I felt it the moment another Frost Giant collapsed into ash.
Something inside me shifted.
The system reacted.
Power didn't crawl through my body — it snapped into place.
Template Progress: 3%.
I almost laughed.
So that was the secret.
Combat.
Killing.
Real battle.
Risk.
The faster I fought, the faster I evolved.
New power surged through me without hesitation.
My shadow peeled away from my feet for a split second — then stepped forward.
A second me.
A perfect copy.
Body Double.
Magic inside my core rotated differently — fire wasn't just something I cast anymore.
It cycled.
It fed itself.
Magic Flare Cycle… activated.
The air around me distorted as heat spiraled outward.
My heartbeat synced with flame.
My blood felt like molten gold.
Combustion.
A single Frost Giant tried to ambush me from behind.
I didn't even fully turn.
I flexed my fingers.
And he exploded.
Not burned.
Not blasted.
Internally combusted.
Like he was a candle lit from the inside.
Another surge of knowledge slammed into my mind.
Something darker.
Colder.
More dangerous.
Unique Skill: Degenerate.
My power wasn't just growing anymore.
It was breaking down and rewriting everything I touched.
Fire coiled around my hands without a wand.
Fire Manipulation.
Not casting.
Not channeling.
Commanding.
And then I felt it.
My body… loosened.
Like clay in my own hands.
My bones didn't ache.
My flesh didn't resist.
Human Mimicry acquired.
I understood instantly.
Rimuru's form.
And if I wanted—
Female.
Refined.
Beautiful.
A magic adjustment away.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
But later.
War was still screaming around me.
I refocused.
My body double moved ahead, slicing through Frost Giants while I lifted higher into the frozen clouds, looking down on the battlefield.
Tom and Sauron were holding entire fronts.
Asgardian troops had stopped retreating.
They were following me.
Believing in me.
A Frost Giant general rose from the ice — massive, ancient, wrapped in cursed frost.
It roared my direction.
I smiled.
"Let's test these new skills."
Fire twisted around my arms, dense and alive.
"Combustion: Overdrive."
The world flashed white-hot.
And the war leaned in my favor.