One of the Adventurers threw a spear using a Unique Skill. The spear penetrated the Giant's rocky skin and shattered it.

The giant fell to its knees and the adventurer's cheered at their apparent success. But The Giant slowly raised its head and opened its mouth. "Now!" Theo shouted.

A gale threw the cheering Adventurers off their feet away from the giant. A thick wall of ice erupted from the ground, separating them from it.

The Giant exploded and the whole cave trembled

Shrapnel of rock flew to every direction, the lava pool underneath flooded out, and the stalactites fell down from the ceiling like a rain of spears.

The ice wall shattered before the explosion was over, but it gave the Adventurers just enough time to set their own defensive skill.

The husk of the Lava giant fell. Its fire of life extinguished.

After they saved the groups of adventurers, they talked with them a little bit. The leader thanked Theo's party intervention and shared the some of the loot from the Giant. Some people of their group seemed to hate Theo for taking all the spotlight and taking some of their treasure without doing anything. That was understandable, but Theo couldn't care less. After that, the adventurers left to a different cave system.

After they left, Lyana inspected the corpse of the giant, or what was left of it after the explosion. "Is ... Every Fire Elemental this devoted to their cause?"

"What do you mean?" Theo asked back.

"This Giant, the Gargoyle, and every Fire Elemental that we fought are fighting to their death with abandon. They are too eager to die. As if they fight with the intention to die from the start. And do you know who fights with the intention to die? Religious fanatics."

Theo raised his brows. "Does your kind never write anything about Elemental?"

"Rarely. Books that mention Elemental are rare enough. The one that explains them is almost non-existent. We de- ... Most of us only interested in ourselves and the Human race." She has to be careful when speaking about her true identity. Who knew who would eavesdrop on their conversation.

Theo crossed his arms and looked upward. "Hmm. The real process is actually very complicated but ... let's just say that Fire Elemental can't really die in this world."

"What do you mean?" Lyana asked along with Ed who asked out of nowhere.

"It's the racial skill of Elemental. When they are killed, their soul doesn't go to the afterlife or wherever soul goes after they die. For Fire Elemental, they return to Fire Realm into a place called The Great Forge where they will slowly reform their body. But the process is slow and could take from hours to decades. Unless they are killed in the Fire Realm, then they will permanently die."

"So ... The force we're facing right now ... they will never run out?"

"If the war raged for decades? Yes. Otherwise, no."

"Änd how do you know all of this? No one other than you seems to know this."

"I have a ... friend. A Fire Elemental friend, a powerful one. Though he's more a friend of my father that know me."

"I don't like the sound of that." Ed said. "That's exactly how you described Sara before we met her."

'Theo smiled. "Don't worry, he's not as bad as Sara though he's more sporadic. And the chance of you meeting him is extremely low."

Theo examined the Giant's corpse. The Lava Giant seemed to be a sentry without any way to communicate with their leader as there was no reinforcement from the Fire Realm.

"If there's nothing else, let's move."

Theo and the rest walked to one of the caves. Soon, the ground became so steep it was impossible to walk without an adhesive magic on their feet. One slip and they would slide all the way down to the previous cave. To prevent this from happening, Theo had all of them tied a rope around their waist and connected them.

After around an hour of more walking-cum-climbing, the end of the cavern was visible. A bright light flooded the cave as they got near the opening, the sun had risen in the distance.

As soon as they came out of the cave, it was clear what they had missed during their two hour time inside the cave. The Army had begun their march towards the top, though their movement was slow. Strangely, there was almost no opposition from the Elemental side. The wave of attack that usually came an hour after the break of dawn couldn't be seen. Was this a trap.

Theo looked all around him, trying to find Vex and her team. They should be around there if everything went well.

A loud explosion came from behind a rock near them. A giant fireball rose to the sky, a Fire Lizard. "There!" Theo shouted.

It appeared that they learned their lesson after Tomoe's show of archery prowess, and chose to hide the lizard behind a rock with almost no clear line of sight.

There was a look of shock on the Fire Lizard's and the five higher Fire Elemental's faces when Theo showed up out of nowhere. They were confident that no one would be able to find them, not without them noticing it at least.

They were unable to react in time.

Two higher Fire Elemental were beheaded and one more was struck by a bolt of lighting before the rest could even put up a defense.

The fire lizard tried to run away. It knew that it was useless in close battle and would only hinder if it stayed there. Of course, Theo won't let it.

"Ed!"

Ed knew what had to be done. An ice lance, three ice lances, shot out from Ed's hand into the fire lizard's rocky body. The ice was strong enough to penetrate its exoskeleton, but not enough to finish it off.

Theo killed another higher Fire Elemental by running his sword through its fiery heart. Another one was finished by Vivi. She made it confused and led it to fall off a cliff.

Ed shot a ball of water and Lyana a bolt of lightning. The wounded fire lizard nimbly evaded both, which was surprising considering its huge and heavy body. It curved its body into a ball and rolled down the side of the mountain.

"Don't let it get away."

Everyone knew that, but that side of the mountain was steep, too steep for them to follow. Just one second after it rolled down and it already outside the range of most spells.

A loud thumping erupted from where the fire lizard was.

A huge, no, massive sword of ice fell down from the sky and impaled the fire lizard. The lizard was big, bigger than most human, but it was dwarfed by the sword by a huge margin. Even the tip was enough to split the lizard open. Saying that it was an overkill would be an understatement. The sword would be enough to kill the Lava giant from before, in one hit, without letting it explode.

Who could use such a powerful spell? The person was flying above the sword, with her signature red hood over her head.

At the same as times as she landed, the sword of ice shattered before the pieces vaporized into thin air. It was a magnificent view, but the creator herself wasn't impressed because she had seen it countless times before.

She landed and observed the area around her. She didn't notice Theo and his group yet as she didn't react. Theo was about to surprise her when he remembered that she was a monster. Period.

Like most Elven kind, her appearance can be deceiving. She might look like she was still a young woman, but she might be the oldest person in Amaryn. She had vast experience with life and was extremely knowledgeable. That was also the reason why she didn't believe Theo when he explained things to her. Unknown was a word that had been erased from her dictionary a long time ago. Among the member of the miracle, she was also the strongest and most flexible. Possessing both Class 4 Magic and Class 4 Spy talent. She boasted an unprecedented high level of level 62, second only to Sir Arslan in the Kingdom. The only reason she hadn't leveled up any further was that she had hit her level cap more than a hundred years prior.

If Theo tried to surprise her and she reacted violently, it would be the end of him. Theo chuckled. He decided to call her normally and hope that she wouldn't overreact.