The directions of the flames grew ever more varied.
Before the fortress of the Ignis Empire.
Amid the scorching heat, a single tremor spread outward.
A shadow slowly approached, crossing the dark red earth.
Its form was that of a being bearing the weight of the land.
“What is that thing……?”
Emperor Vulcanus stood at the edge of the fortress, watching it with a hardened face.
The emperor of the Terra Empire, Terramont, had personally come to Ignis with his retainers.
The soldiers stood in tense rows on either side, and Vulcanus came down the stairs alone, without any ceremony.
With crisp, superfluous-free movements, Terramont set down the wave cores of the Aqua Empire he had brought onto the heated floor.
“I came to give these to you. Take them.”
A brief statement, yet it contained a momentum greater than the words themselves.
Vulcanus stood still and looked down at the pile of wave cores.
Soon, his gaze turned to Terramont.
“What is your purpose? Why are you giving these to us?”
Terramont’s voice remained calm.
“You may have obtained all the other cores, but you do not have Aqua’s cores, do you? That is why I am giving them to you. Now all the cores have gathered in your hands as well.”
As Vulcanus drew in a breath, flames scattered from his body.
“What exactly are you plotting? Is there something you want from us?”
“I did not come to negotiate. Montanus and we entered Aqua ourselves and brought these cores back, so I only hope you make good use of them. Who knows? If you create a new dual-attribute core with these cores, I may provide more.”
“What……?”
The two emperors exchanged no further words.
Terramont left Ignis without any lingering attachment.
Vulcanus continued watching Terramont’s back and muttered in a low voice.
“There’s no way you would act so obediently like this……. What are you plotting? Just what are you scheming……?”
At length, he turned and entered the fortress.
Inside the crimson-burning fortress.
Vulcanus sat upon the throne, and Varkas, Ragdor, and Phelos gathered before him.
At the center, the wave cores of the Aqua Empire and the metal cores of the Metallum Empire were piled on the floor.
Vulcanus said in a low voice,
“The Metallum cores are spoils we seized ourselves, but the Aqua cores were handed over to us by Terramont. We have never even met those Aqua bastards, yet only their cores have suddenly fallen into our hands. It feels strange.”
Chijik, chiiik…….
A subtle noise was coming from the wave cores.
It was the sound of the water energy within the wave cores cooling the heated floor of the fortress.
“Good heavens……!”
The retainers hurriedly placed them on dark red pedestals.
Phelos shook his head and said,
“As expected, they are difficult cores to handle. I cannot say for certain yet, but I suspect the research will not be easy.”
Vulcanus rested his chin on his hand and said,
“We already have three kinds of dual-attribute cores. The remaining one we lack is the fusion of fire and water, but I do not know how useful it will truly be.”
Varkas spoke up.
“However, I do not think we should leave them unattended either. The very existence of those cores threatens us, and they must absolutely not fall into the hands of another empire.”
Vulcanus nodded.
“I think the same. I cannot know what Terramont is aiming for, but we have only one choice as well. To complete our collection of dual-attribute cores with those cores…….”
He suddenly stopped speaking, then continued.
“Wait. Could those Terra bastards have handed the cores they stole from us over to Aqua?”
Ragdor looked around, then replied,
“Terra does not seem to have made any such movement. For now, it has been confirmed that they handed them over to Metallum……”
“Hmm.”
“But is Terra not opposed to Aqua? There is almost no possibility that those in an opposing relationship would exchange cores. In my foolish opinion, all our cores have fallen into Metallum’s hands.”
Vulcanus’s eyes burned.
“Terra remains incomprehensible. They pretended to stay still while interfering so much in other empires, and now they are doing the opposite, poking around here and there. Come to think of it, just as it is difficult for us to handle Aqua’s cores, it should be difficult for Metallum to handle our flame cores as well. It does not seem like something worth being overly displeased about.”
Vulcanus rose from the throne.
Then he slowly walked toward the north.
“Our flames have no time to rest. Producing additional golden troop types and researching Aqua’s cores are both important, but we cannot leave those Terra bastards, who claim to be the center, alone either.”
“Is it Terra again this time?”
Varkas asked Vulcanus.
“No. We are not advancing. We must catch up to them. Terra has summoned a strange being called Montanus and is moving together with it. I cannot accept that we are falling behind Terra.”
Phelos said,
“The fortress is currently expanded to Stage Four. Shall we prepare for another expansion?”
“First, we should proceed with the expansion of the barracks to match it. No matter how urgent it is, there is still an order to things.”
At that moment, Calteon, who had hurried over from the research lab, came up to the entrance of the fortress.
“Your Majesty! Please look at this! The fusion with the earth core has succeeded!”
Vulcanus and his retainers all turned their heads toward him at once.
“Understood. I will go confirm it now.”
The southern fusion facility of Ignis.
Vulcanus and his retainers watched the fusion process in person.
Researcher Rexa carefully placed the crimson-burning flame cores and the earth cores imbued with soil into the fusion device.
As if recognizing one another, the two cores began to tremble at the same time without any sense of discord.
Soon, the point where the flame core and the earth core touched began to turn black.
Varkas murmured,
“It seems similar to the reaction from the ember core……”
But it was different from the fusion of fire and wood.
When the ember core was fused, the spark blazed even more fiercely atop the wood, but this time the spark was burrowing into the earth.
The two kinds of cores were reacting.
The flames of the blazing flame core seemed to die down as they met the earth core, yet their light remained.
When fire burns, it leaves ash behind.
Thus, fire aids earth.
But the spark had not yet gone out.
The surface of the earth core, which had turned black where the flames touched it, was slowly being dyed red.
Before long, the flame core and the earth core became one.
The once-solid earth core now flowed like liquid as the energy of fire entered it, and it glowed red like flame.
“Fusion complete.”
Rexa said.
“Hmm, this is……”
Vulcanus stared at the new core.
It was as hot and burning as fire, yet possessed fluidity.
“This resembles us all too much.”
The core looked as if it contained the very atmosphere within Ignis.
A form that was black, yet radiated red light.
“From now on, this shall be the Lava Core. The pinnacle of destruction and erosion.”
At last, the third dual-attribute core in Ignis, and the eighth in the entire world, was born.
Its name was the Lava Core, the fusion of fire and earth.
Now Ignis had gained the power to oppose Aqua.
With the earth energy contained within the lava, a fluid denser than water would be able to block the flow of water.
Vulcanus said,
“You have worked hard. With this, our power has grown another level stronger. And recently, we also obtained Aqua’s cores.”
Rexa flinched in surprise.
“No, how did you obtain Aqua’s cores?”
“You need not know that. The fusion of fire and water will be our final dual-attribute core. I want you to continue the research with those cores.”
“Yes, understood……”
Even as Rexa answered, he sank into thought.
Fusion with the wave core, which held an advantage over fire in their opposing relationship.
That would be an even more difficult attempt than fusion with the metal core.
As Vulcanus left the fusion facility, he spoke.
“We will have to produce soldiers with the lava core soon as well. But there is something to do before that. Everyone, move to the barracks.”
“Understood.”
The retainers followed after him.
Vulcanus and his retainers arrived before the flame barracks.
Vulcanus ordered Phelos,
“Expand the barracks by one stage. It is time to prepare a new troop type.”
“I shall obey your command.”
Phelos began expanding the barracks, consuming numerous flame cores.
The barracks trembled, then pillars of fire surged upward and covered its perimeter.
The scale of the barracks was expanding from the exterior.
As though preparing for some enormous being.
The flames flowing along the outer walls burned anew and enveloped the barracks.
Fire flashed not only along the outer walls, but within as well.
Perhaps because the lava core had just been born, the barracks looked like a single enormous volcano.
“It is time for a new troop type to appear.”
After Vulcanus’s words fell, Varkas entered the barracks.
Just as Terra had awakened the mountain giant, Aqua had summoned the storm beast, and Silva had brought forth the guardian tree spirit, Ignis also needed a being of that level.
A moment later, the ground rumbled, and something walked out from between the pillars of fire.
It, too, had the shape of a person, but it was about twice as large as the previous troop type, the Crimson Flame Knight.
The fire flowing over its entire body showed no sign of stopping, and its torso was as solid as a skeleton.
At the tips of its fingers, flames hung like whips.
Varkas, who appeared behind it, said,
“It is the Infernal Destroyer.”
The retainers looked up at it and took a step back.
The Infernal Destroyer burned its eyes and looked around as if searching for prey.
Dark red smoke billowed from its mouth.
Varkas continued,
“The Infernal Destroyer is a being that burns the battlefield itself. It should be able to turn a battlefield into a sea of flames in an instant.”
The Infernal Destroyer strode forward, passing Vulcanus and the retainers.
Watching its back, Vulcanus said,
“A silent destroyer waiting for orders on the front line.”
He then turned back and looked at his fortress.
“There was a recent war with Metallum, so we must have another period of rest. Now that we have called forth the Infernal Destroyer, the next to appear will be our dragon. Terra summoned Montanus, did they? Then we shall show them ours as well.”
The Infernal Destroyer stood facing north.
Whether the place its gaze was directed toward was Aqua or Terra could not be known, but it was clearly aiming for its destination.
Meanwhile, Montanus of the Terra Empire was staying near the border between the Aqua Empire and the Silva Empire.
It was destroying the coastline that ran along the forest while being covered by Terra’s army.
“Stop it at all costs! You must not retreat!”
Aqua’s empress, Nereia, appeared and shouted.
The enormous being standing in the middle of the battlefield continued to smash the incoming waves.
The deep-sea waves that had been heading toward the forest were being blocked by Montanus.