“I don’t have time to waste on this trash,” Tania said as Surtr lifted his flaming sword once more to strike her.

  (Image created with Gemini AI for illustrative purposes only)

  “You? A fire goddess? Don’t make me laugh. You’re a filthy Moon pretending to be a Sun,” the giant growled at her.

  “And who decided the elements we’re born with determine our fate?” Tania asked coldly.

  “You’re just a fraud. Your fire will never burn like ours—the fire of true Sun gods!” Surtr roared, charging his power to the extreme.

  The sky turned blood-red. Flames burst from the earth. Lava erupted everywhere while a violent quake shook the entire plateau. Fire sparks floated through the air, the atmosphere grew suffocating, and the air itself felt heavy.

  Surtr’s eyes bulged with fury, foam forming at his mouth. His muscles swelled, veins pulsed across his skin. Raising his sword, he slammed it into the ground—splitting the earth open as molten lava spewed from the fissure.

  “My power is so immense I could destroy the world if I wanted. This is the true might of a Sun—and your little watchdog won’t save you this time!” he laughed hysterically.

  Tania stared at him with total indifference.

  “Are we done yet? I don’t have time for your crap,” she said.

  Surtr roared and charged—but Tania dodged with ease and drove her knee straight into his face.

  Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose as he staggered, clutching his face in agony.

  He swung wildly again, but she slipped aside, kicking him across the jaw so hard he flew backward and crashed onto his back.

  He lunged once more—same result. Tania dodged, rose with a vertical kick, and sent him rocketing into the sky, crashing head-first back to the ground.

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  “Not a real Sun, huh? Aren’t you embarrassed that a ‘fake Sun’ is kicking your ass?” Tania taunted him.

  “You miserable bitch,” Surtr growled, forcing himself upright.

  “This one will hurt,” he threatened as flames wrapped around his entire body.

  “Logi (Area Fire)!”

  Like a blazing meteor, he hurled himself at Tania, slamming into her at full speed. She was blasted across the landscape, crashing into the dimensional wall. The giant ricocheted wildly across the battlefield, then launched himself into her again—ending in a massive explosion.

  Surtr leapt back, sword ready, waiting for the smoke to clear so he could behead her.

  As her silhouette appeared, he hurled his blade with lethal force—

  —and Tania stopped it with her flaming forearm, laughing softly.

  “This is the flame of a true Sun? Please… it’s not even enough to tan me.”

  Surtr yanked the sword back and swung again—she dodged, appeared behind him, and raised her fingers.

  Five sparks ignited.

  “Shahar (Heat)!”

  The sparks grew into blazing spheres of magma and fire, slamming into the giant and detonating with such force the ground cracked open like a meteor had struck.

  But Surtr was not finished. Screaming, he burst from the smoke with his sword ready.

  Fed up, Tania caught the blade with her hand, unfazed.

  “Shahar (Heat)!!”

  She unleashed a volley of fiery orbs like falling stars—each smashing into his abdomen, tearing through his icy armor, and erupting in violent bursts.

  Surtr collapsed to his knees.

  Tania snatched his sword and tossed it out of the battlefield.

  “You can’t defeat me, trash. Before you die, I want to hear you apologize for the souls you massacred yesterday.”

  Surtr laughed.

  “This isn’t over. Now you’ll witness the true power of my kind.”

  Tania drew her fire claws, ready to finish him.

  “Humans who worship us,” Surtr said, “use hallucinogens and ritual wounds to turn into beasts when they fight. Berserkers, ulfhednar, svinfylkings… believing that wearing the hides of wild animals turns them into monsters—boosting strength, speed, fury.”

  He slowly rose.

  “I can do the same.”

  Then, with his fingers, Surtr ripped his own eyes out and clawed his face, blood gushing everywhere—so grotesque even Tania recoiled in disgust.

  He chanted through the blood:

  “Jeg gir opp tankene mine for Kraft (I forsake my mind for Power.)”

  And at that instant—

  Tania felt his divine power spike violently.

  “This isn’t normal,” she thought.