After dealing with the salamander-like lava beast, Leon's group encountered wave after wave of molten creatures—catfish forms, serpentine coils, lizard shapes, burrowing drakes.
They lacked individuality.
They behaved less like independent organisms and more like immune cells of Muspelheim itself—white blood cells reacting to intrusion.
Their "blood" was magma. Their forms were merely adaptive manifestations.
Leon even suspected this might be Surtr's doing—primitive extensions of his will. If so, it wasn't unlike how Leon could create subordinate constructs through the Eternal Flame integrated within Aionsega.
Two and a Half Hours Later
"Surtr, you coward! Get out here!"
Another magma-drake collapsed under Valkyrie's blade.
They had been fighting continuously.
Surtr was hiding.
His presence blended almost perfectly with the realm. Even Leon's enhanced perception failed to pinpoint him.
Leon remembered how, in another timeline, Thor had baited Surtr into revealing himself.
The fire giant claimed he could not die before fulfilling Ragnarök.
But bravado rarely equaled truth.
If it bleeds, it dies.
Surtr would be no exception.
Tony's Experiment
"Well?" Leon asked.
Tony hovered cross-legged midair, eyes closed.
He opened them with a confident grin.
"He's not a magnetism-class entity. He can hide heat signatures, but not planetary-scale magnetic disturbance."
"You found him?"
"Approximately."
"And I've got something new to test."
Leon, Thor, and Loki immediately blinked backward dozens of meters.
Valkyrie followed instinctively.
"Tony," Leon said gravely, "your power is extremely dangerous. It requires… caution."
"Cowards," Tony muttered.
He picked up a chunk of volcanic rock.
Magnetic fields coiled around it.
At first, the rock levitated—despite not being metallic.
Then it glowed.
Then it melted.
The magnetic flux became visible—oscillating, tightening.
The molten mass compressed further and further.
Atoms struggled against containment.
Energy spiked.
Tony exhaled sharply.
"Now."
He hurled the microscopic mass forward as the magnetic field snapped into ignition.
Then—
He opened a micro-wormhole and reappeared directly behind Leon.
"Using me as cover again?" Leon smirked.
Tony shrugged.
Detonation followed.
A miniature sun ignited within Muspelheim.
Blinding light consumed the horizon.
The shockwave crashed outward—stopped only by Leon's telekinetic barrier.
Deep Below
Surtr felt the tremor.
"Damn lunatics!"
Before he could relocate, collapsing rock buried him beneath his throne—leaving only his flaming crown exposed like a mountain peak.
Descent
"Surprise."
Leon carved a direct path downward with an Atomic Breath beam, dragging Thor and the others in his telekinetic wake.
They emerged before the trapped fire giant.
"Son of Odin!" Surtr roared.
"Son of a—" Thor shot back mid-descent, Mjolnir blazing.
He struck the fiery crown with full force.
The impact echoed.
No damage.
Surtr laughed.
"Foolish child. Until destiny is fulfilled—until Ragnarök consumes Asgard—I am eternal."
Then he noticed Leon's left arm.
Aionsega shimmered faintly with Eternal Flame resonance.
"You thief!" Surtr thundered. "That flame is mine!"
Leon tilted his head slightly.
"Is it?"
He gestured casually.
The Disintegration Staff floated into his hand.
For the first time—
Surtr's expression changed.
"Wait."
"Don't come closer."
Leon stepped forward anyway.
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