The Great Spirit of Fire.
The Spirit King of Fire.
Ifrit remembered the time when she had lived in the Spirit Realm—those glorious days when the world was divided into four elements, and she ruled over fire.
It was a time she had always dreamed of.
A time she thought would never return, especially after she had become bound to the system.
[I command you, flame.]
Upon regaining the power of that era, even if only temporarily, Ifrit was intoxicated by the long-lost sense of omnipotence. She began to wield her power recklessly.
Power that was near godlike.
Whoosh!
Flames surged forth—sacred flames, the most divine in the world. The primordial fire, capable of burning eternally, unfazed by vacuum or water.
That fire surged toward the army of the dead.
Death, the embodiment of cold, was powerless before the sun-like blaze of the primordial flame.
K-Keerrrr!!
The undead screamed—until their vocal cords melted in the heat. Their charred bodies collapsed, no longer able to even cry out.
[Kneel before God.]
Since ancient times, nature had been worshipped as divine.
Fire, in particular, had always been idolized.
Ifrit, the ruler of all flames and the King of Fire Spirits, had every right to call herself a goddess.
The army, engulfed in divine wrath, was reduced to ash by the sacred fire. Even in death, the charred corpses could not rise again.
“Hehehe… This… this feels so good…”
“Good work.”
“Yaaah, come on—can’t we go one more round?”
“That’s not really up to me, is it?”
After a while, Syrah’s buff ended, and Ifrit returned to her usual state, chirping at Ian and whining about wanting to evolve again.
But it wasn’t Ian’s decision to make. Ignoring her, he chased after Lasti, who had fled the battlefield.
“Oh, right.”
Before rallying the party to pursue Lasti, Ian turned to the stunned duke and asked:
“Well? Are you convinced now?”
“Huh? Uh… yeah…”
“Then let’s go.”
With the duke’s permission to take Stella, Ian gathered Stella, Syrah, and Noah and set off in pursuit of Lasti—
to confront the final boss of Chapter 2.
***
‘Crazy. Absolutely crazy—!’
Lasti, who had just engaged in a brutal battle against Artia, the yellow dragon and a 5-star summon, was retreating to tend to his injuries.
But the moment he saw Ifrit annihilate his army, he turned and fled.
For a moment, he forgot everything—the Death King, the Lord of Death—it all meant nothing now. Survival came first.
‘Who the hell has that kind of power!?’
It was power that rivaled the Demon King’s. Perhaps the Demon King still had the upper hand in a direct fight,
but there was something humans had that demons did not—overwhelming force born of desperation.
The evidence? Even when ordinary humans couldn’t so much as scratch his army, now they had torn through it and wounded him.
‘A Hero…’
Lasti realized it immediately—that power belonged to a hero.
A being like the First Emperor who had defeated the Demon King centuries ago.
‘Now I understand why the Demon King is so wary of the hero…!’
He had to return at once and report that the hero had awakened. The time had come to launch an all-out assault on humanity!
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Just as Lasti tried to flee, a witch in a wide-brimmed hat descended before him.
It was a familiar face, one as natural as breathing—a member of the hero’s party who had vanquished the Demon King all those years ago.
“The Great Witch…!”
“Oh please, I’m not a Great Witch yet—maybe a ‘Middle Witch’? Nah, that sounds weird. How about a ‘Cute Little Witch’?”
“You’re still alive? How is that possible for a human!?”
The witch—Empress—snorted.
There was no need to answer. Instead, she casually raised her wand.
It lacked gemstones, but even its half-completed was enough to block Lasti.
Boom!
With a simple word, she fired a magic cannon.
Lasti countered, raising a deathly aura to nullify the incoming spell.
The blast died midair and scattered like dust.
Empress laughed and raised her hands.
“Oh? Stronger than expected, huh?”
“Hahaha! You old witch—your power hasn’t changed in centuries! No—it’s gotten weaker!”
“Ugh… true. Maybe I’m getting old after all.”
Watching Empress rotate her shoulders like a tired elder, Lasti realized—she was just buying time.
It was natural. Chasing after a wounded beast was a hunting method unique to humans.
But—
“Do I look that stupid? Stupid enough to fall for a trap they’re obviously backing?”
As she spoke, Lasti approached, inflating her form to tear the Empress apart. The human-sized skull-gourd lich swelled to the size of a house.
The Empress stared in shock, her mouth agape.
“You… you’re that…!”
“Didn’t you know? High-ranking demons usually conceal their power!”
“No, I mean—why are you revealing it now?”
Yawning once with her mouth still open, the Empress pointed behind Lasti.
Lasti turned to look, following her gaze.
There was nothing.
“You really fell for it.”
“How stupid—”
Before she could finish, the Empress launched a special move at Lasti, striking him for the third time. She had already bested him twice in previous magic duels, and this final blow left her completely spent.
Panting and drained from expelling so much magic at once, the Empress slumped to the floor, leaning on her staff.
Lasti, who had risen again despite the impact, swung his hand down toward her.
There was no way to dodge.
Lasti was certain of it.
“God, protect me.”
Kah!
A massive shield materialized out of nowhere, blocking Lasti’s attack.
Looking back with genuine irritation, Lasti spotted an angel descending from the sky, her gaze cold and resolute.
“A… angel? Why are angels meddling in earthly affairs?!”
Anna hovered in the sky, wings flapping as she raised her divine shield in silence. Then, without a word, she plummeted.
She struck with the acceleration of gravity, the velocity of flight, and the full might of divine power—a lethal combination for the undead Lasti.
The blow hit instantly, devastating his already damaged body.
“Don’t come! Stay away!”
Spreading deathly aura in desperation, Lasti shrieked in terror as Anna spoke in a voice that echoed with divine authority.
“They call you the Death King, yet you fear death itself.”
“It is God’s will to grant life. To reject that will is treason against Him. You, who defied God, will pay with your life.”
“Holy Brilliance.”
With her shield radiating holy energy, Anna began hammering down on Lasti.
Kaang! Gang!
Each strike tore at the lich’s body.
Once. Ten times. A hundred times.
Within moments, Lasti had been reduced to powder, obliterated by the assault.
Whoo…
The radiant wings behind Anna slowly faded, leaving her with only the original pair.
After consecrating Lasti’s remains and extinguishing the last trace of unholy life, Anna extended a hand toward the collapsed Empress.
“Are you all right?”
“Of course not! You’re late! One more second and I would’ve been a flattened squid!”
“Humans aren’t squids, are they?”
“That’s not the point!”
In the midst of her bickering with Anna, the Empress let out a deep sigh. Talking to a straight-laced paladin who didn’t understand jokes was exhausting.
“So? What about the summoner?”
“If you mean the Master, he’s over there.”
Anna pointed toward Ian, who was rummaging through a pile of corpses in the distance. After extracting the summon essence from the ashes, Ian quickly moved on to the next beast to do the same.
“He could’ve done that with the others too.”
“It’s admirable how devoted the Master is.”
“Geez, really. Does Anna like summoners that much?”
“…He is just a good person.”
Realizing her slip of the tongue, Anna turned her head away, avoiding the Empress’s probing stare. But the witch, who had already caught on, wasn’t about to let the paladin off the hook.
“Oh, I see. So, you like him as a person?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Oh, really? So you don’t like him?”
“Ah… it sounds like the Master is calling. I need to go—”
In the end, Anna fled, and the Empress watched her retreating back with visible disappointment.
Now that she was nearly immobile from magical exhaustion, the Empress—being a mage—couldn’t keep up with someone physically capable like Anna.
“Tch. All this trouble because I ended up with the wrong summoner.”
Just as she was thinking that, she felt something roll beneath her foot. Looking down, she spotted a red gem.
She picked it up and examined it closely—it was Lasti’s essence.
A heart saturated with demonic magic.
‘This size…’
The Empress raised her staff and then carefully slotted the essence into it.
Click!
The two items fit together perfectly.