Chapter 211: Maddy Met the Primordial of Adventurers... Is She in Trouble!? — Part 2.

Prometheus circled her again, but the predatory edge in his movement had turned into pure, unadulterated amusement. He looked at her not as a judge, but as a man watching a masterpiece unfold.

"To think! A creature that usually exists only to be hunted is now standing in my forge, demanding a license to hunt its own hunters!"

He laughed again, the violet flames around his feet dancing with his joy.

"You have become one of my subjects, Chimera. You seek to use the very system built to destroy your kind to protect your own. The irony is delicious!"

Maddy’s mana retracted, her sharp, predatory tension replaced by a genuine look of confusion. She blinked at the laughing god, she had prepared for a battle of words and belief that would leave the room in ashes, but she hadn’t prepared for a... comedy.

"W-wait, i-is that it? You’re... not going to stop me? I am a threat to your entire nation. I am a monster wearing the skin of your chosen people. Shouldn’t you be calling the guards or smiting me, burning me into nothing?"

Prometheus stopped his pacing, his flaming chest still heaving with the remnants of his mirth. He snapped his fingers, and the fire around them surged, pulsing with a life of its own.

"Stop you? My job is to ignite the hearts of those who enter my flames. Anyone who possesses the strength to stand before me is my subject. It is my duty to see them for what they are and set them on their path."

He leaned in, a mischievous glint in his fiery eyes.

"Of course, you cheated a little. You reached this place by eating my subjects, which is how you gained the essence to walk through my fire without turning into charcoal. But that is just resourceful, isn’t it?"

Maddy frowned.

"And the fact that I might destroy this nation? The fact that I am a ’chimera’ pretending to be a human?"

Prometheus waved a hand dismissively, his expression turning cold and indifferent for a split second.

"I am a Primordial, worm. I do not interfere with the petty affairs of my subjects. If you end this nation, then it ends. When a species reaches its limit and vanishes, we simply create a new one to take its place. That is the grand design. That is how this world works."

He straightened up, his form becoming more regal and distant.

"I am here to give the spark. What you do with the fire whether you use it to cook a meal for your children or burn a kingdom to the ground—is of no concern to me. I find the latter much more entertaining, honestly."

Maddy stared at the towering manifestation of flame, a cold thought crossing her mind.

"So, a Primordial cannot interfere with their subjects..."

She felt a bitter sense of familiarity.

"It was just like the God from Earth. He watched from above while every cruel thing happened to their creations, staying silent and uncaring while the world burned. We just called it "free will" or "divine plan," but to me? It always just felt like neglect."

A small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth,

"Well, I suppose this version is a bit better. In this world, you can actually talk to your God. You can argue with him. Maybe, I could even invite him to a game of chess!"

She liked the idea of a god she could look in the eye. It made the universe feel a little less lonely and a lot more dangerous. Prometheus laughed one last time.

"Now, let us finish this. You wanted to become an adventure, didn’t you? Let’s see what kind of ’hero’ a monster can become."

The flaming figure extended a hand, the heat shimmering in waves.

"The tokens, little monster. Give me the wood you earned from earlier."

Maddy reached into her pouch and pulled out the two wooden tokens Philip and the receptionist had granted her. She held them out, and Prometheus plucked them from her palm with fingers made of pure light.

"Watch closely. This is the exciting part!"

With theatrical flair, Prometheus brought his hands together in a single, resonant clap. The wooden sigil melted instantly, its form dissolving as he reshaped it with effortless precision.

He reached into the air itself, weaving the very essence of the chamber into something tangible. Molten metal gathered and took shape, glowing with a deep, swirling, Black Smoke—Maddy’s flame from the first trial. The mark of her F-rank.

A flame not of weakness... but of potential. A color that could grow.

At the center of the plate, two symbols etched themselves into the surface: a heavy greatsword crossed with a small shield. The marks pulsed with a faint light, signifying her dual mastery.

"A gift for the mother of monsters."

Prometheus declared, holding the plate out. Maddy took it. The wood was still cooling, the heat stinging her skin and sending a pleasant hum through her arm. She stared at the Black Smoke finish. It was beautiful and terrifying, a perfect reflection of the mask she wore.

"T-thank you... Primordial Prometheus. May I ask, is this... because you find me amusing? Because I’m an irrgeular in your system?"

Prometheus leaned in, his flaming face inches from hers. The mockery was gone.

"No... and I know you can see through lies as well. Listen. It is because I can see that beneath the teeth and the mana of that monster... there is still a grieving girl from Earth. A girl who lost everything and chose to fight back. Miss Madelaine."

Maddy’s heart skipped. Her breath caught as her grip on the plate tightened. He didn’t just know her name—he knew her pain.

He knew the wife who had been killed by her own husband. The woman who had been beaten until she was made to look like the broken one. The girl who cried in the dark long before she ever became a queen... or a chimera.

"How do you— How do you know me?"

Her voice trembled, the question breaking apart as tears threatened to fall. Before they could, Prometheus snapped his fingers.

"Grow well, Madelaine. The Trial of Heart is complete... now—ignite your heart."