Chapter 75 : False Goddess (6)

To be honest, there was definitely a purpose behind Wolfgang persistently probing Monica’s story—to buy herself some time to think. 

However, that wasn’t the only reason she asked.  

It was pure curiosity, or perhaps she sensed an undeniable, peculiar tension. 

In any case, having satisfied her curiosity, Wolfgang could now focus entirely on the battle at hand.  

The only way to resolve this situation was to cut off the arm bound by the whip. 

But that was a last resort. If all other methods failed,  

Then and only then would she attempt it. Cutting off her arm would cause unimaginable damage. 

Excessive bleeding aside, it would put her at a severe disadvantage in the battles to come.  

From their earlier conversation, Wolfgang realized that even after defeating Monica, she would still have to face two more heroes. 

That’s why she wanted to defeat her opponent without losing any limbs.  

‘It’s not like there’s no other way!’  

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you should just give up.”  

“Hey, you. Have you ever flown in the sky before?”  

“What kind of nonsense are you—?!”  

At that moment, Wolfgang’s legs began to emit powerful flames. 

Monica, realizing her intent, pulled the whip with all her might. But the flames didn’t die down.  

Instead, they burned even hotter. 

Thanks to the incredible force of the flames, like an engine, Wolfgang’s body—and even Monica, who was gripping the whip tightly—began to be dragged along.  

Fortunately, the ceiling of this nameless temple was high enough. If it had been lower, this counterattack wouldn’t have been so easy. 

Wolfgang shouted with a grin:  

“You’d better hold on tight!! Unless you want to fall to your death!”  

But no matter how hard Monica tried to resist, she couldn’t do anything about Wolfgang’s sheer firepower. 

The only reason she could hold on at all was due to the protective magic.  

She couldn’t suppress the flames with raw strength. 

Still, Monica couldn’t help but be shocked. 

After all, she had been enhanced with multiple spells by the Grimoire.  

Even with her already formidable strength bolstered by the Grimoire’s magic, she was being overpowered in a contest of strength. 

Naturally, she was stunned.  

‘Tch!!!’

Feeling like she might lose her grip on the whip at any moment, Monica clenched the handle tightly and even tied the mithril whip around her arm to keep it from slipping away.  

But seeing this, Wolfgang intensified the flames, finally lifting off into the air. 

Monica tried to interfere by throwing a spear, but  

Wolfgang, having already analyzed her movements during their earlier fight, dodged every strike. 

Soaring into the sky, Wolfgang grabbed the mithril whip tightly and said:  

“You were swinging me around earlier.”  

“……What are you trying to do?”  

“Nothing much. But I hope you can hold on for a while.”  

Whoosh! BOOM!!  

“Gah!”  

Wolfgang gripped the mithril whip tightly and swung it like a hammer. 

Unable to withstand the force, the whip, along with its owner, tore through the air and slammed into the ground.  

Monica, suddenly hammered into the floor, saw her vision go white from the overwhelming impact. But even in that state, she desperately tried to hold onto consciousness.  

If she lost consciousness here, it was over.  

She had to hold on, no matter what!  

What did she think she came here for?!  

But when she finally regained her senses, she wasn’t greeted by the floor that had so kindly caught her earlier. 

Instead, another deafening crash echoed through the temple.  

If she kept holding onto the whip, she could at least prevent her opponent from releasing the seal. 

But if she kept taking hits like this, her body wouldn’t last.  

Even if she tried to restrain Wolfgang’s movements with the whip, she was at a disadvantage in terms of raw strength. 

Quickly running through the calculations in her head, Monica finally let go of the whip.  

“Finally, you let go of that damn whip.”  

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wolfgang released the seal. 

As the eyepatch came off, a brilliant golden flame erupted. Monica, bleeding, muttered:  

“How dazzling.”  

Like that damn sun in the sky.  

Wolfgang wasn’t the type to hold back her trump card. 

This was due to past experiences where holding back had led to disaster. 

Just moments ago, she had almost lost because she hadn’t released the seal.  

And so, the golden flames began to spread, consuming the eerie atmosphere of the nameless temple. 

A new world was being created, one where the golden flames devoured everything.  

What emerged was a paradise of fire, a hell for living beings, or perhaps the manifestation of an impending apocalypse. 

She called this world:  

Muspelheim.  

Left alone in this hellish manifestation, Monica clicked her tongue and slowly looked around. 

This place was exactly as Hyde, that bastard, had described.  

The most terrifying aspect of Muspelheim was the flames themselves. 

The heat alone was enough to melt most living beings, but the real problem was that these flames had a will of their own.  

Moreover, they obeyed Wolfgang’s commands unconditionally. 

And Wolfgang could wield these terrifying flames like extensions of her own body. 

Truly, it was a checkmate.  

[Remember this well. The heat-resistant magic was created by interpreting Muspelheim, but even so, you won’t last an hour inside Muspelheim. And if you come into contact with its flames, your time will be even shorter.]  

“The odds are definitely lower now…… but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost yet.”  

She had never given up a fight just because the odds were against her. 

Despair that gnawed at her heart, hopelessness that offered no light—she had overcome it all and fought to the end. 

That’s why she was a hero.  

Slowly, she began to think things through again. 

While the activation of Muspelheim had lowered her chances, it wasn’t as if there was no way out. 

First, she could endure the heat for about an hour.  

What did that mean? 

At the very least, she wouldn’t be defeated like the Shadow Hero Hyde, who had melted away without being able to do anything. 

Besides, she still had her divine sword.  

‘The opponent doesn’t know that. I’ll wait for the moment when she’s overconfident, relying on the Grimoire’s defensive magic, and then strike with my ultimate move…’  

“Sword of Superheat.”  

“……?!”  

But what unfolded next was completely different from what had happened with the Shadow Hero. 

Hyde had been completely overwhelmed by the flames of Muspelheim and melted away.  

But this time, Wolfgang didn’t overwhelm Monica with flames. 

Instead, with a wave of her hand, a sword of fire emerged from the flames and lava.  

“As you said, I defeated the Winter King. That’s why I can’t help but scoff.”  

“Don’t tell me……………..”  

“Did you think I only had one trump card?”  

Even if she had trapped the Winter King in Muspelheim and eliminated any chance of defeat, that alone wasn’t enough to win. She couldn’t lose, but she also couldn’t win.  

No, in fact, time wasn’t on her side. 

No matter how powerful she was, she couldn’t maintain Muspelheim forever. 

To achieve victory, she had to pierce the Winter King’s skin somehow.  

The problem was that no matter how powerful her flames were, they couldn’t penetrate the skin of the Winter King, who was winter itself. Its skin was the hunger of those who had died in the cold,  

And the despair they had felt in their final moments. 

To cut through something so solid and horrifying, she had forged a sword of fire within Muspelheim herself.  

Lævateinn.  

Facing the sword of fire that emerged from the lava, Monica felt an unimaginable threat. 

That’s why she drew the most powerful and durable weapon she knew.  

What she drew was a crude, massive greatsword. 

At first, it was little more than a lump of iron roughly shaped into something resembling a sword. 

But over time,  

As she traveled with it, defeating countless monsters and even the Demon King, it had become a symbol of the Hero of Might, blessed and reborn as a divine sword.  

The Sword of Glory.  

As the divine sword was unleashed, Monica felt a surge of confidence that she could overcome anything. 

Soon after, the Sword of Glory clashed with one of Wolfgang’s swords of fire.  

Clang!!  

But in the next moment, Monica couldn’t believe her eyes. 

The greatsword that had been with her for a lifetime, even piercing the Demon King’s barrier,  

Was cleanly cut in half with a single strike.  

Of course, the Lævateinn that had clashed with the Sword of Glory also disintegrated.  

But the biggest problem was that Lævateinn wasn’t just one sword.  

Monica, with a hollow expression, watched as dozens of Lævateinn swords flew toward her.