Episode 6-The Scorch Trial (1)
Hundreds of Flare-zombies charged towards me. The liquids they bled was a mixture of flames and blood, which covered their bodies. I was in the middle of the mall, next to a grimy, scorched fountain.
The hordes of flare-zombies gushed from all directions. They surrounded me completely. They came in droves, similar to a ocean wave, albeit, a wave made from flesh and fire. If I was a regular mortal, I would've been scorched by the sheer heat they generated.
[Your private attribute "Anger Lord" has been forcibly deactivated!]
[You have spent all of your adrenaline and aggression!]
(It seems that I won't to able to continue on anymore... How many flare-zombies did I kill?)
My eyes were closing from fatigue, but I saw that I slaughtered hundreds of them. Their limp, mindless bodies finally lost all willpower, and no longer moved at all. Still, more were flooding into my vicinity.
I tried my hardest to fight them off, but I spent a lot of my strength and stamina. All I had was my mana power.
If I remembered correctly, my Mana was level 12. I did some quick calculations in my head, and thought the command to invest.
(Invest 4,000 coins into Mana!!)
[Mana Lv. 12 has been upgraded to Mana Lv. 20!]
I climbed the fountain as the zombies scrambled after me.
[You feel your body become more attuned to the world!]
I began to visualize flames emerging from my skin, and coalescing around my body. As I did, I felt my heart beat quickly, and begin heating up.
[Due to the biology of your human heart, you will not be able to exercise the full extent of the stigma "Flames of Muspellheim"!]
I grunted from the intensifying heat, and from the annoying message.
(If I'm right,) I thought, (I'll need to receive a heart transplant from a powerful fire-based creature to fully use my stigma...)
I staved off from investing too much in my strength and stamina stats thanks to [Anger Lord], and used my stigma sparingly. But lately...
[Constellation "The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim" is staring at you.]
[Constellation "The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim" wishes for Incarnation "Ethan Nakamura" to use their stigma "Flames of Muspellheim."]
(Damnit... Surt's here... I have to use the stigma everyday to promote it...)
I remembered the contract stipulations for the stigma.
"-You must use the stigma [Flames of Muspellheim] five times a day while being livestreamed by Dokkaebi Herald on their respective channel to keep the following contract validated.-"
It meant that if I didn't use his Stigma five times while live, Surt would cancel the Probability contract with me. In retrospect, the deal seemed sweet for me, but I was tasting bitter consequences right now.
I climbed to the top of the fountain. I prepared my stigma.
[Yo u ha ve no sta mi na or str en gth,] Fragment of the 4th Wall thought to me. [Yo u' ll h urt your self , Eth an. . .]
"I know, man," I said aloud, "But I still have to do it..."
(The flare-zombies mainly use thermal energy to keep themselves alive; that's how they produce their flames.)
If my theory is correct, the Flare-zombies used external high temperatures as food. The average Flare-zombie has a body temperature of 162 degrees Fahrenheit, or 72 degrees Celsius.
(This is okay... I've been preparing for this moment...)
I remembered when George and I were traversing through Seattle city, and when Herald contacted me through Dokkaebi Communication.
***
-[Hey, Ethan, what are you doing?]
-[George and I are heading towards the Macy's Mall. There should hidden scenarios there.]
-[...]
-[You seem quite sure of that. Hidden dungeons are super difficult in the earlier scenarios. It's still the 4th scenario, and you're not even a King. You can just sign a
I interrupted Herald before he could send his message.
-[No. I won't do that.]
-[Why not?]
(If I do go under a Constellation,) I thought.
-[I don't trust the Constellations,] I sent instead.
(I'll lose all of my rights as an individual.)
-[Alright. Is there anything you need me to do while I'm here?]
-[Yes. I want to buy the "Bodily Temperature Meter" skill.]
-[That cheap skill? It's only 1000 coins on the Dokkaebi Shop, and anyone can buy it.]
-[Just do it.]
-[Alright then.]
Three seconds later, I saw a screen appear in front of my eyes.
[You have successfully bought the "Bodily Temperature Meter" skill!]
[You will know the exact temperature of your body whenever you view your Attribute Window!]
***
I saw the Flare-zombies pile on top of each other; they neared my high point.
(The highest temperature my body can handle is 100 degrees Celsius... whenever I go higher than that, I feel as if my body will shrivel from evaporation...)
[You have activated Flames of Muspellheim Lv.6!]
I stared at the mad, ravenous horde that swarmed me. Right now, the Constellations would probably think I was in an actual hell world.
I continued to look at the Flare-zombies that swarmed me. Some of them were people who didn't survive the first scenario, or who were infected before the main scenarios started. These people were unlucky, but they were also-
(Weak. All of you are weak.) I thought. (Or maybe you're blessed... at least you don't have to deal with this crappy world anymore. Anyways... I'm going to make you vomit to death.)
There was a caveat in Flare-zombie biology. Whenever you overload a Flare-zombie with excess heat, they "puke" themselves to death. Sadly, "puking" was a misnomer. A proper term would be "exploding."
(All of these Flare-zombies are going to explode. Each Flare-zombie has the equivalent power of one small C4-stick, minus the stability.)
I had finished gathering all of my mana, and converting it to heat.
(George,) I thought, (I may not survive this...)
I casted my flame-attack towards the horde. I saw the Flare-zombies absorb my fire, and convulse from the heat. I saw them devour it, and convulse in ecstasy, as if this was a grand feast. But unknownst to the Flare-zombies, or the Constellations, I would keep on pouring the heat, even if it killed me.
[Constellation "The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim" is satisfied with your usage of his Stigma!]
[Constellation "The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim" wishes for you to disengage his Stigma!]
(Screw you, Surt,) I thought. (George, if you're thinking of me, make sure to eat another Specter Stone.)
As I thought this, several Flare-zombies began to overload, and crumble to the ground.
[Constellation "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon" is wondering if Incarnation "Ethan Nakamura" is suicidal.]
They began to ejaculate flammable liquids from their orifices, which caused the surrounding area to become even hotter. Like kerosene on a bonfire, it intensified the flames. Compared to this heat, I was just a small match stick.
I stared towards the sky.
(Enjoy the show, you bastards,) I thought angrily.
Flare-zombies began blowing up, which set off a chain reaction that detonated all of them.
-!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!- -!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!SHATTER!!!--!!!SHATTER!!!--!!!SHATTER!!!-!!!CRASH!!!--!!!CRASH!!!--!!!CRASH!!!--!!!CRASH!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!BANG!!!--!!!SHATTER!!!--!!!CRASH!!!--!!!SHATTER!!!-
Parts of the mall itself began to crumble. I don't know when I lost consciousness.