Queen's Black Flame.
A greatsword capable of hunting even gods—there was no way it would be useless against a Fire Giant.
Squeezing out the very last bit of life from his already ruined body—he turned it into black flame, and burned the Floor Boss before him to ashes!
"Tiona."
"If I collapse later… remember to move my body somewhere cool."
Compared to Goblin Guards and Lansseax, if the thing in front of him actually had an HP bar, it would probably be even longer than Ron's own life.
They hadn't even scraped out the Fire Giant's second phase yet.
And besides—
If he faced that 'Forced Stop' roar at close range again, Ron had a feeling his internal organs would be completely shattered.
At this point, he couldn't maintain focus anyway.
So he might as well burn everything to the end.
He could feel a tingling numbness spread across his entire body.
Raising his hand, he wiped the warm blood off his cheek.
Relying on the Bleed status, even if he fought by trading his life for damage, even if he burned through both of his Revival chances—he still might not be able to kill it outright!
"..."
Holding her twin great blades, already launching a fierce offensive against the Fire Giant—
When Tiona heard Ron's reminder, her backward step widened noticeably.
She pulled back to a safe distance.
The tan-skinned Amazoness stared ahead—
At Ron's miserable state, with blood slowly seeping from the corners of his eyes, nose, and ears—
Her heartbeat nearly stopped.
'Near-Death Recovery.'
To be honest—
She had seen this unique magic with her own eyes.
It was Ron's final trump card.
A symbol that the concept of death had already been stripped away from him.
But saying something like "move my corpse"…
Anyone who heard that would feel… something hard to describe.
Before Tiona could even ask—her gaze caught Ron again.
His steps were still steady and agile, as he raised the spiral greatsword taken from the Ash Judge.
The black flames blazing upon it—more brilliant than ever before.
That aura of extinction seemed to point directly at the very origin of existence itself.
Tiona had never seen such a bizarre weapon.
Or perhaps—
Magic?
And the price was clear:
Ron, still in his youth, now had streaks of white appearing at his temples—as if his life force was being forcibly drained by the magic.
"What the hell are you trying to do?!!"
Wasn't the plan—
If they couldn't win, they'd retreat from the Floor Boss room, wait for Tione's support—and if that still didn't work, wait for the Loki Familia to handle it?
So why—
Why was he suddenly going full self-destruct again?!
Tiona felt like her head was about to explode.
But even at such a critical moment, she didn't retreat.
Instead—she chose to trust Ron's decision.
Someone with a future broader than any adventurer—there was no way… he would joke around with his own life, right?
And just as Tiona guessed—Ron was actually terrified of death.
He hadn't lost that fear just because of his Revival ability.
But—
If this life couldn't be preserved no matter what, then why not squeeze out a bit more AoE damage before dying?
"..."
As if responding to Ron's resolve—the Godslayer's Greatsword began draining his life force even faster.
In exchange—the Queen's Black Flame grew even more violently intense.
It had no temperature.
And yet—from those black flames, as if born from the deepest abyss of hell, one could still feel the overwhelming offensive power contained within.
"Damn it…"
"After killing this Fire Giant, you better drop me some damn good loot!"
Feeling his life force rapidly slipping away, Ron charged toward the Fire Giant once more.
Each swing of the spiral blade—released arcs of black flame.
When they struck the Floor Boss's massive body, they left behind flames that would never extinguish—no matter what.
Ignoring defense.
In an extremely short span of time, that rootless black flame burned straight through the Fire Giant's thick outer layer—and the air filled with the stench of charred flesh.
"@!#!!"
The giant's language was incomprehensible.
But the damage caused by the Queen's Black Flame—the Fire Giant could feel it directly.
And it hurt far more than that elf's magic.
Unlike before—it no longer treated Ron, who had been merely scratching its hardened skin under its feet, as something negligible.
It even had a premonition—if it let this black flame continue burning, it would die.
So—the Fire Giant raised its foot high,
trying to crush him like an ant.
"I know your feet are pretty damn impressive."
"But do you really have to go this far?"
If it were some foot-fetish freak—even those cracked, calloused, dead-skin-covered feet of the Fire Giant would probably look 'beautiful' to him.
But clearly, Ron wasn't that kind of person.
If it were Hestia stepping on his back—sure, he could accept a soft, cute girl.
But there was no way he was messed up enough to calmly accept getting stomped on by a Floor Boss like this!
And as his life force continued to drain—the most immediate effect was the decline of his bodily functions.
If—before activating the Godslayer's Greatsword's rampage state, Ron was merely in a condition where his internal organs were injured—then now, as his life kept slipping away—he was like a dying old man on his last legs!
"Damn it!"
Relying on the combat instincts honed through Dungeon experience, he forcibly dragged his body into a roll toward the front side—barely dodging the Fire Giant's stomp.
And the price—was a body that felt like it was about to fall apart.
"Maybe you should just kill me already…"
Ron really wanted to give up.
But he still forced himself back to his feet, once again swinging the Godslayer's Greatsword in his hand.
This time, he didn't continue attacking the areas already engulfed by black flame.
Instead—he slashed at parts of the Fire Giant's body that hadn't been affected yet.
With every swing—the black flame carried by the blade seemed to take root the moment it landed, clinging like a parasite that could not be removed, spreading at a visible speed, gradually engulfing both legs.
As for the parts he couldn't reach?
"..."
He raised his arm—using the grappling hook of his Shinobi Prosthetic, he anchored it directly into the Fire Giant's body—using the retraction force—he launched himself from the ground, chasing the Floor Boss while spreading black flame!
Passing on the fire.
Passing on black flame—wasn't that still fire?!
Until—that black flame—capable of burning even gods to nothing, leaving no chance of revival—visibly spread across nearly 30% of the Fire Giant's body.
Ron's consciousness was already close to fading.
With difficulty, he turned his head, looking toward Tiona in the distance.
"..."
After receiving Ron's earlier instruction, Tiona had already stopped attacking the Fire Giant—worried that in full combat, she wouldn't be able to spare attention to support him.
Of course—
A large part of the reason was also how terrifying that black flame was.
If she got touched by it—she didn't even dare imagine what would happen.
But from the perspective of a bystander—she could see even more clearly—Ron's rapidly deteriorating condition.
His once striking black hair—was now nothing but dry, pale white.
Even—
His skin had become like that of an old man,
lined with deep wrinkles—as if he had completely burned himself out.
It was hard to believe—that he was the same age as Lefiya.
Especially when—she saw that figure, now without grappling support—falling freely toward the ground.
She didn't hesitate at all.
Tiona moved decisively—catching Ron mid-air in her arms.
Facing the boy's gradually unfocused eyes, her gaze turned complicated.
"Is there anything else you want to say?"
"Yeah."
Looking at the black flames—now covering nearly half of the Fire Giant's body, burning fiercely—Ron was actually quite satisfied with his handiwork.
Just before his consciousness completely faded—he spoke with a tone full of emotion: "Tiona!"
"This… is my final ripple!"
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