Saria: Deadweight Teammates, Impossible to Carry

[It hurts... It hurts so much—!!!]

Boss's consciousness was screaming. He felt as though his body had been torn into billions of burning fragments, then forcibly kneaded back together by some tyrannical force.

Every inch of flesh wailed under unbearable strain. Violent energy rampaged through his body, searching for any outlet through which it could vent itself.

Pain drowned out reason, leaving behind only the most primal instinct—destruction.

Inflict this pain on others. Destroy everything around him.

In reality, his mountain-sized body strode through Rhine Lab's complex, his lower half fused with molten lava that continued spreading outward.

Four arms as thick as high-rises swung unconsciously. The wind pressure they stirred alone was enough to tear apart the remaining buildings.

"Boom—!!!"

A colossal palm slammed down, instantly reducing an experimental building below to pieces like a child's building blocks.

The structural steel melted the instant it touched the palm. Concrete turned into crimson lava and splashed in every direction, while explosive flames and thick smoke soared into the sky.

"Help! What is that monster?!"

"Where's security?! Where's the Defense Department?! Stop it, now!!"

"No! I can't! I don't want to fight a monster like that!! Retreat! Retreat now!!!"

Below, tiny people fled and screamed.

Desperate cries, agonized wails, broken sobs... Countless voices stabbed into Boss's pain-filled mind, driving his already agitated, chaotic nerves even further into madness.

"Roar—!!!" (Shut up!!!)

A terrifying shockwave mixed with blazing fire erupted, shattering every window in the nearby buildings.

Guided by instinct, he swung a massive molten arm toward the loudest, most densely packed source of noise.

He would crush those irritating "noise sources."

However, just as the giant arm was about to come down and turn another area into scorched earth—

"Whoosh—!"

A familiar white crystal spike shot toward his burning face with ruthless precision, like a meteor flying against the current.

The crystal spike was swallowed by the outer lava field the instant it approached, failing to inflict any real damage.

But the memory of that attack nearly killing him fiercely provoked Boss's chaotic consciousness.

"Buzz—!"

He abruptly turned toward the source of the attack, his lava-filled giant eyes widening sharply.

Below, a small white figure stood tall and proud.

Dense calcified crystals covered her body, making her look like a knight clad in armor.

It was her! That woman! The woman who had nearly killed him!

The memory of his body being pierced, mixed with his current endless agony and savagery, erupted like a volcano within his chaotic mind.

"Roooaaargh—!!!"

He no longer paid attention to the scattered, fleeing noise. All his attention locked onto Saria.

All four arms rose at once, their hands clenching into fists. The next moment, four massive fists like falling meteors smashed down toward the area where Saria stood!

Saria's perspective—

After sending Silence into the safe zone, the moment Saria turned to face this molten giant, her heart had gone cold.

She knew that the gap in strength between herself and this monster was immense, especially after its size and energy had both surged.

Yet when she saw that giant arm swing toward the crowded area, she had still acted on instinct...

Now, four meteor-like molten fists came crashing down.

Saria did not choose to meet them head-on. That would have been like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

She drove her Originium Arts to their limit, applying them to both herself and the ground beneath her feet.

"Bang!"

Calcified crystals instantly formed a slanted barrier behind her, while a powerful thrust erupted beneath her feet—

She was not trying to block the attack. She was using the impact to launch herself backward at top speed.

"Rumble—!!!"

The giant fists struck the ground as if four massive bombs had detonated at once.

A horrific shockwave expanded outward in a ring. Nearby buildings that had not yet fully collapsed were thrown up by an invisible giant hand, then shredded into fragments midair by the turbulent currents that followed.

Even though Saria had evaded in advance, the terrifying aftershock still struck her hard. Her entire body slammed into a relatively intact reinforced wall in the distance before she barely managed to stop.

"Cough..."

She emerged from her nearly shattered calcified fortress. A sweetness rose in her throat, but she forcibly suppressed the surging blood within her.

Looking around, she saw that within several hundred meters of the giant's strike point, everything had been completely transformed into a burning lava hell.

Her heart sank. She could not let this monster continue destroying everything unchecked...

At this rate, not only Rhine Lab, but even the districts of the mobile city outside would be utterly destroyed.

She raised her head once more and looked toward the horrifying figure standing amid the sea of flames—

Over thirty meters tall, it seemed to connect heaven and earth. Lava flowed all over its body like blood, radiating despair-inducing energy fluctuations and heat.

Simply standing there, it exerted pressure like a natural disaster.

A deep sense of powerlessness gripped Saria. Her calcification could withstand ordinary artillery fire, heal her allies, and weaken her enemies.

But against an existence so far beyond normal limits, one that crushed everything through absolute strength and energy alone, all her techniques and experience seemed utterly insignificant.

What am I supposed to do... to stop this monster?

The moment that thought arose, Silence's trusting eyes appeared in her mind, along with the weighty promise she had made—

[I promise...]

Saria's gaze became resolute once more. White crystals gathered over her body again, shining with an unyielding light.

No matter what method she had to use, no matter what price she had to pay, she had to hold it back! She had to buy time for the evacuation and reinforcements!

Just as she steadied herself and prepared to attack again, a subtle change occurred at the center of the battlefield.

After venting its fury so violently, the molten giant's movements stalled slightly.

Its burning head turned slowly, sweeping across the hellish devastation it had created with its own hands—

Collapsed buildings, flowing lava, and the faintly visible small figures amid the ruins that had already lost all signs of life...

The next second, something that shocked Saria happened.

The enormous giant actually curled up slightly, as if it had been frightened.

That movement... carried a feeling utterly at odds with its terrifying appearance, almost... timid and helpless.

That movement, that feeling, was so familiar!

Saria's breath caught. Ifrit's figure flashed through her mind—

Whenever the Flame Demon consciousness inside that child went berserk and gradually regained clarity after causing destruction, her face would always show a similar expression mixed with fear, regret, and helpless confusion...

An absurd thought emerged in Saria's mind.

Saria stared intently at the molten giant's every movement, swiftly connecting their earlier encounter with Ifrit's condition. The guess in her heart grew clearer and clearer.

"Berserk..."

Saria murmured to herself, recalling how, when they had first encountered it, this Flame Demon had possessed a terrifying form but had shown no desire to actively attack or destroy beyond self-defense and breaking through.

That differed from the Flame Demon consciousness within Ifrit, but its current frenzied destruction looked exactly like Ifrit when she lost control and went berserk.

"So, like Ifrit, did he fall into a berserk state for some reason... Or is that a shared trait among Flame Demons?"

That thought loosened the tightly drawn string in Saria's heart, if only slightly.

If it was merely berserk rather than driven by a pure will to destroy, then perhaps there was still a turning point. At the very least, communication and control might be possible.

With her mind somewhat settled, Saria decided to change strategies.

She no longer rushed to launch attacks that might further enrage it. Instead, she restrained her hostility and the fluctuations of her Originium Arts, carefully maintaining a relatively safe distance.

She needed to confirm whether it truly had periodic or triggered intervals of clarity, and what the root cause of its berserk state was.

"...Urgh... Hiss..."

The enormous molten giant let out a suppressed growl. Compared to the earlier madness when he had completely lost consciousness, his mind was finally a little clearer now.

During that brief interval, the anxious calls of his brothers flooded into his chaotic consciousness through their mental link.

[Fourth: Boss! Boss, how are you?!]

[Second: Boss! Can you hear us? What's going on over there?!]

[Third: Boss, are you okay? Sorry! I shouldn't have hit you so hard...]

[...I'm... not dead yet...]

Boss responded through the link, doing his utmost to remain conscious.

[There's too much energy... It hurts from being so full... It's a little better now... Once this energy slowly dissipates... I should be able to change back...]

[That's great! Hang in there, Boss!] Second's voice immediately came through, but it soon turned into a serious warning.

[Boss, be extremely careful! You're still on Rhine Lab's turf! You have to leave there as soon as possible!]

Rhine Lab...

At Second's reminder, Boss's consciousness slowly swept over his surroundings.

"..."

What entered his sight was a field of ruins...

Did I do this?

A jumble of shock, confusion, and guilty unease surged into his heart.

He could not remember the specific details, but the traces of destruction silently explained everything.

Just as the horrific sight shook him to his core—

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

Several missiles trailing flames flew in and struck the molten giant's enormous body—

The warheads hit the thick molten armor, but instead of exploding violently as expected, they were instantly erased and vanished.

The next instant, the pain that had only just eased slightly as energy naturally dissipated swept over Boss again as his energy increased.

"Roar—!!!"

Not only had those missiles failed to cause damage, they were like dumping a bucket of hot oil onto a dying campfire.

The sliver of clarity he had just regained was instantly snuffed out. The urge to destroy, which reason had barely suppressed, once again gained the upper hand.

A heaven-shaking roar, filled with renewed pain and savagery, resounded through the sky.

Saria, who had been about to seize the opportunity to step forward and attempt communication, saw her pupils constrict sharply.

"Not good!!!"