Chapter 47: Flame Giant

With Ji Jige watching, Meng Linna couldn’t act freely.

For her, finding evidence was just an excuse.

Their sole purpose here was to wipe out the Fire Seekers.

Her past life taught her none were innocent.

Standing before a villager’s shack, pondering her approach, a deep bell tolled from the village center.

“Dong—”

As if on cue, villagers flung open their doors.

They marched toward the ringing square, drawn like moths to flame.

“Ugh!”

Caught off guard, Meng Linna got smacked by a door.

The villager ignored her, heading straight for the square.

“Hey, you!”

Meng Linna wanted an apology, but the villager, deaf to her, kept going.

Ji Jige sensed something off.

“Let’s follow.”

The trio trailed the villager to the cliff-edge square.

It was now a heretic gathering.

Villagers stared blankly at the magma, lost in thought.

As more gathered, they seemed to sense the group was complete.

They began jumping into the magma, one by one.

Na Naya, stunned, hadn’t seen this before.

“They’re… committing suicide?”

Without knowing the Flame Giant or their evil fire god, it made sense to ask.

Heading to the gathering, Ji Jige explained.

“The evil fire god demands live sacrifices. Offering lives is just daily routine for it.”

Na Naya frowned.

“We have to stop them!”

“Of course!”

Meng Linna didn’t just talk.

She acted.

Raising her Crystal Saint Bell, she fired a water cannon at the villagers.

Eliminate the sacrifices before they reached the evil god.

That was her plan.

From a pragmatic view, Ji Jige admired Meng Linna’s efficiency.

But as a young nun, her ease in killing strangers worried Ji Jige.

How could she act so unburdened?

Before Ji Jige could speak, the ground shook violently.

“Earthquake?”

Na Naya steadied herself.

Meng Linna, less sturdy, slipped toward the cliff.

She grabbed the bell, barely avoiding becoming a sacrifice.

“Careful. Something bad’s coming.”

Ji Jige warned Na Naya, pulling Meng Linna back.

Suspicious of her, but Meng Linna was on their side.

“Thanks.”

Meng Linna wiped her sweat.

Her past life had no memory of this.

They’d found the Flame Giant Whip, and the chief started a live sacrifice.

But it only summoned a fire bishop.

This commotion?

Something bigger.

Before she could guess, a giant hand rose from the magma’s edge, slamming the ground.

“Wah!”

With a roar, a red-hot figure climbed out.

Four to five meters tall, bare except for pants.

Beyond normal features, its abdomen had a closed mouth and eye. (TN: Lol it’s literally the Fire Giant from Elden Ring)

Fiery red hair marked its identity.

“Flame Giant?”

Meng Linna recognized it instantly.

But why?

In her past life, the chief didn’t summon a Flame Giant.

Wait—the chief?

Did her pushing him into the magma make him a sacrifice, summoning this?

Her theory made sense.

Too late now.

The Flame Giant saw them as enemies.

It bent down, scooping a volcanic rock from the magma, hurling it at Meng Linna.

A hit could kill her.

Anticipating the target, Meng Linna reacted fast.

She dodged, her weak body bursting with speed under death’s threat.

Ji Jige wasn’t idle.

Seeing Meng Linna evade, she pulled out her holy seal, roaring.

She transformed into a giant bear.

Her roar boosted her allies’ strength.

Meng Linna knew this was Ji Jige’s nature school ability, “Bear Roar.”

The bear form and roar gave a strength buff.

Useless for a mage-cleric like her, though.

“I’ll draw its fire. You two attack from behind!”

Ji Jige gave quick orders, charging the Flame Giant.

It tried fishing more rocks for ranged attacks.

But Ji Jige’s four-legged charge forced it to abandon that, grappling her instead.

Normal Flame Giants were S-rank, stronger than A-rank.

Even at the low end, they were beyond most adventurers.

For some reason, this one wasn’t S-rank.

More like mid-to-high A-rank.

Still, it was too much for Meng Linna and Na Naya.

Na Naya’s recent Water Spirit failure lingered.