Magnium's attack pattern was extremely simple. It would either swing its fist or summon a lava wave.

The expedition force dealt with the Lava Spirits, and gradually dealt damage to Magnium too. Though the Dwarven Warriors looked more relaxed than before, Kang Oh was the exact opposite; his gaze remained fixed on Magnium.

'This is still just the 1st phase.'

* * *

Bam!

Eder shot a bone spear, which pierced Magnium's body.

Bone Bomb!

Boom!

"Kuaaah, you annoying worms!" Magnium opened its arms.

Kang Oh's eyes gleamed. Magnum was transforming.

'The 2nd phase!'

Roar.

Magnium's entire body was engulfed in flames.

"Magnium's attack pattern is going to change. Everyone, be on guard," Kang Oh yelled.

"Die!"

Magnium's body was cracked all over like barren land. Countless scarlet fireballs shot out of those cracks, spreading outwards.

Lava Bombardment!

"Gather in the middle!" Kang Oh yelled, and the dwarves quickly followed his orders. "Eder!" Kang Oh called.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what he wanted.

"Understood." Eder raised his arm into the air.

Bone Prison!

The dwarves, which had gathered in the middle of the floor, were surrounded by layer upon layer of white bone.

Bunker, complete!

Then, countless fireballs rained down upon them.

Bam, bam, bam!

The bones were ripped to pieces, causing bone fragments and powder to fly into the air. The once white bones were also scorched and burnt black. However, the barrage wasn't powerful enough to break all the way through.

Once the Lava Bombardment was over, Eder immediately released the bone prison.

The Dwarven Warriors, who were completely untouched by the barrage, immediately charged at Magnium and the Lava Spirits once more.

"You bastards!" Mangium swung its palm once more.

Boom.

Striking the floor with its palm, not its fist, caused the ground to shake less. However, a scarlet flame spread from its palm.

"Leave this to me." Randelhoff stepped forward. He pushed his shield forward, which was engraved with a hammer, and it glowed with brown light.

Earth Shield!

The spreading flames were sucked into his shield. Once the flames died down, Igriham swung his hammer. Both of his arms bulged; so much so that it looked like they'd burst.

He attacked with the might of an ogre!

Whack!

Which resulted in a refreshing, weighty 'whack'!

"Burn to cinders!"

Great Spirit's Fury!

Magnum spat a giant flame sphere from its mouth. It was like a miniature sun.

'This is dangerous.'

There was something unusual about Magnium's new skill. Thus, Kang Oh intervened, pointing Demon Sword Ubist at the flame sphere.

Lightning Breath!

The lightning blast rammed into the sphere of flame.

Boom!

Which resulted in a huge explosion. The orb of fire was nowhere to be seen.

"Kuaaahk!" Magnium angrily wailed. Things weren't going as it'd planned.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Then, it alternately swung its fists.

"Dodge!" Kang Oh yelled.

Boom! Boom!

Magnium hit the floor twice, causing the ground to shake violently. Even Kang Oh couldn't help but fall down.

"A lava wave is coming! It's coming from both sides!" Book, who'd also fallen down, yelled.

"When the floor stops shaking, lead the troops to a safe location. Everyone, follow Mr. Book!" Kang Oh raised his voice.

"Yes."

Once it stopped shaking as much, the dwarves stood up and began running to safety.

"Over here."

Everyone flocked around Book.

Spurt!

Gush!

The lava wave swept through where they'd once been from both sides. Several lava crystals were left behind on the snow-white floor. At the same time, lava surged, signaling the arrival of many more Lava Spirits.

"Uwooooh!"

"Die!"

The Dwarven Warriors let out a battle cry and bravely battled the Lava Spirits.

Kang Oh furrowed his brow. 'There are too many of them.'

There were too many Lava Spirits and lava crystals, so they wouldn't be able to stop them all from becoming named monsters.

'If we cut down the number of lava crystals, then it'd be doable, but... Wait, what?' Kang Oh suddenly had an idea.

"Mr. Book."

"Yes?"

"Are lava crystals breakable?"

"Lava crystals?"

"Yes. I think our best course of action is destroying the lava crystals before the Lava Spirits can absorb them."

"Mm, we can break them. However, it'll take a lot of effort."

'Effort, huh...'

"Mr. Igriham."

"What is it?"

"Please take some warriors and destroy the lava crystals."

"Understood." Igriham dashed away, hammer leaning on his shoulder. "Redrock, Tartan, Basgul, follow me. We're going to break the lava crystals."

These dwarves' enhancements imbued them with much greater physical strength than the rest of their brothers.

"Understood."

The four of them roamed the battlefield, breaking any lava crystal they could find. Even so, they couldn't stop all of the Lava Spirits from becoming named monsters.

Two Lava Spirits had evolved into named monsters!

'I'll deal with one of them, and the other...' Kang Oh stared at Eder.

Eder was keeping Magnium busy with his powerful bone magic. For the time being, he was their main damage dealer.

'We should keep Eder as is...' Kang Oh took a look around. His eyes eventually came to the right person for the job.

"Group of four. Take care of that named Lava Spirit."

This 'group of four' referred to Igriham's party. They should be powerful enough to deal with a named Lava Spirit.

"Haahp." Kang Oh barraged the named Lava Spirit, Silicin, with attacks.

"I'm your opponent, you monster!" Randelhoff tapped his shield with his hammer, drawing Magnium's attention.

"You worm!" Magnium said furiously. It was completely focused on Chieftain Randelhoff.

Rocking Fist!

Flaming Palm!

Randelhoff gritted his teeth and tightly held onto his shield. He withstood its attacks again and again.

* * *

Tempest Tiger!

A roaring golden tiger struck Magnium's face. Shards of light burst from Magnium's face like firecrackers.

"No more mercy!" Magnium yelled.

'Is this the 3rd phase?' Kang Oh anxiously assessed the situation.

However...

Magnium suddenly hid itself in the lava.

"Huh?"

"W-What happened?"

The Dwarven Warriors were taken aback by Magnium's sudden disappearance.

"Did we do it?" Randelhoff said.

"No! It's not over yet. Keep your guard up," Kang Oh said firmly.

Magnium had definitely said, 'No more mercy!' before entering the lava. Which meant that this wasn't the end; it was a clear indication that Magnium would attack differently from now on.

"O-Over there!" One of the dwarves pointed at a section of the lava. Something was rising from the lava.

"Here too!"

"Over here too!"

Magnium had created miniature versions of itself. They all differed in size. Some of them weren't even 1 meter in size, while others were more than 3 meters. There were too many of them to count.

'So this is the 3rd phase.'

The miniature Magniums came at them from every direction.

"Form a circle! Hurry!" Kang Oh yelled.

"Form a circle!"

"Hurry up, move!"

The Dwarven Warriors stood side-by-side and formed a circle.

Kuowaaaah!

Kuowah!

Then, the expedition force fought against the miniature Magniums.

"Die!"

"Don't let them break through no matter what! That'll put our brothers at risk!"

The Dwarven Warriors positioned their shields and swung their hammers. Meanwhile, the miniature Magniums attacked with their tough fists and their wild flames. The intense melee combat lasted for quite some time.

But no matter how well they fought, they couldn't win. There were just too many of them.

"Ugh."

"Haa, haa."

"You annoying pests!"

"Help!"

As time went on, the Dwarven Warriors found themselves increasingly exhausted and they began sustaining casualties.

'We can't go on like this.'

He needed to do something big to turn things around. Kang Oh pulled out the AA-rank Lava Spirit's Gloves from his inventory.

"Eat it!" Ubist's darkness devoured the flame pattern gloves. Then, Kang Oh's body emanated jet-black darkness.

[Demon Sword Ubist has consumed the Lava Spirit's Gloves.]

[It is an AA-rank item.]

[Entering Gluttony mode.]

[For 30 minutes, the demon sword and your character's abilities are tripled.]

[You may use one of the consumed item's abilities.]

[Metal Coat has been selected.]

The more stringent the equip requirements, the longer Gluttony lasts. Because the Lava Spirit's Gloves had a minimum level requirement of 350, Gluttony lasted for as long as 30 minutes.

Plus, he could use its ability, Metal Coat, too! Using Metal Coat would double his defense at the cost of his speed.

'Let's not skimp out on this.' Kang Oh used Devil Trigger too.

Because he'd continuously been using Devil Trigger, his assimilation rate was currently at 160%. It wouldn't be long before he hit his max, 200%.

Anyhow…!

His face was shrouded by a beast mask, his eyes glowed red, a tail as black as night, yet as radiant as the stars above, protruded from behind, and sharp pauldrons covered his shoulders. Jet-black darkness rose from his body like a haze. He had become the Jet-Black Demon!

Kang Oh leapt up, leaving the circle, and landed right in the middle of the miniature Magniums.

"C'mon!" Kang Oh roared, ferociously swinging Demon Sword Ubist like a rabid beast.

Swish, slash, swish!

In an instant, he ripped apart the nearby miniature Magniums.

"Huaahp!" Kang Oh didn't stop. He relentlessly sliced them again and again.

Kuwaah!

Kuooh!

Miniature Magniums of all sizes, both large and small, swarmed him. This eased the pressure on the Dwarven Warriors, allowing them to endure the miniature Magniums' assault.

"Hold out for just a little longer!" Randelhoff yelled, encouraging them. His encouraging words had a huge effect on the troops.

How much time had passed?

Swish.

Kang Oh swung Ubist, cutting another one of the miniature Magniums in two.

"Hoo." Kang Oh breathed deeply.

The one he'd killed had been the last of them. The unending stream of miniature Magniums had finally ended! Kang Oh and the expedition force had survived.

"We did it!"

"We survived!"

The Dwarven Warriors cheered. Unfortunately, Kang Oh had to be the bearer of bad news.

"It's too early to be celebrating. Magnium is still alive." He was basically telling them, 'Keep your guard up. It's not over yet.'.

'Now then, what else do you have up your sleeve?' Kang Oh stared at the lava.

Then...

"Kuaaaahk!" Magnium wailed, and a huge stream of lava surged.

Spurt.

The Great Lava Spirit, Magnium, had reappeared! However, it looked different than before. It was less than half its normal size, and the multi-colored gems that'd covered its arms were now gone.

Its course, cracked skin, which looked like a rice field that had experienced a long drought, had disappeared, replaced with smooth, orange skin. It reminded him of those inflatable orange dolls that they used for promotional events.

"I'll kill every last one of you!" Magnium said murderously. Then, its body began to swell.

"Damn it." Kang Oh couldn't help but curse. He knew what it was trying to do. "Everyone, gather up! Use every survival/defensive skill you have!"

Most of the expedition force knew what was happening. They knew what Magnium was trying to do.

"Power of the earth!" Randelhoff lifted his shield.

Earth Shield!

The Dwarven Warriors stood side-by-side and layered their shields together.

"Rise, rise, rise I say!" Eder quickly yelled.

Bone Wall! Bone Wall! Bone Wall!

Kang Oh used Metal Coat. Once his body was coated in shining metal...

Boom!

It was as if a volcano had just erupted. Magnium self-destructed, creating a huge explosion that swept through all of them.