"T-this is crazy!"
Tarka supported the injured Dagran and moved away from the scene as quickly as possible.
When Eldin warned them in a low voice, they didn't understand why. But Tarka felt his fur standing on end more than anyone else.
This was thanks to his beast instinct that had dramatically increased after using beast transformation.
While he couldn't rationally understand Eldin's words, his survival instinct as a beast felt her warning more deeply than anyone.
That's why Tarka carried Dagran on his back and ran like mad even before Eldin took action.
It was an action they didn't understand why they were doing, but it ultimately proved to be the right decision.
Feeling the hot heat from behind, Tarka's head turned unconsciously.
Even knowing he shouldn't stop running, he couldn't suppress his curiosity.
Flames caught on Tarka's retina.It was literally pure flame itself.
The heat was so intense that it seemed like what you'd get if you compressed and reduced a massive steel mill's furnace to its limit.
Even Tarka, who possessed leopard genes and was unmatched in running speed, was still not free from the heat of those flames.
Having barely created a safe distance, Tarka wiped away cold sweat from tension while staring at the corridor where flames blazed.
"This is, just what..."
"Good heavens. This is a sight even I've never seen before."
Even Dagran momentarily forgot the pain of his injury, lost in amazement at the sight Eldin had created.
Those flames looked powerful enough to melt all the metals in the world.
If the legendary Primordial Furnace passed down among dwarves actually existed, would it look just like this?
The blacksmith instinct deeply engraved in the dwarf race's genes revealed a desire to get closer to that fire.
"What's happening in there?"
Through countless flying sparks, the acrid smell of burning plants spread, Tarka couldn't believe this was a sight created by Eldin.
For an individual to use this much power?
'This is almost power at the level that only Executioners should be capable of.'
Even for a long-lived elf, showing this level of power was outside the norm.
Tarka could understand why Representative Coruntio had been so nervous in front of Eldin.
Considering how other colleagues recognized her too, she must have been quite famous, and he was the only one who didn't know.
"Sigh, I didn't want to use this here."
Eldin muttered quietly in the flames.
Her body was now entirely wrapped in flames, covering her like armor.
It was a beautiful dress-like armor mixing red, orange, and white colors.
Spirit Garment (精靈衣).
It was a technique of manifesting spirit power to its limit and wrapping it around the user's body.
"This kind of fluttery design isn't my style."
Eldin deeply frowned, seemingly quite displeased about having to wear this outfit.
When using this power, you have to wear this outfit whether you want to or not.
She didn't know exactly why. She'd only heard it was an ancient form passed down from long ago.
Even when she tried to change it, the fire spirit she commanded didn't seem to understand and always dressed her in this style.
"Damn. The fashion sense of the predecessors was the worst."
Eldin complained like that, but her appearance wrapped in the Spirit Garment burning like flames suited her better than anyone else in the world.
She was truly a battle angel descended to earth.
Eldin glared at the enemy before her while gripping hammers in both hands. She decided to transfer this feeling of anger to her opponent.
"Normally, the moment I put this on, you would have disappeared without even leaving ashes behind."
Surprisingly, the plant that was mimicking her was somehow enduring in this high-temperature flame.
"You're enduring this environment. Just what are you?"
It was something Eldin couldn't understand at all.
No matter how much of an ethereal variant it was, being a plant meant it should be weak to flames. Moreover, these were spirit flames, and she had even donned the Spirit Garment, their final form.
Even if it wasn't a plant but an automaton made of steel, its form would have collapsed instantly like ice cream on asphalt.
A mass of fiber that makes up a plant shouldn't be able to endure this, even if mutated.
There was only one reason this was possible.
It was because of that bright yellow flame burning above its flower bud head.
That was protecting its body in this hell-like environment of extreme heat.
Of course, it wasn't perfect. There were traces of black scorching all over its body where flames had passed.
Moreover, seeing how sluggish its movements were, you could tell this environment was overwhelming for it.
'Even though its condition is poor, the fact that it endured at all is what's important.'
Eldin let out a snicker.
That bright yellow flame was clearly the power Osian had mentioned.
"Ha. That damn rookie. How careless can you be to leave such amazing power lying around?"
But well.
Since she used this power here, she had to do what needed to be done.
Eldin raised her hammer.
"Hey. Since you've come this far, let's see you struggle as hard as you can."
Eldin spoke in a cold voice toward the enemy before her.
"If you made me wear these fluttery clothes, you should be prepared for what comes next."
*
Tarka frowned.
'Damn. Just what is happening in there?'
Even with his beastfolk superior vision, it wasn't easy to see through the flames.
He could only vaguely catch that Eldin was moving fine in the center of those flames.
With this level of heat, those plant creatures should have burned to ashes instantly without leaving anything behind, but were they still enduring?
At that moment, some of the flying sparks in front of them turned into letters.
[I'm going ahead. It's dangerous here, so retreat further back.]
The letters disappeared immediately, but the meaning was clearly conveyed.
"Ah damn."
Just as Tarka was about to growl in complaint, Dagran spoke.
"Do as she says."
"What?"
"You see those flames? Those aren't ordinary flames. Seeing how she's warning us, it seems even she has trouble controlling those flames."
At Dagran's words, Tarka finally felt something odd about the still-burning flames.
Indeed, if they were spirit flames, Eldin as a spirit's master should have them under tight control, but the power she was wielding seemed far from controlled.
"She probably said that because she's worried we might get caught up in it. Let's leave this to her and join the other teams. Stop complaining."
"Tch. Fine. By the way, how's your shoulder wound?"
"Hmm. Well, the muscle is quite torn, but the emergency treatment helped. I'll need a few days of rest after this is over, but I can still pull a trigger for now."
"Good. Then let's move."
Tarka and Dagran moved to help their other team members.
*
"Hmm?"
Osian's gaze turned toward one direction.
The fight was already over and the remains of dismembered plant humans were scattered around him.
Obviously, there were no enemies around worth his attention but Osian felt something. It was the wave of an enormous power.
Normally, Mist should have asked what was wrong, but this time he didn't.
Just as Osian felt it, Mist felt it too.
"It's hot. An incredible heat."
A scorching heat felt through the subtle air currents circulating underground.
It was very faint, but since everyone present had keen senses, they could all feel it.
Could someone have detonated a large amount of napalm at once?
The heat was so incredible it was hard to dismiss such suspicions. Beyond just being hot, the fact that the heat hadn't cooled even though it was felt from far away was proof of that.
"This is spirit heat."
Alania solved their curiosity.
"Spirit heat?"
"Yes. The heat released by fire spirits has this kind of pure feeling."
"I don't know what that pure feeling is, but if we're talking about fire spirits, only one person comes to mind."
"Yes, that's probably right."
At Alania's confirmation, Osian nodded with a "hmm."
"Looks like Eldin moved first. We unintentionally got beaten to it."
"Then should we go help? With flames this hot, it seems like she could handle it alone."
"Normally, yes."
At Osian's dubious words, Mist's eyes changed.
He seemed to think Eldin wouldn't be able to handle this situation alone.
Not because he didn't trust Eldin, but because he was worried about something else.
'Come to think of it, that plant thing did use a strange attack.'
Mist also remembered the bright yellow beam that its main body had fired.
The memory of it instantly destroying the reinforced mist wall he had created was still vivid.
To be honest, he was quite shocked and his pride was hurt.
He knew the enemy was strong, but this was the first time a wall he'd made using a whole bottle of ether water had been destroyed.
'Is that what he's keeping in mind?'
If so, then Osian's reaction made sense.
"Then let's go too. We can't let her take all the initiative."
Osian looked at Mist with an unexpected gaze before quickly breaking into a smile.
He'd felt it before, but they had strangely compatible personalities. Should he call it an inexplicable inner closeness?
"Let's do that."
"Me, me too!"
Alania also raised her hand high.
She had a strong desire to see Eldin, who was treated almost like a legend in their clan, fight.
Wasn't that why she volunteered to come to this dangerous site in the first place?
"Move carefully. We don't know when it might launch another surprise attack."
"Right."
"Yes! Understood!"
*
It slowly raised its massive body.
Scattered all around were the corpses of beasts now barely recognizable in form, covered by countless roots and stems.
In the purified space filled with plants, it bloomed its huge bud wide.
At its center, a brilliant flame flickered as if the sun had descended.
Just as it was bestowing light's grace on its surroundings, one wall exploded and an uninvited guest appeared.
What invaded the bright yellow space was a deep red color.
Beyond the broken passage, countless sparks burst out along with scorching heat.
What walked out of those sparks with vigorous steps was Eldin, wearing the Spirit Garment.
With a creaking sound, the huge bud focused on Eldin.
The bright yellow sun floating at its center felt like an eyeball.
"Are you done with your preparations?"
Eldin took a stance while holding her hammer wrapped in flames and wind.
"Then, you have no right to complain about getting beaten to death by me, right?"
Its bud trembled slightly at those words and Eldin frowned at this sight.
This wasn't an action showing fear. To begin with, plants couldn't possibly have emotions of fear toward anything.
Nevertheless, it was clearly showing emotion.
'This thing is enjoying itself.'
Yes. This was mockery. Right now, it was mocking Eldin as if her provocation wasn't even worth considering.
A plant showing mockery, even after causing ethereal mutation?
Already, the fact that it could learn and mimic human appearance showed high intelligence, but now it had gone beyond that to possess sentience.
'This thing is dangerous.'
Using living beings as hosts to plant seeds and reproduce? That was threatening enough. There would be no argument against designating it as a biological hazard.
But what if its core wasn't just a plant mindlessly spreading seeds, but a sentient being capable of independent thought and looking down on humans and other races?
'I need to burn it to death right now.'
The moment Eldin made up her mind, it moved first.
It raised its huge bud toward the ceiling and spread it wide, sprinkling light's grace in all directions.
Sparks scattered and spread from the bright yellow sun and Eldin had to click her tongue at this sight.
'These sparks are pushing back the Spirit Garment's flames.'
That wasn't the only problem.
Around that huge plant main body, one by one, other plants began rising as if sprouting.
The ones rising one after another were plant humans with small flower buds on their heads, shaped like humans.
Plant humans mimicking the appearance of Eldin and the other teams they were fighting.
'They're more elaborate than the ones I saw before. They're evolving.'
While they still had flower buds where faces should be, their body forms had changed in subtle ways as if carved with a chisel.
The changes wouldn't be just superficial.
Moreover, there seemed to be over several dozen of them.
The sight of bright yellow flames rising above their flower buds was strangely chilling.
"Right. So you're going to overwhelm me with numbers all at once?"
Eldin's lips curled up into a fierce smile.
With a whoosh, the fire spirits and wind spirits around her released strong power.
The hot heat and surging crimson flames began pushing back the bright yellow sparks.
With this, the space around Eldin was completed as her own.
With a swift motion, a fire lizard climbed onto the two-handed hammer on her shoulder and flicked its tongue.
On the short hammer hanging loosely from her left arm, a wind hummingbird flapped its wings creating vortexes.
"Alright. Let's have a proper fire play today. All of you, come at me."