The flames came to a halt, and once again began to consider their direction.
The fusion facility located in the south of the Ignis Empire was bustling once more.
“The birth of a new core is close at hand again……”
Researcher Lexa’s eyes burned red with anticipation.
Inside the circular chamber within the core fusion device were two kinds of cores.
The red energy of flame and the blue energy of life clashed against each other, vibrating amid a subtle dissonance.
Another researcher, Calteon, spoke.
“It seems the cores from Silva keep getting scorched black, but I suppose that’s just how it is?”
Lexa answered calmly.
“That’s right. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a problem. Metal melts in our flames, but wood remains useful even when it burns.”
Lexa adjusted the fusion values of the waves with trembling fingertips.
Behind her, Emperor Vulcanus approached.
“Is progress going well?”
Lexa answered with confidence.
“Yes. The birth of a new core is imminent. When fire expands, wood absorbs it. This relationship is not an equal union, but compared to the collision with the Metallum Core, it is relatively harmonious.”
Vulcanus nodded.
“We succeeded in fusing with the cores of those Metallum bastards, so there is no reason fusion with the Silva Core should fail. That is why this is good. And this is not harmony, but infiltration. Infiltration from fire into wood.”
At that moment, the Flame Core emitted a red flash.
“Ah……?!”
Lexa let out a short scream.
It seemed they had finally reached a matching vibration.
The fusion device began to shake.
“Ah! The cores are……!”
Calteon shouted as he peered at the cores inside the device.
The Flame Cores that had been touching them were digging into the Life Cores and fusing into one.
Even amid that, the Flame Core still glowed red, and soon that light transferred to the Life Cores, covering their surfaces.
“The cores have caught fire…… but the flames aren’t going out!”
Unlike previous reactions, the flames were being maintained on the surfaces of the Life Cores.
The cores adhered to each other more and more, trying to form a single core as if they had merged into one.
Vulcanus and the researchers held their breath as they watched the reaction.
How much time had passed?
The reaction seemed to have ended.
Inside the now-quiet device, only a dark brown sphere remained, giving off intermittent glimmers of firelight.
“C-could this be……?”
Lexa gently placed her hand on the core.
Compared to a Flame Core, the core was not hot, but it was not cold either.
It was still burning, and it did not go out.
The smoke rising from its edges scattered like ash, only to gather again.
Vulcanus said in a low voice.
“This is a Cinder Core.”
Cinder Core, the name of the third dual-attribute core born from the fusion of fire and wood.
The researchers, having finally succeeded in fusing a new core, cried out in triumph.
“It’s a success!!”
“A new core has been born!!”
“Wh-what? A Cinder Core……?!”
Vulcanus picked up the Cinder Core and looked down at it.
“The fusion of fire and wood. Metal can be melted by fire, and earth can be dug apart by wood. And even water can be dried up by this powerful fire.”
Ignis had finally obtained something that could surpass their own opposing relationship.
Even the Golden Core, whose fusion they had previously succeeded in, could not make the energy of fire overwhelm the energy of water, because the energy of metal aided water.
However, the Cinder Core contained no energy that aided water, so the energy of fire could overcome the energy of water.
Vulcanus called Phelos.
“Your Majesty, you summoned me?”
Vulcanus gave him an order.
“A new core has been completed. We have enough cores, so build barracks at once and produce soldiers.”
Because the Ignis soldiers had plundered a large quantity of cores from Silva, they already possessed enough resources to construct Cinder Barracks and train a new troop type.
Soon, Cinder Barracks were erected in a burning clearing.
And at the center of the barracks, within a frame into which a Cinder Core had been inserted, something was slowly taking shape.
Something that had first been gathered together like black soot began, as time passed, to burn from within as though a red heart were beating.
At last, a single soldier was born.
His name was Carbonized Infantry.
He had no armor and carried no weapon.
His entire body was cracked like charred tree bark, and red flames rose from every fissure.
The movements of the Carbonized Infantry were slower than fire, but the flames passing through his body did not go out.
Smoke rose from every patch of ground he stepped on.
He looked even hotter than the existing troop types: Flame Infantry, Flame Lancers, and Knights of Crimson Flame.
“There is no body temperature dispersion reaction. And the destroyed tissue is recombining through self-combustion.”
Lexa’s voice was close to awestruck disbelief.
Barkas muttered to himself.
“So that’s how it is…… The wood that composes the body is acting as fuel. That’s why it can burn even more fiercely.”
The Carbonized Infantry had no expression.
They merely moved toward their target.
Anything they touched had its surface burned away, as though it had been ignited.
The Carbonized Infantry burned their opponents to ash.
Vulcanus and his retainers moved together.
They still had work left to do.
Vulcanus spoke.
“What the Cinder Core can confront is water, metal, and earth. Since the Cinder Core is made of fire and wood, it does not harm wood. But we also have the Golden Core. Use the Metal Cores obtained in the last war to build Golden Barracks.”
“Yes, understood.”
The researchers of the fusion facility consumed the newly acquired Metal Cores to fuse additional Golden Cores, and these were used as materials for the Golden Barracks.
In the western clearing of Volcanium, Golden Barracks with a red sheen were created, and at last, another new form of soldier appeared from within.
The soldier born from the Golden Barracks was called Molten Infantry.
His appearance was smooth like metal.
Red metal plates, rare even within the Metallum Empire, covered his body, and molten red lines flowed between every joint.
Metal that seemed to glow red-hot.
Was this truly the metal Metallum had wanted so desperately to obtain?
Barkas said,
“The Molten Infantry is specialized for siege warfare. If the Carbonized Infantry scatters boiling heat in every direction, the Molten Infantry crushes targets with pressure and weight.”
Vulcanus said briefly,
“Our gold has finally returned. The dream of conquest is drawing closer and closer.”
Ignis, now possessing two kinds of dual-attribute cores, had nothing to fear.
If there was one problem, it was that their resources were limited.
To produce more Golden Cores and Cinder Cores, they would have to plunder cores from the Metallum Empire and Silva Empire respectively.
The strategy room was not as quiet as the firelight.
Around Vulcanus sat Barkas, Ragdor, Phelos, and Lexa.
Vulcanus said,
“The Cinder Core and the Golden Core. The Carbonized Infantry and the Molten Infantry. The troop types currently in our hands are more complete than those of any other empire. We will be able to face anyone.”
Barkas asked Lexa,
“I heard Aqua and Silva joined forces to create a Slime Core. How do our cores match up against it?”
Lexa answered calmly.
“The Slime Core is a core formed by the meeting of water and wood. First, looking at the Cinder Core, fire can defeat water through a counter-overcoming relationship, has no effect on wood, and wood also has no effect on water. Therefore, the match is decided depending on the strength of their power, splitting between a counter-overcoming or an overcoming relationship.”
“Hmm.”
“And in the case of the Golden Core, metal aids water, but harms wood. This generating and overcoming relationship cancels each other out, leaving only the counter-overcoming or overcoming relationship between fire and water.”
“So the strength of power is what matters, after all?”
“However, I discovered an interesting relationship here.”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Lexa.
She continued her explanation.
“Earlier, I said that the outcome between the Cinder Core and the Slime Core is determined by the strength of their power, but even so, we have the advantage. Because from the Slime Core’s perspective, water can extinguish fire, but wood can make fire burn even more fiercely. In addition, the water of the Slime Core can have a positive effect on the wood of the Cinder Core. When calculated, this means the Slime Core is incapable of harming the Cinder Core at all. The Cinder Core, on the other hand, may or may not be able to harm the Slime Core.”
In other words, while the Slime Core could fight the Golden Core on equal terms, its relationship with the Cinder Core was one-sided.
The reason such an imbalanced relationship occurred was that even the generating relationship itself was one-directional.
Barkas lowered his head and fell into thought.
“It is difficult to give a definite answer. Right now, Aqua and Silva must be sharing the Slime Core. If we put forth the Golden Core, they will counter with the Slime Core, but if we fight with the Cinder Core, it will have no effect on Silva itself.”
Ragdor answered his words.
“Not every problem can be solved with just one kind of core. We will need to fuse and possess even more varied dual-attribute cores. They will never be idle either.”
At that moment, Phelos cautiously opened his mouth.
“But there is something troubling……”
Phelos’s words settled heavily over the strategy room.
“Metallum. Have you heard the news? After the battle that day ended, they immediately advanced into Terra. They even succeeded in joining forces with Terra there to defend against Silva’s attack. It seems that even after fighting us, not a single inch of their front line collapsed.”
The strategy room fell into silence.
Soon, Vulcanus’s voice sank low.
“That center should have been ours. We should have been the first to ignite the fire, and we should have been the first to lead.”
Vulcanus clenched his fist tightly.
“How was Metallum able to grow that strong?”
The reason was surprisingly simple.
While Ignis waged war against Metallum to collect their Metal Cores, approached Silva to plunder their Life Cores, and concentrated on core fusion, Metallum had continuously produced Steel Knights and secured military strength as a result.
Vulcanus looked around at his retainers and asked,
“Now, where must the fire go?”
No one could answer easily.
Was it Metallum after all, or should they provoke Silva? Or perhaps Terra?
“One wrong move, and the embers may go out.”
After saying so, Vulcanus once again stared at the flames.
While the fire had come to a halt, the water restored its flow.
The Aqua Empire remembered the moment when the sea had been split and its current severed by the Terra Empire.
Now, quiet ripples began to spread once more.
But those ripples were piling up layer upon layer, preparing to raise a great tidal wave.