The spark that had gained new power now kindled flames in an even newer direction.
In the southwest of the world, within the Red Forest occupied by the Ignis Empire.
At the heart of that forest, the researchers Lexa, Calteon, and Nexor were observing an experiment.
An energy core had been installed inside a device heated scorching hot by fire, and around it were piled branches taken from the forest.
“Is it going well?”
Nexor asked in a whisper.
No one responded to his words.
Everyone was focused solely on the device.
The device had been made using an ember core, and the fire and wood energies contained within the ember core were connecting the energy core to the energy of the wood.
After a moment, Lexa spoke as if she had discovered something.
“Everyone, look there.”
She pointed at the energy core.
The colorless energy core gradually began to take on a blue light.
The other researchers noticed the change as well.
Lexa murmured.
“The energy… it’s going in…….”
Soon, the device glowed an even deeper red.
The branches gradually blackened and charred, but at the same time, the energy core was being dyed blue.
“It worked! It’s finally reacting!”
Calteon shouted as well.
The once transparent energy core now bore the green hue of the forest.
When the reaction seemed to stop, Lexa approached the device.
She carefully removed the core from the device.
Then she peered closely inside it.
“This is it!”
Lexa shouted.
“This is definitely Sylva’s core. The wavelength coming from this core is identical!”
Lexa handed the core to Calteon.
The core, still retaining its heat, had a slightly reddish surface.
But the energy swirling within it was unmistakably that of a life core.
“Impossible…… We actually did it!”
The newly born core passed from Calteon to Nexor.
“Is this real?”
Nexor still looked as though he could not believe it.
Lexa said,
“We created it ourselves, so its appearance may be different. But it’s certain that wood energy is inside it. I can guarantee that. Compare them.”
Nexor compared Sylva’s life core with the core they had just made.
The waves caused by the energy inside matched.
“Oh…… I truly can’t believe it. Then does this mean we can now create cores containing wood energy as well?”
At Nexor’s question, Lexa nodded.
“Yes. There’s even a subtle trace of our fire energy lingering in this core. If we fuse this into an ember core, we should be able to kindle an even stronger fire.”
Lexa spoke to the researchers.
“Now, let’s report this to His Majesty. We’ve accomplished something tremendous.”
The researchers headed to the fortress, carrying the life core they had brought into being.
The first red life core was presented before Emperor Vulcanus.
“So this is the core made from the forest?”
Vulcanus silently picked it up.
“Its color…… resembles us.”
Lexa answered confidently.
“That is because their energy was extracted by us.”
The spark flowing in Vulcanus’s hand shone more brightly.
It was clearly because of the core in his hand.
“Now we, too, can possess what belongs to Sylva.”
The retainers and researchers looked at one another.
Pellos cheered.
“It’s a success! This is all thanks to you. Our spark is reborn once again!”
Ragdor also added a word.
“Indeed, our flames can now spread outward again.”
Varkas shouted as well.
“We are the ones who lead this era!”
The red life core was still shining.
A life core that possessed the pulse of life, yet carried the energy of fire.
It was not yet an ember core, but if fused with a flame core, it would burn even hotter.
Ignis’s next move was obvious.
At the southern fusion facility of Volcanium, the researchers immediately attempted to produce ember cores by fusing red life cores with flame cores.
It did not take very long for the results to appear.
Just as everyone had expected, a complete ember core revealed itself before them.
“Ohh…….”
Calteon gently lifted the ember core.
“The core we created truly is Sylva’s core. To think it even fused into an ember core without issue.”
Nexor examined the ember core as well and said,
“Perhaps it’s just my imagination, but the spark seems brighter.”
Lexa nodded.
“It must be because it is a core born from our fire.”
Before long, red life cores began to be mass-produced in the Red Forest.
And the produced life cores were immediately fused into ember cores.
Those ember cores, in turn, became Carbonized Infantry and Coal Throwers.
The ember soldiers that had begun to be produced one by one lined up in formation before the ember barracks.
There was a subtle difference between them and the existing ember soldiers.
The sparks burning across their bodies blazed brighter and hotter than before.
The citizens of Volcanium came to see them as well.
Among the citizens, the news that their empire had succeeded in producing life cores had already spread widely.
“Unbelievable. So those were made even without Sylva’s help……?”
“That’s what they say. We no longer need to depend on Sylva. They say we can produce ember cores ourselves and create troops like that.”
“Wow…….”
One citizen said happily,
“We were the first to create dual-attribute cores too, weren’t we? And now we’re the first to create another people’s core ourselves?”
“That must be right. That’s why we’re Ignis.”
Meanwhile, Vulcanus made a declaration inside the fortress.
“Now we command two energies at once. Ignis will not be extinguished. It is time to prepare for the next era.”
The gazes of the retainers crossed.
Everyone already had a sense of what that next era meant.
The researchers gathered once more at the fusion facility.
Lexa began to speak.
“In truth, our true objective was the fusion of a triple-attribute core. Producing Sylva’s core was nothing more than an intermediate step. Now it is time to move to the final stage.”
Calteon answered,
“Of course. We can’t wait any longer. Everything is ready.”
Lexa placed four or five flame cores, Aqua’s wave cores, and Sylva’s and their own life cores on the table.
The wave cores placed there made up most of the quantity they still had left.
Nexor looked at Lexa and said,
“It seems we’ll need to be able to make Aqua’s cores too, won’t we?”
Lexa answered as if it were no great matter.
“That doesn’t matter for now. Since we’ve even made Sylva’s cores, creating Aqua’s cores is only a matter of time. Let’s focus only on this for now.”
Using the three kinds of single-attribute cores, they fused geyser cores and ember cores.
Lexa explained to the researchers.
“This was the method. Fusing three kinds of dual-attribute cores all at once. Geyser cores are fused from fire and water, ember cores from fire and wood, and slime cores from water and wood. These three cores connect with one another. Since all three are dual-attribute cores, one core can be connected to the other two at the same time, and because they are all the same dual attribute, the strength of their energies is equal. This is what Terramont meant.”
Three cylindrical fusion devices were arranged in a triangular shape.
Each was a place for one different dual-attribute core.
The researchers placed a geyser core and an ember core into two of them.
The geyser core contained heat that seemed to erupt endlessly.
And the ember core held a spark that would not go out.
At that moment, Calteon froze.
“Wait. It feels like something is missing……?”
The final device was emptily vacant.
Lexa, too, seemed to realize something had gone wrong and stared blankly at the device.
“What is this……?”
On the table lay a small number of wave cores and life cores, but there was no slime core at all.
“We still don’t have the last one.”
A slime core was the fusion of Aqua’s wave core and Sylva’s life core.
It was not a core created by fusing with Ignis’s flame core.
Nexor watched the researchers’ reactions and asked,
“Couldn’t we possibly try fusing it ourselves? Sylva’s core does have a little fire energy mixed in, after all…….”
“No, we can’t.”
Calteon answered firmly.
“Have we ever fused a slime core before? We don’t have that technology.”
Nexor’s voice trembled.
“N-no, that’s true, but…… then perhaps we could research that technology now…….”
“No.”
Lexa shook her head in discouragement.
“It may be a core we produced, but the energy occupying the center of that core is wood energy. We don’t have the technology to fuse water and wood, and to begin with, we can’t handle the energies of others themselves. Honestly, even saying that we command wood energy is an exaggeration. We can produce Sylva’s cores and fuse them into ember cores, but it’s impossible for us to develop using Sylva’s cores alone.”
The only dual-attribute cores Ignis could fuse were geyser, ember, gold, and lava cores.
The remaining six types of dual-attribute cores did not use Ignis’s flame cores as materials, so Ignis could not fuse them.
Deep dejection spread across the researchers’ faces.
Calteon said quietly,
“As expected, the problem isn’t so easily solved. Simply possessing three kinds of cores was not enough to create a triple-attribute core.”
The researchers had understood the meaning of the clue Terramont had provided precisely.
However, the key to realizing that clue did not exist in their hands.
Lexa said weakly,
“Let’s tell His Majesty. It seems this is as far as we can go.”
She left the fusion facility first, and Calteon and Nexor crept along after her.
Inside the fortress, Emperor Vulcanus, his retainers, and the three researchers gathered together.
Lexa reported the current situation, and Vulcanus listened without a word.
The atmosphere around them sank heavily, and no one dared to open their mouth.
At last, Vulcanus spoke in a low voice.
“The third piece of the key is not in our hands……?”
The researchers looked down at the floor with tense eyes.
Vulcanus slowly rose to his feet.
“Then there is only one thing we can do now.”
His voice resounded roughly, like a flame.
“We have no choice but to go to them ourselves and bring back a slime core.”
While the researchers were still watching anxiously, the retainers stirred.
Varkas said,
“Your Majesty, surely you don’t intend to take it from Sylva as you did back then? This time, I doubt they will simply let themselves be robbed…….”
“No. We will not head for Sylva.”
This time, Ragdor asked,
“Then Aqua? In the current situation, how could we possibly approach Aqua……?”
But Vulcanus had already subdued them with the look of one who had made up his mind.
“Ignis has no time to wait. I do not wish to hesitate when the goal is only a single step away.”
“Your Majesty!”
Pellos cried.
He explained calmly,
“I beg you to make a prudent choice once more. What the researchers need now is not a core of Aqua or Sylva, but a slime core fused from the two. It is not an object that can be obtained through force alone. We need to approach this somewhat more flexibly.”
The light in Vulcanus’s eyes dimmed somewhat.
“Then do you have a better idea?”
He looked at his retainers.