"Phew~ finally escaped smoothly."
Erica was overjoyed.
She knew that using normal means, it was absolutely impossible to shake off Gwen.
To avoid getting caught, she had deliberately started preparing the teleportation spell ahead of time, waiting for the moment when Gwen was distracted, and then, activate it in an instant.
Fortunately, when Professor Viktor first came to the academy, he had already taught her how to properly use teleportation magic.
Although she couldn't teleport dozens of miles away like a Tier 3 mage, a few miles was still doable.
"Gwen probably thinks I teleported somewhere much farther."
Erica hadn't teleported all the way to the mountaintop, but only crossed several miles to the other side of the mountain at mid-slope.
The scenery around her was still barren and desolate, not much different from before.
She began heading toward the volcano's peak, and the higher she climbed, the more she could feel the temperature rising sharply.
Before long, the heat became unbearable.
The surrounding rocks were steaming, as the moisture in the air was being evaporated by the intense heat.
Further up, she could even see all kinds of rocks cracking apart from the temperature.
Looking around at the scene, Erica felt uneasy, but she still gritted her teeth and pressed on.
At the same time, she cast a few heat-resistance buffs on herself.
Being a mage, she knew well that this phenomenon was caused by the concentration of fire elements in the volcano.
"I knew it, this isn't just an ordinary volcanic eruption."
"A normal volcano couldn't possibly draw out this much magical energy."
Her guess was confirmed, to understand what was happening, she had to go up the mountain.
Meanwhile, her father and the others only knew how to use magic to block the effects temporarily, never thinking about solving the problem from the source.
"Stubborn old mages."
She muttered to herself, then suddenly thought of Viktor, another Tier 3 mage.
The youngest Tier 3 mage in history, to this day, no one had broken his record.
'This volcanic disturbance… was it really caused by Viktor?'
Crack!
While she was thinking, a stone broke behind her.
"What's that!?"
She spun around sharply, a red hedgehog-like creature crawled out of the ground, flames flickering across its spiky back, charging straight toward her.
"A level-two monster! A Flame Hedgehog!"
Erica quickly formed a magic array and aimed at the creature.
[Tier 2 Magic: Water Cannon]
With that, a giant water orb spun rapidly in her palm before bursting forth.
The flaming hedgehog was blasted dozens of meters away, landing on its back with its legs in the air.
Its flames went out completely, leaving its body charred black like coal.
Clearly, it was dead.
A level-two monster's strength couldn't compare to that of an elite, well-trained mage.
Instant kill, as expected.
"That was easy."
Erica could hardly believe it. It was her first time defeating a monster out in the wild.
Turns out she wasn't weak at all.
She felt proud of her own bravery.
The Vesuvius Volcano had always been a dangerous place.
Fire-type monsters roamed here widely.
The further one went up, the more monsters there were.
And naturally, the stronger they became.
At first, Erica could handle them easily, but later, things got harder.
The closer she got to the peak, the stronger the monsters became.
She could barely deal with them, but something felt wrong.
"These monsters… I've studied them at the academy. So why is their strength so much higher than what was described in class?"
Another Flame Hedgehog jumped out from the ground. This time, it took several spells before she could finish it off.
Compared to the previous ones, its claws were sharper, and its back burned hotter.
Naturally, its attacks were also fiercer.
'These monsters have been strengthened?'
The thought flashed in Erica's mind.
'The fire elements in the area… they've made them stronger.'
Such a thick concentration of fire energy wasn't normal.
She wanted to climb higher, she felt that whatever was happening at the summit held the answer.
But the terrifying temperature was already making her dizzy, and the increasingly powerful monsters were stopping her in her tracks.
Even her magic was starting to lose its effect against the searing heat.
Erica stood there, breathing heavily, deciding to rest and think of a way to reach the top.
Suddenly, she remembered the one remaining bottle of magic potion in her bag.
She looked at the potion, then up toward the peak.
A spark of inspiration lit up in her eyes.
"I've got it!"
———
[On the Other Side of the Mountain]
Gwen was sprinting toward the top, sweat pouring down her face despite the heat.
Her silver sword gleamed with frost, slicing through one monster after another in her path.
'First Viktor, now the duke's daughter.'
'Why do they all love running into trouble?'
Did she not want to find Viktor herself?
No, she did. In fact, she wanted it desperately, almost to the point of madness.
She wanted to find him and ask face-to-face if the volcanic disturbance was really his doing.
If he said yes, her fist would be in his face the next second.
But Gwen had to follow orders. She was tasked with protecting all the mages, and the townspeople.
"Viktor… just you wait."
She slashed through another monster blocking her way and charged forward like a storm, unstoppable.
Before long, she too ran into trouble.
In front of her, magma was gushing out of cracks in the ground, like the volcano itself was bleeding.
There was no way forward.
The burning heat of her armor was unbearable. She had to retreat a few steps, staring up toward the peak, thinking of a solution.
———
"Gravely injured… It's definitely gravely injured."
Vega's voice trembled.
Before it, the body of the Fire Calamity was falling apart, molten lava spilling from its massive wounds.
That lava, was its blood.
"What a terrifying creature."
Vega couldn't stop murmuring in awe.
And "it" referred to Viktor.
[Tier 3 Magic: Raging Storm Rupture]
[Tier 3 Magic: Sandstorm Landslide]
Colorful magic arrays swirled above the sky, five of them casting spells continuously.
Below, the volcano was roaring with magma, the rock walls cracking and oozing with glowing lava.
Viktor was still casting spells, bombarding Guldon with layers of weakening effects.
After suffering a series of heavy injuries, Guldon's movements became sluggish, he couldn't even scratch Viktor anymore.
This battle had completely changed Vega's perception of the world.
It didn't care that its own feathers were on fire; it couldn't even blink.
'No way… is he really about to win?'
If Viktor won, Vega swore it would call him the strongest human it had ever seen.
No, even if he didn't win, Viktor's power was already beyond comprehension.
Strictly speaking, what he had wasn't overwhelming strength, the difference between him and Guldon was vast, like heaven and earth.
That thing was huge, strong enough that a single blow could have killed Viktor.
And yet…
It couldn't land one.
Even though Viktor needed to hit it countless times to win, and it only needed one, he somehow made the impossible possible.
After nearly three days and two nights of intense battle, Guldon had only grazed Viktor once.
As for Viktor?
He fought as if strolling through a garden, calm and composed.
To him, Guldon's attacks looked like they were moving in slow motion, sometimes he didn't even bother to teleport, just stepped aside to dodge.
His earlier injuries didn't weaken him; if anything, they fired up his spirit.
Since being wounded, his spellcasting had become even smoother.
Finally, one of them weakened.
It wasn't Viktor.
It was Guldon.
A being no human could ever defeat, now forced into a corner by one.
Its health had dropped to thirty percent, a critical state.
Its outer shell had lost its glow, its power and speed greatly reduced.
Vega was dumbstruck.
A moment ago, in that terrifying form, it couldn't even graze Viktor.
And now that it was weakened…
Didn't that mean Viktor had already won?
Vega looked at Viktor, but he didn't relax.
On the contrary, his face was tense and cautious.
He muttered under his breath, "That attack… it's coming."
'That attack? What attack!?'
Before Vega could react, an earth-shattering tremor erupted, so strong that it nearly lost its balance midair.
The volcano was shaking wildly, the ground splitting apart.
The magma began to still, and then, from beneath the layers of molten rock, a colossal form surged upward.
The entire volcano seemed ready to collapse. Guldon's eyes blazed like twin suns.
A pillar of flame shot skyward, bursting through layers of magma and rock, engulfing the heavens.
Fiery boulders wrapped in lava rained down everywhere like meteors.
"Flame Severing Wrath."
Viktor knew exactly what it was, calmly saying the name of Guldon's ultimate move.
Vega dodged the falling fireballs while shouting, "Fire Calamity! You damned coward! Can't you fight fair!?"
'How was anyone supposed to dodge that!?'
"Dodge?"
Viktor gave a cold smile.
He had never planned to.
At that critical moment, Viktor's eyes blazed with a stunning azure light.
A terrifying surge of magical energy enveloped the entire base of the volcano.
Instantly, a colossal phantom castle appeared in the sky, as if to crush the entire mountain beneath it.
The castle shone with countless massive magic circles.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
One… two… three...
Three layers of barrier arrays rapidly formed, their lines intertwining, linking into one massive formation.
At its core, a radiant ark rose like a divine tree blooming into the heavens.
The immense power radiating from it made even Vega feel danger from midair.
The blinding array descended slowly, breaking through the dark clouds, and for a fleeting moment, the sky turned bright blue.
The overwhelming pressure weighed down on every living creature, except Viktor.
The mighty Guldon sank a foot into the ground, unable even to lift its head.
Vega was forced out of the air, tumbling helplessly onto Viktor's shoulder.
"War magic!? When the hell did he cast that!?"
It stared at the enormous magic array descending from the heavens.
The fiery meteors fell into the war magic's light, and vanished instantly.
Still perched on his shoulder, Vega couldn't utter a word, just cursed internally, 'Isn't war magic supposed to require a whole team of mages to cast?!'
'This lunatic can cast it alone!? Isn't that way too much!?'
The next second, the flaming pillar from the ground collided with the heavenly ark above.
The two world-ending attacks met head-on.
Vega couldn't even hear the explosion, only blinding light and an earth-shattering force.
The violent clash ripped sound itself apart, the shockwaves tearing down the mountain.
In a daze, it thought it heard Viktor's chanting voice beside its ear, "Arcane Imperial Capital, Fall of the Heavenly Ark"
Whoosh!!!
A blinding white light shot skyward, swallowing everything.
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