At a distance from Cassian sat a beautiful young girl with long platinum hair tied neatly in a ponytail.
Anyone who saw her would have thought a princess from a fairy tale had come into reality, but...
"Fuck!"
She swore, wiping blood off her face.
She was drenched in blood, her platinum hair dyed red.
"Should I wait here?" She questioned whether or not she should continue to hunt. "Huahh..." She yawned from boredom and stretched her arms out. "...I should be in the top 10."
She hadn't encountered anything that really gave her a challenge.
The exam was turning out to be a disappointment.
-RUMBLE
A loud rumble came from a distance, causing the ground to shake.
"Hmm?"
-BOOOMMM
A loud explosion came from a distance, and the ground shook even harder.
She remained standing upright, her posture not faltering in the slightest.
She turned in the direction of the noise and spotted a large cloud of smoke spreading across the forest and reaching her.
She merely watched the approaching cloud and didn't react; her expression began slowly changing.
The dust cleared, and she saw a large figure made from molten lava standing in the distance.
Staring at the creature, her lips curled into a sadistic smile. Her red eyes glowing as excitement rose within her.
"Finally... some fun."
She dashed in the direction of the figure, her smile widening with excitement as she ran.
She was the 5th princess of the Caldress Royal Family, the future Queen of Flame, and...
A crazy bitch.
Nira Caldress.
-------
The heat emanating from the rift creature was immense.
'Simulation, my ass! This is way too real!'
I wiped the sweat off my forehead and prepared to move. I just needed something else to happen first.
Sure enough, a massive blast of fire came from below, striking the rift creature's back.
However, it didn't move since it was immune to fire attacks.
Despite the creature's lack of reaction, the caster continued to send an immense amount of fire spells in its direction.
I gazed in the direction from which the spells originated, and there I saw her...
A young girl covered in blood with a wide smile as she screamed...
"TAKE THIS HAHAHAHA!!"
My brows furrowed.
'She's insane.'
The creature began to turn in her direction, and molten lava began spewing out of its face and flew in her direction.
She, however, didn't move and prepared another fire spell.
Just before the lava reached her, she launched the spell.
A massive wave of fire came from her and somehow deflected the lava as it began plummeting toward the ground.
She let out another laugh, but at this point, I stopped paying attention to her and turned to the creature.
I smiled. 'That dumbass will make his move soon.'
I pointed my prosthetic palm directly at its head and fired a beam of mana.
The beam hit directly on its head, causing it to stagger slightly.
I immediately took another mana stone and blasted it again.
"TAKE THE ARTILLERY MOTHERFUCKER!!"
I blasted it a third time.
Its body began to shake slightly as lava began spewing from every part of its body in all directions.
"Shit!" I saw the massive approaching ball of lava and sprinted as fast as I could down the hill.
-BOOOMMM
The impact caused an explosion, destroying the upper part of the hill and shaking me off balance.
I fell and began rolling down the mountain until I hit a tree that stopped my momentum.
"Ughh!!" The impact left me reeling as I clutched my stomach in pain.
"Ha-Ha-Ha," I panted heavily and pushed myself up.
I took another mana stone, placed it in my prosthetic and began to feel it again.
Looking up, I saw the hill had been completely decimated, leaving only burnt remains and the smell of burning wood.
The creature began to shake again.
This time, the ground shook alongside him.
Cracks began to form in the ground, and lava rapidly rose from them, consuming all life it touched.
'Fuck me!'
I cast enhancement on my legs and ran from the lava.
I climbed atop a nearby boulder and watched as the lava consumed the forest around me.
I looked up at the creature towering above me.
"It's fucking big, isn't it?" A rough feminine voice came from behind.
I didn't bother looking at her. "Princess, you know fire doesn't work on it, right?"
"You know me?" She questioned.
"We've met once or twice." I shrugged.
"Hmm... Anyway, how do we defeat it?"
I raised a brow and finally looked at her. "...Why are you asking me that?"
"Because you clearly have a plan and you're smiling while looking at a colossal rift creature."
I touched my face. 'I'm smiling?'
"Yes, you are." She spoke as if she knew what I was thinking.
My brows furrowed, "You're one to talk."
"Maybe." She shrugged.
'Oh, right, this is her personality.'
"Haa..." I sighed. "There's a weak spot in its back, but it's covered by hard obsidian, so we need to break it."
"And how do we do that?"
My smile widened. "We just keep attacking it."
She smiled back. "I can do that."
I pointed my prosthetic at the creature's leg and let out the blast, and the creature staggered forward.
Nira shot a ball of flame directly beneath the creature's feet, causing the ground to shake violently and the creature to fall to its knees.
Then...
A large spear-shaped rock suddenly tore through the air, rushing toward the creature.
A wet, sickening, crunch-like sound vibrated through the air, causing my eardrums to pain.
The spear had pierced the creature's back, lodging itself within its body.
I looked to the source.
There stood Liam on a large rock staring in the creature's direction with a serious expression.
"NICE SHOT DUDE!!"
"..." Liam didn't respond.
"Is that your friend?" Nira asked.
"Yeah, we ar-"
-Rumble
The ground beneath shook, and pillars of lava blasted from the ground.
"Fucking hell!!"
The creature stood up.
Its body convulsed violently, but just as it stood up, another spear flew in its direction, but this time it only scraped the creature's shoulder, causing it to stagger back.
"Princess, can you cast something other than fire spells?"
"No," She replied in a cold tone.
'Fuck, why did I even ask?'
I scanned our surroundings.
We were currently standing in a pool of lava that was rising rapidly, but in the distance, I spotted it.
'Trees!'
"Princess, can you throw trees at it?"
"Trees...?" She looked at me like I was stupid.
"Don't worry about how, I just want to steal the final blow," I spoke honestly.
She gave me a sceptical look but eventually agreed, "Sure..."
She then leaped into the air, and sparks of fire lit below her as she blasted up, flying far until she reached the trees.
'Damn... that was cool.'
-Rumble
The ground below shook again, and the lava began to rise even faster.
The creature was still on its knees, but its mouth was spewing out balls of lava in all directions.
"It's like the end of the world."
The heat was intense; it felt like my skin was burning off, and every sweat my body let out evaporated in an instant.
I couldn't smell anything.
The creature rose, standing upright, and its body began to change. The lava was becoming...
'Purple?'
I felt the heat was rising.
Fast.
It wouldn't belong before I was burned alive.
'Shit!' I took off my clothing, throwing them into the lava, and was left in my underwear, almost fully exposed.
Honestly, I had forgotten I was live in front of millions.
In the corner of my eye, I spotted another spear heading in the creature's direction, and at the same time, just a bit faster was a volley of... burning trees?
'Did she actually set them on fire?'
Pushing the thought aside, I cast enhancement on my legs using all the mana I had left, and leaped up. I flipped through the air and pointed my prosthetic directly at the creature.
I watched as the spear flew through the air with incredible accuracy, straight toward its weak spot.
But just before it could, the trees hit the creature, causing it to move just enough for the spear to miss its back and pierce its shoulder.
I took every mana stone I had, shoving them with force into my prosthetic and aimed at the creature.
'I win.'
-BOOOMMM
I fainted.