Swallow a river

"Do you take me for a fool!" Ifrit bellowed as the flames he was made up burst out with more fervor.

Max shrugged. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Bastard!" Ifrit exclaimed after which he formed a fireball the size of a basketball on his right hand, hurling it at Max with a vengeance.

"Too slow." Max teased as he leaped out of the way. The fireball passed by him and for a moment, it seemed like all was well.

At least that was until Flow of Peril screamed for him to evade once again. It was then he realized that fireball was not dealt with yet.

Sidestepping out of the way, the fireball passed from behind him before it began to follow him like a moth to the flame.

Max was forced to move back while thinking of a means to take care of it.

Meanwhile, Ifrit turned his attention to Gibby as he knew that he had a hand in Cedric's disappearance.

For now, his Sire was fine, but if something were to happen to Cedric, Ifrit's summoning would be canceled and that was something he didn't want to happen before he had taken care of Max.

Gibby was quite aware of what would happen if he got caught, Thus, he fled. "Flee!"

Clasping his front legs together, he transported back to Golden Clover with a poof.

Seeing such a cowardly act, Ifrit gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Damn it!... What do I do now?... I can't be sure that the Max here is real, those Sages have never been so straightforward. Ah… just thinking about this is bringing back old memories."

With no other option, Ifrit resolved to handle Max for now.

Max on the other hand had just about had it with the fireball that kept him constantly on his toes. "Okay, that's it."

Pulling out a stick from his side, it quickly enlarged to reveal the Staff of Order (fake).

Twirling it, he blocked the fireball, albeit burning himself slightly.

Seeing this, Ifrit remarked as he approached from the side. "So my flames can harm you."

Max rolled his eyes. "No shit Sherlock."

"So how exactly have you been hitting me?... The flames on my body are my strongest defense and you shouldn't be able to touch them so casually." Ifrit asked.

"You ask a lot of questions. Do you do this in all your fights?" Max shot back.

"No, just against the ones that piss me off to no end!" Ifrit roared as he put up his palm creating yet another fireball but this time he allowed it to expand, increasing its lethality as its size grew.

"So we can assume that Fireball, is his best offensive ability. Fine then, nothing to fear… yet." Max thought as he weaved hand signs in quick succession.

Clasping his palms together, he muttered. "I hope it's ready."

Just then, Ifrit's fireball was half the size of a wrecking ball with the heat intensity melting the area around him.

"Die!" He roared as he launched it at Max.

Besides Max, a poof was heard after which a slightly larger frog made an appearance.

This one was twice the size of an average human and had quite a robust figure with orange skin and red dots around its body.

Its mouth was unusually large, giving off the impression that it was holding in something.

As the fireball crossed half the distance to strike Max, he pointed at it while yelling. "This would be a good time to open your mouth, Mal!"

The frog put up one of its appendages and made a gesture that looked a lot like a thumbs up after which it opened its mouth followed by a stream of pressured water bursting out.

Ifrit was stunned at first before he sneered. "You think just this much water can stop my flames!"

Charging more magic into the fireball, it enlarged considerably once again.

Finally, both elements collided.

Boom

Steam was immediately produced as the water rapidly evaporated as it came in contact with Ifrit's fireball.

Of course, the fireball was slowly but surely getting filed down as its size reduced with each passing moment.

Ifrit continued this exchange for a little while longer before he had to accept that he wouldn't be able to beat the continuous stream of water that seemed to have no end.

The worst part was that he couldn't sense any magic from the water, so it meant that the frog was using ordinary water to combat his magical flames.

Ifrit was inclined to spit magma at this point.

A second later and the fireball ceased to exist after which Mal also closed his mouth, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Thankfully he didn't continue."

Max nudged him. "Still got some more left in the tank?"

Mal nodded slightly. "But of course, do you doubt my stomach?"

Max chuckled. "Not at all."

The frogs were a queer existence as their bodies, due to the actions of their old Geezer, mutated to contain specific abilities straight from the three great laws of the Samsara.

For Mal, it was his stomach that got affected by the great law of Space, which gave him a void-like physique that allowed him to swallow anything and everything as long as he opened his mouth.

Max had thought of making Mal swallow Ifrit's flames but he had a feeling that Ifrit would be more willing to detonate it if he realizes where his attacks were being sent to.

And swallowing Ifrit would be even worse thus he opted for something much better and with little chance of injury… Swallow a river.

There were several rives on Golden Clover and Mal just had to swallow one whole. This was the reason why Ifrit felt no magic from Mal's attack.

With a natural counter for Ifrit now beside him, Max felt more confident in handling the mass of flames until Cedric was taken care of.

"I wonder how things are on the other side." Max wondered.