From a distance, the heat from the distant blast shimmered faintly across the field.
Farther away, near the dungeon’s entrance, where the rest of the party had fallen into madness, something shifted.
One by one, the cursed adventurers stirred.
At first, it was just shallow breaths. Twitching fingers. Eyes fluttering open.
Then, confusion.
Then horror.
"Wha... what... what is this?!" one of them cried out, stumbling backward from a mangled bear corpse, mouth smeared in purple blood.
Another gagged violently and fell to his knees, vomiting into the snow. A girl screamed as she looked down at her own arm, covered in bite marks, some not even hers.
"No... no no no! What happened?!"
They cried, shook, grabbed their heads, some tearing at their hair, others clawing at their own skin. The haze lifted, and what replaced it was worse.
The memory of warm flesh.
Of hunger.
Of joy while devouring.
And now, nothing but disgust.
Nearby, Crest stood frozen, fists clenched so tight they trembled. He hadn’t been cursed like the others. He, Dusteria, Will, and Sienna had remained conscious the whole time.
They had watched everything.
"Over... This is over..." Sienna covered her mouth, her eyes wide in horror.
Will dropped to his knees beside her, hands shaking, his face pale and empty. "What the Hell was that..."
Dusteria was sweating profusely despite the temperature, her arms trembling violently. She was shaking, not just from what she had seen, but from something deeper.
Now she was sure.
That feeling, what the girl did, it was the same.
The same as that person who had destroyed her village.
She was a demon.
Crest finally snapped.
"ENOUGH!"
His voice roared above the others. The chaos paused, if only for a moment.
He turned toward the horizon, where flames still danced high in the distance.
"That girl. That THING. She did this."
His eyes were sharp. Burning.
"And Bel... he’s there. I’m sure of it. These explosions, it’s him. He must be fighting her."
Ronan stumbled forward, eyes wide with realization.
"We were out for... I don’t even know how long. If he’s been fighting all this time..."
"He’s alone," Crest growled. "And if we don’t get there now, he might not be for much longer."
He turned toward the others.
"MOVE!"
No more hesitation.
The party members rose and started running toward the fire.
In the meantime, farther from the battlefield, Cassandra and Lyraen slowly struggled to their feet. The blast had thrown them hard, but the heat... the light...
They turned their eyes to the chaos.
The snowy field was no longer white. It had been scorched and melted.
Ash floated in the air like dead snowflakes. Jagged steam hissed from craters of molten slush.
Blue fire danced silently in patches across the battlefield, each flame flickering unnaturally, refusing to fade. In the center, a great crater pulsed with light, the core of the detonation. A blue blazer, deep and still burning.
They stood still.
Speechless.
Nothing moved. No wind. No sound. Just the breath of fire still rising.
Then, from the heart of the blaze, something jumped back.
Bel.
His body spun once midair before landing in a crouch. He stood slowly, his gaze fixed on the firestorm.
He exhaled.
He tried to stay calm, but even he seemed surprised.
He lifted his hand toward the flames, squinting against the light.
"That’s... stronger than I expected."
The Abyssal Fire still raged; It wasn’t normal. It didn’t act like normal flame. Something in it felt... conscious, as a creature calmly lying down after causing chaos.
He smiled faintly, then frowned. His gaze darted left, then right.
He narrowed his eyes.
In his memory, he saw it clearly. The girl, her umbrella open, trying to absorb the attack just before the fire swallowed her.
But now...
He didn’t see her or her body. There was no organism in this fire.
He activated his detection skill, and his doubts were confirmed. His eyes widened.
Behind.
He turned quickly.
Far off, on top of another icy rock, the girl stood, or rather, what was left of her.
Her upper body was completely exposed, skin blackened and raw, cracked with glowing purple light.
Blue flames still clung to her, dancing over her shoulders, eating away at her collarbone and left side.
Yet, she didn’t scream nor panic but smiled.
Breathing slowly, her voice was a soft murmur.
"Even my authority... can’t erase this fire..."
Her fingers twitched, blue fire slowly crawling along her hand.
She stared at it.
Then narrowed her eyes.
"You’re a real pest."
With a casual movement, she raised her own hand, then slashed it off with a clean, sharp cut.
The limb hit the ground, twitching, before being completely covered in blue flames.
Purple and black blood spilled out in thick streams.
She watched it for a moment.
Then her smile faded.
She groaned.
For the first time, she looked genuinely displeased.
[HP: 1,286 / 1,850]
[MP: 0/610 → 24 → 56 → 98/610]
Bel frowned. His magic reserves were crawling back up, but not nearly fast enough.
Should I wait? he wondered. Just a little bit to recover a bit more before pushing again?
The next instant, the girl appeared right in front of him.
Bel leaned back instinctively, her face was barely an inch from his, one finger pressed playfully to her cheek, lips curled into a crooked smile.
"Just how unkillable are you?" she whispered. "You resist my authority... and keep healing like hell. What kind of demon are you?"
Bel frowned, straightening slowly.
"I should ask you the same thing. What are you? And what are you even doing here?"
She pulled back lazily.
"Mmm... Alright. I don’t want to fight anymore. I forfeit."
Bel blinked.
"...What?"
"I said I forfeit," she repeated, spinning her finger in the air. "There’s no point. I can’t win easily. I feel it. You keep getting stronger and I didn’t come here for a death match."
Bel’s eyes narrowed.
"And you really think I’ll just let you go after admitting that?"
[MP: 121 / 610]
She giggled, waving a hand casually.
"Calm down, hothead. I’m not running. I’ll give you what you want: answers. I’m not heartless... But might be lifeless if we keep going. That said, since you’re just a newborn, I want to know something first. Who are you affiliated with?"
Bel groaned.
"Again with this? I told you already. No one. I don’t serve anyone. I’m my own lord."
The girl stared, genuinely stunned.
"No name? No house? You were summoned and just left like that?" she muttered. "Sounds like something the purple house would do... but even he wouldn’t create a general and abandon him without telling him who he serves..."
More fire spread across her skin. Her upper body was already burned raw, but she didn’t flinch. The blue flames licked across her shoulders and climbed her bare chest, slowly devouring her.
She didn’t seem to care.
Her eyes stayed locked on Bel.
"You’re weird," she said finally. "You have Mother’s scent in you... but your posture, it smells like the Diamond House. But that strength, that wildness... that’s Destruction’s style..."
Bel’s brow twitched. He didn’t answer. Just watched the fire eat her away.
Did she even realize she was still burning?
Her body began to fall apart, slowly crumbling into ash.
Then, just as the flames reached her face, her eyes opened wide.
Glowing.
She raised her gaze to meet his, her voice low, resonant.
"... Could it be..."