increased my control over the Primordial Flame, and even acquired a new technique beyond Ignition: Intense Flames.

‘If I say it was a worthwhile death… Iris might scold me.’

As I chuckled and tried to deactivate Intense Flames.

Whoosh!

“Huh?”

The flames wrapping around my body fiercely surged and blazed.

Ash-colored smoke filled the room.

‘Wait.’

Why isn’t it stopping?

“Ugh…!”

The Primordial Flame, now out of my control, began to rage like a starving beast.

The flames wrapping around my body gradually spread to the surroundings.

“What the hell!”

Four times, five times, six times, seven times…!

The uncontrollably surging magic power swept through the room.

Crackle!

The old dormitory building shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“What, what’s happening?”


“An earthquake? Is it an earthquake?”


“Everyone, evacuate outside!”

Voices of other candidates came from outside the door.

“Damn it…!”

I tried to control the rampaging Primordial Flame, but once it broke free, the flames weren’t easily extinguished.

Whoosh!

The flames fiercely surged, burning the furniture in the room.

The acrid gray smoke from the burning furniture filled the room in thick clouds.

‘No!’

I desperately tried to put out the fire, but the old wooden dormitory absorbed the flames like a sponge soaking up water.

Whoosh!

The flames eventually started spreading to other rooms.

Fortunately, it seemed all the candidates inside had evacuated, but there was no stopping the raging fire demon from consuming the dormitory.

“Ugh…!”

I gritted my teeth and issued a mental command.

‘Come back, you brat.’

Whoosh!

The wildly surging Primordial Flame.

Of course, it didn’t even pretend to listen and resisted my command.

“Damn it.”

While pondering what to say to regain control of the Primordial Flame, I remembered the ‘other power’ Professor Elisha mentioned that resides within me.

‘Back then, the Primordial Flame seemed to fear that power.’

Recalling past memories, I reached out toward the blazing flames.

“If you don’t come back….”

I snarled fiercely and continued.

“I’ll extinguish you.”

Twitch.

The blazing flames momentarily wavered.

Did the threat work?

The flames, which had been rampaging like a runaway colt, were absorbed back into my body.

“Haah, haah!”

I gasped for breath and looked around.

Although I successfully retrieved the Primordial Flame, I couldn’t absorb the fire created by the burning furniture.

“Damn it!”

I cursed and quickly headed outside.

“Wh-what’s going on…!”


“M-my room!”


“Someone call the professor!”

Outside, candidates were gathered, watching the burning dormitory.

‘First, I need to extinguish the fire with water magic!’

Since I rarely used it, the spell formula didn’t come to mind immediately.

Recalling the magic theories I learned from Senior Sophia, I somehow managed to cast the spell.

“Water Shower!”

Swoosh!

Water droplets formed in the air and shot toward the burning dormitory.

But since I couldn’t even recall the proper spell formula, the spell didn’t have enough power to extinguish the flames.

“Ugh…!”

I gritted my teeth, staring at the raging flames.

“Pouring rain, become a tidal wave and cover the world.”

A clear voice rang out.

A petite woman with red short hair aimed a long staff, taller than herself, at the burning dormitory.

“Heavy Rain.”

Swoooosh!!!

A torrent of water poured down and extinguished the fire on the dormitory.

“Hmph.”

The red-haired woman, who had extinguished the fire in the blink of an eye, turned to look at me.

“This fire… started from your room, right?”


“…….”

I closed my eyes tightly, looking at Senior Sophia, who was glaring at me with cold eyes.

‘I’m screwed.’

How am I going to fix this now?