Little Monster? Big Monster!

Roar!

A powerfully built snow ape pounced down from above the rock wall, its claws tearing through the freezing wind toward Eldest's head.

Eldest did not turn around. One arm swept backward.

A massive lava hand precisely seized the snow ape by the throat. The terrifying grip instantly turned its roar into a suffocated whimper.

Sizzle—!

Scorching flames surged from his palm. The snow ape only had time to let out a brief scream before it became a charred corpse in the blazing heat.

As though casually tossing away a piece of trash, Eldest hurled the corpse away.

The charred body shot like a cannonball toward a miner in the distance who was gathering a crimson energy orb—

Boom!

The corpse collided midair with the energy orb just as it was fired. The blast sent the miner flying as well, scattering its parts all over the ground.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Dense ice spikes and barrages of energy blasts continuously shot out from both sides of the passage, but the instant they touched the lava domain around Eldest, they all melted away like ice and snow.

As the battle continued, Eldest's body grew a little larger, and the light radiating from him became increasingly brilliant.

Yet there was not the slightest hint of pride in his burning eyes—only growing impatience and fury.

[Mental Chat Group]

[Eldest: I've already cleared the fourth room! What's going on? Why is this dungeon so huge?!]

[Second: Same here! This dungeon isn't just a few floors like in the game. It's practically a massive maze!]

[Fourth: There's a treasure chest in my room!]

[Second: Forget the treasure chest! Finding Ifrit comes first. Who knows what kind of creepy stuff is in here!]

[Fourth: Fuck!!!]

[Eldest: Why are you shouting so loud?!]

[Fourth: This thing's a mimic! The moment I got close, it tried to bite my head off! It almost got me!]

[Eldest: ...Be more careful, everyone. Third, recall the Shadow Crows. I don't need help here!]

[Third: Understood.]

[Second: Got it.]

[Fourth: ...Fine.]

The brief exchange ended. Eldest smashed the crystal bug blocking his path with a punch, then abruptly stopped.

Three branching paths appeared before him once again.

"Damn it!"

With no time to hesitate, Eldest chose the passage on the left and prepared to charge in.

Just then—

Roar—!!!

A savage roar shook the entire dungeon. Freezing winds howled, and ice formed along the walls.

Eldest spun around, his gaze locking onto the middle passage.

The Flame Demon fragment continued through the silent passage. Rather than recovering from its rest, the flames on its body grew weaker under the unrelenting invasion of the cold.

At this moment, even the Flame Demon's chaotic consciousness sensed that something was wrong with its surroundings.

A warning born of instinct shrieked within it. It began to retreat, wanting to turn back.

Yet in the instant it hesitated, a hazy glow appeared at the end of the passage ahead.

Was that an exit?

Unable to think too deeply, its urge to flee the cold prevailed.

It did not hesitate any longer. Dragging its increasingly dim body along, it floated toward the light.

Once it passed through the passage entrance, the sight before it suddenly opened up.

This was an unusually vast room—no...

Rather than a room, it was more like an enormous natural cavern.

The dome, dozens of meters high, felt empty and oppressive. Broken stone pillars and the ruins of unknown structures were scattered around the corners.

But the most eye-catching thing was the snow-covered mountain in the center of the room.

The Flame Demon cautiously scanned the area from the entrance but found no active enemies.

It needed time to recover its strength, and this place looked "safe" enough.

It drifted into the room, intending to temporarily settle here.

However, the instant it entered the room—

Clang—!

At the entrance to the passage behind it, a gate suddenly dropped from above and slammed heavily into the ground, completely cutting off its retreat.

The enormous impact echoed through the cavern, shaking down bits of ice.

Flame Demon Fragment: "?"

With the thunderous crash of the gate settling into place, the entire space eerily "came alive."

No, it had not come alive.

Something... had awakened.

"Huff..."

Deep breathing quietly sounded through the cavern, stirring up swirling icy winds as the temperature plummeted!

The Flame Demon's already feeble fire suddenly shrank under the abrupt cold current.

It angrily waved its arms, trying to drive away the unpleasant chill—and seemingly provoking whatever was playing these tricks.

Who dares—

Before the thought could be transmitted, its movements suddenly froze.

A shadow.

An enormous shadow slowly rose behind it, swallowing and covering both it and the pitiful glow of its flames.

The sensation of being enveloped by a massive shadow felt so familiar...

The Flame Demon stiffly turned its gaze. Everywhere it looked was white.

A wall?

For a moment, it was confused. Then the flames around its body abruptly contracted.

That wall... was pulsing ever so slightly!

No! This wasn't a wall! This was—

The Flame Demon raised its head and looked upward along that pulsing white wall—

The first thing it met was a pair of gigantic eyes hanging high above, like blood-red lanterns.

The crimson light within them was filled with primal brutality and coldness. It stabbed down at the Flame Demon from above, as though examining an insect.

Then, beneath the faint glow of the cavern ceiling, a monstrous giant face covered in black hardened skin and wrinkles emerged.

Snow-white fur clustered around its neck, shoulders, back, and arms like a cloak, gently shifting with every breath.

Bulging, powerful muscles heaved beneath its white fur, proclaiming the terrifying strength contained within its body.

It sat crouched there, and even in that posture, it stood over twenty meters tall.

The source of the shadow that blanketed everything was none other than the ruler of the frozen plains, sleeping here!

The Lord Boss of the Snowfield Dungeon—

The King Snow Ape!

ROAR—!!!!!!

Its roar erupted, and the sound waves swept countless ice crystals and snowflakes through the entire cavern.

The air trembled, the ground shook, and even the steel gate groaned under the strain.

The Flame Demon fragment's already weak fire flickered incessantly like a candle in a gale.

Flame Demon Fragment: "..."

As the violent cold wave surged toward it, the Flame Demon instinctively gathered a pillar of fire and fired it at its opponent.

Smack—

The blue-black giant palm, wrapped in frost, casually swatted over. The blazing pillar of fire was dispersed as easily as a fragile flame.

The giant hand continued downward. The Flame Demon hurriedly retreated to evade it.

It barely avoided the slap, but the moment the palm struck the ground, enormous ice spikes burst from the floor like a forest and rapidly expanded outward.

Before its flaming body could fully evade them, it was instantly impaled by the ice spikes and slammed heavily against the gate with its already unstable body.

"Roar..."

The Flame Demon's phantom let out a resentful howl. The flames around it completely dimmed and faded away.

Flame Demon Fragment: Is the outside world this insane now? What the hell have they all been eating to grow this big?!

King Snow Ape: Your daddy once said that in a dungeon, you're only a little girl~

As the Flame Demon exited the stage, Ifrit's small body rolled down along the gate and fell to the ground, motionless.

She struggled to open her eyes. All she could see was the deathly giant palm covering the entire sky.

What the hell...

Feeling the weakness in her body, Ifrit's awe of the monster within her diminished once again.

You're not impressive at all...

Saria, the big monster, and now a giant gorilla...

You can't beat any of them...

Flame Demon Fragment: "..."

Ifrit struggled to get up, only to find that her body would not obey her at all.

Piercing frost was rapidly spreading and encasing her limbs. Half her cheek was already covered in ice.

One of her eyes had frozen over, and her vision rapidly blurred into darkness.

Ah...

I can't escape.

The giant palm slowly descended, blocking out the light. Ifrit stopped struggling and closed her eyes.

I'm so sleepy...

Maybe... it wouldn't be so bad to fall asleep like this...

Right... sleep...

Silence... you still haven't told me a bedtime story...

You didn't finish the last story...

The hero defeated the monster, allowing the villagers to continue living happily, while the hero set off on a new journey...

Silence... why does everyone in every story have to wait for the protagonist to save them?

Hmm... perhaps because saving people suffering in hardship is a hero's job.

What? It's obviously because they're too weak!

...That may be part of the reason. Ifrit, don't you like hero stories?

It's not that... I just...

Just?

Ahhh! I'm going to sleep! Tell me the rest next time!

I just...

...don't believe a hero would come save me.

After all...

Isn't killing monsters a hero's job?

But... I...

I...

I—!

I don't want to die—!!!

With the eye that had not yet completely frozen over, Ifrit stared fixedly at the descending giant palm.

I don't want to accept this, I really don't...

I don't want to die yet...

I haven't heard Silence finish the story.

I haven't seen whether Saria's injuries have healed.

I haven't thanked the big monster.

I still haven't!!!

I still haven't...

Tears finally flowed helplessly from her eyes, only to freeze into icy beads on her cheeks in an instant.

"Silence... Saria..."

Ifrit closed her eyes and waited for death to descend.

Save me...

"..."

The sensation of being crushed never came. The destructive giant palm had stopped in midair, held back by its owner's confusion.

Ifrit suddenly felt her body growing warmer.

Why?

Had she become so frozen that she was hallucinating?

No... the temperature really was rising!

The solid ice covering her body was rapidly melting. Not only that, all the frost on the ground and walls near the gate was rapidly dissolving.

Water dripped down, only to instantly evaporate into billowing white vapor under the intense heat.

Boom...

Boom...

Boom—!

Ifrit forced her eyes wide open as the Snow Mountain Ape King let out a furious roar—

It was a warning born of sensing a threat!

Something... was approaching!!!

Boom—!!!!

Reflected in Ifrit's widened eyes, the metal gate that had sealed off their retreat suddenly bent and warped violently at its center.

Then, the warped section rapidly turned crimson before finally transforming into a jet of molten iron.

It flew over Ifrit's head and shot straight at the distant Snow Mountain Ape King!

The Ape King roared, unleashing a terrifying wave of cold that froze the incoming stream of magma midair and knocked it down.

Then, from the melted breach in the gate, a giant hand formed of searing lava suddenly reached out.

Accompanied by the teeth-grating sound of tearing metal, the lava hand forcibly ripped the opening in the gate wider!

Another lava hand reached out, grabbing either side of the breach.

Blazing light erupted. The parts of the gate touched by the giant hands rapidly softened, like fragile paper being violently torn in half!

Within the rising vapor, a dangerous red light flickered continuously, as though a tiny sun rising from beneath the earth was being born.

Boom...

Boom...

A familiar warmth wrapped around Ifrit, carrying a reassuring presence.

The Snow Mountain Ape King roared again and flung out a massive ice spike at the uninvited guest.

Sizzle—

Before the ice spike could even touch its target, it vanished without a trace at the edge of the high-temperature field.

"Roar—!!!!"

The roar did not come from the enraged Ape King, but from above Ifrit!

The terrifying shockwave instantly blew away the spreading mist, revealing the newcomer's full form.

Flames flickered constantly over its hard black body. Between the gaps in its carapace, scorching magma flowed like blood, cooling, then melting anew and being reborn.

Twisted yet majestic demonic horns pierced the air, drawing crimson trails through the sky.

There was not even time to mourn the fallen Flame Demon fragments.

The one who immediately arrived on the battlefield was—

The stat monster of Vitality

Terra's savior

The unquestionable strongest among the four

Rhine Lab's strictest father

Big—Boss—!!!

[Explosive Flying Shield]

"Boom—!!!"

A brilliant flash illuminated the entire space. The giant ape, struck head-on by a lava meteor, received the second-phase stun effect and crashed backward.

Big Boss took a step forward, shielding Ifrit behind him.

Ifrit stared blankly at the tall figure before her...

The girl who had been called a monster had never imagined

that the one who would save her would not be a shining hero, but a big monster who worried about the little monster too.

"Roar—!!!"

(What are you doing to my Haki Dragon, you beast!!!)