With another shriek, he watched in horror as the big orb of water descended upon him. There was no way he'd survive such a powerful attack. He'd be dead lizard meat!

Fwoooosh!

Grglrgrlgrglrglrgrlgr~! The Salamander inhaled water and choked and gagged on it until ultimately, it fainted with its flames all extinguished.

As his eyes slowly closed he caught a glimpse of Satoshi, who had been floating in mid-air with the use of his Nailgun familiar. For a moment, he remembered the time when he was captured by a summoner just like Satoshi, and he was told to do his bidding in attacking this world in this dimension. Even though it was against his will, the Alpha Red Salamander was forced to do the summoner's bidding. After all, he lost in the contest of might against the summoner and he was even captured. There was nothing he could do but obey.

But now!

With the help of Satoshi and his desire to get out of that bind, the summoner's attachment to him had been cut off completely— right when Satoshi beat him fair and square in a contest of might. As his consciousness dwindled, he felt more at peace than usual. 'If I died here, then I'd have died peacefully. At the very least, I could finally put a stop to wreaking havoc... I've killed so many under the influence of that summoner... do I deserve to die peacefully?' The Alpha Red Salamander said to itself.

"All right! Now we summon the blue flames. This should work." Satoshi said to himself.

After he floated down to the ground, he began doing his weird ritual dance once again, summoning the Blue Flames that would enable him to capture the Alpha Red Salamander and make it stronger under his wing. "Uoooh~! Ah! Whoo!" He grunted, the Blue Flames getting larger and larger.

Not enough!

Not yet!

Satoshi knew that his superpower had its own inconsistency and there was a good chance that the Blue Flames won't be enough to capture the Alpha Red Salamander. If by any chance the flames weren't strong enough, it will touch a nearby creature and make it his familiar instead. Satoshi couldn't afford that. Judging by the sheer size of the Alpha Red Salamander, he needed more willpower on that Blue Flame to bring it into submission.

A good minute passed and the Blue Flame dancing around the palms of Satoshi's hand grew to a size of a yoga ball, ever burning but its flames were as tranquil as ever, and the heat emanating from it was warm, not the usual heat of flames that could burn. "Whoo!" Satoshi voiced out, forcing the Blue Flames to touch the unconscious salamander.

Fwooom!!!

A sudden surge of energy emerged from the Alpha Red Salamander as its eyes flipped open. It let out a thunderous shriek, and the flames it released was more intense compared to before. With a thud, the Alpha Red Salamander got to his feet and walked toward Satoshi.

Satoshi put up his hands, not knowing what to do. Did the Blue Flames work? Did it not work? It was too late for him to ask those questions since the Alpha Red Salamander caught him off guard. By the time he realized what was happening, the Alpha Red Salamander's face was already pressed against him.

"Ouch! I'm going to burn to dea— eh?" Satoshi let out such an embarrassing scream but nothing happened. Emma chuckled at him, much to his embarrassment.

With a calm gaze and a gentle shove, the Alpha Red Salamander pressed his forehead on Satoshi. ''Thank you... for setting me free. I-I don't think I deserve a second chance... after all those murders, and those wrongdoings I was forced to do... thank you, new master.'

Somehow, the Alpha Red Salamander transmitted a signal towards Satoshi's head, allowing them to converse with one another.

"I uh... I see! Hehe, welcome to the team! From now on you'll be known as Pyromander! How do you like that name?" Satoshi said, patting the Alpha Red Salamander.

The Alpha Red Salamander didn't transmit any signal, instead, it began cooing, almost like a purr coming out from a cat. Satoshi could tell that the new member of the team was satisfied with his new identity.

"Satoshi, are you all right?" Emma asked. She seemed more beat up than Satoshi even though she was just on the sidelines.

"Yes, I'm all right. Let's go, can you make another portal for us?"

Emma nodded. "Thanks to your familiar Sera, I can create another portal going back."

"Nice," Satoshi heaved a sigh of relief. At the very least, the plan worked and he snagged another powerful familiar for his team While its powers were somewhat similar to his other fiery familiar, Lighter, Satoshi was confident that the two of them won't disappoint... and that they'd have unique traits and uses in the battlefield.

.....

"All right, it's time for us to go," Emma called out to Satoshi who had been patting the head of the Alpha Red Salamander all this time. She couldn't believe that in such a short span of time, the two who once faced each other on the battlefield were already that close.

"All right!"

Once again, Satoshi hesitated to step foot inside the portal but he mustered all his courage to do so. It was as sinister as ever, and he could tell that Emma's portals had gotten stronger compared to before, probably due to the buffs that Sera gave her.

[Have her send us to the Dungeon Spire, Satoshi] Dex informed him in his brain.

With a nod, Satoshi relayed the instructions. "Dex told us to go near Dungeon Spire. Can you do it?"

"On it!" Emma gritted her teeth, controlling her portals even more. It hasn't been that long since she got back to her world and now she had to leave again. While she hasn't been able to locate her family, she could feel it in her bones that they are still alive. 'Mother, Father, I'll be back again soon,' She thought to herself as she stepped foot inside the portal with Satoshi.

Fwoooosh!

One moment, they were in the dimension where Emma came from, the next moment, they were back on Earth, specifically on the Sea of Japan where the Dungeon Spire spawned.

But that wasn't the only thing in the Sea of Japan.

Right behind the Dungeon Spire stood a huge gate, bigger and more threatening than the previous gates that showed up a couple of weeks ago.