After the world grew quiet, the center still held fast to the center.
After the Yellow Dragon Montanus fell, on the southern plains of Montera, the heart of the Terra Empire.
A small being approached a massive boulder.
“Grandfather.”
“Yes, is that you, little stone?”
The stone rolled up before the boulder.
“They say Montanus has fallen.”
“So they do. How do you feel?”
The stone was silent for a moment.
“I’m not sure. In a way, I had been cheering for him in my heart. I thought Montanus might roam all over the world and conquer it all... Now that it’s ended like this, it feels a little empty. But I suppose that kind of outcome wouldn’t have been good either, would it?”
The boulder’s voice rumbled.
“Yes. Terra must become an existence that does not lose its composure from its position at the center. That is the true way of the earth. The earth must know how to embrace all things.”
The stone looked around.
“But it seems Metalum is gone too. Do you think they gave up their desire for the center?”
“Hmm. I doubt they gave it up. They have merely promised themselves a next time.”
“A next time?”
“Metalum suffered severe damage from Ignis’s attack. It happened while they were invading Silva, so they could hardly have responded in time. They will reorganize themselves, and once they are ready, they will approach this place again.”
The stone trembled quietly in place.
“I feel uneasy for some reason. To be honest, I don’t think Metalum came here with good intentions either. If they come again next time, what will the atmosphere be like then?”
Laughter spread from deep within the boulder.
“Hohoho. Who can say? Not only Metalum, but anyone would covet this center with intentions of their own. Terramont must know that as well. Do not worry too much.”
After a moment, the boulder continued.
“You, too, have remained here for a long time and learned how to read the world. Let us keep watching. Let us see how this earth will move next.”
Emperor Terramont was conversing with his subjects in the underground citadel.
Gaia spoke first.
“Montanus... has fallen.”
Gorban continued.
“He was truly an astonishing existence. Our soldiers did well too, but he fought almost alone against countless Aqua and Silva troops. I believe we did more than simply send Montanus to the battlefield—we revealed him to the world.”
Latos responded with some regret.
“I wonder if we expended such a magnificent being too easily. Should we not have provided more active cover? We had no intention of conquering them, but I regret that we could not allow him to continue longer in the role of keeping them from crossing the line.”
Terramont answered him.
“Montanus’s first appearance was closer to a test. Though Montanus has fallen, he will be reborn as our earth core. Montanus and our soldiers are not dead. Their bodies will be reborn anew as cores.”
Gorban asked,
“Will you summon Montanus again soon?”
“It will take a little time, but once preparations are complete, Montanus will be reborn.”
“When that time comes, rather than letting him move on his own, we should consider taming him.”
“How we handle him will depend on the situation.”
Terramont turned his gaze toward the Aqua wave cores piled in one corner.
“Now it is time to deal with those.”
Latos asked,
“Will you hand them over to the other empires after all?”
There was no hesitation in Terramont’s answer.
“Yes. The only ones who would take those Aqua cores are Ignis and Metalum. We have already delivered them to Metalum about twice, so now we must deliver them to Ignis.”
The fusion of the Ignis Empire’s fire core and the Aqua Empire’s wave core had not yet been born.
Terramont rose from the throne and began to walk.
“Let us see how many cores have been made so far.”
Terramont and his subjects entered the core storage chamber.
The single-attribute cores—the fire core of Ignis, the wave core of Aqua, the life core of Silva, the metal core of Metalum, and Terra’s own earth core—were gathered in one place.
And among the two-attribute cores, only the iron ore core, a fusion of the earth core and the metal core, was stored there.
Gorban stroked his chin and said,
“Are there not many two-attribute cores that have actually been made? Yet only the iron ore core is here.”
Latos answered,
“Of course, that is because we have no way of acquiring those cores. Before we knew it, the only core that has yet to appear is the fusion of Ignis’s core and Aqua’s core. Should we be grateful that the world is less chaotic than expected?”
Gaia turned to Terramont, bowed his head, and asked,
“Your Majesty, I do not know exactly what our plan is. Is the emergence of all two-attribute cores in the world also part of balance? Once the last remaining type of core appears, what will become of the world?”
Terramont answered,
“That is not wrong. Since the first two-attribute core appeared because of Ignis, allowing every kind of two-attribute core to emerge in the world is the way to maintain balance.”
His gaze swept over the cores on display.
“The world still advances forward. And most of the world’s cores are moving through this center. Now we go to Ignis. Together with Aqua’s cores.”
Though the subjects silently followed Terramont’s command, they worried about the chaos that might arise in the future.
Some time later, at the northern border of the Ignis Empire.
Emperor Vulcanus sensed a presence.
“Terra? Have they come again, perhaps...?”
Terramont, his subjects, and a small number of guards entered Ignis territory.
Soon, they reached Volcanium, where the Ignis citadel was located.
“Terramont...”
Vulcanus approached them with his gaze fixed on Terramont.
“What business brings you here again?”
At Vulcanus’s question, Terramont asked back in a low voice,
“Did you make good use of the Aqua cores we delivered to you?”
Vulcanus’s eyes blazed for a moment.
“That is none of your concern. Have you come to meddle in our affairs again?”
Terramont maintained an emotion as calm as the earth.
“It seems progress is not going as well as expected. We have brought more to you.”
“Brought what?”
Terramont’s subjects and soldiers set down the wave cores they had been carrying onto the heated ground.
Vulcanus looked down at the cores as though at a loss for words.
When he remained still, Terramont opened his mouth.
“We have no particular need to hold on to these. You use them.”
Vulcanus’s gaze returned to Terramont.
“Why give these to us...? What do you want?”
“For the sake of this world. Each of us simply has our own purpose. That is all I will reveal.”
The sparks flowing over Vulcanus’s body grew a little calmer.
His tone also began to soften.
“Hah. Are you perhaps extending a hand to us? I hear Metalum no longer protects you. If you need our help, we have no reason to refuse.”
Terramont looked at him silently.
“Do not jump to conclusions. Our position remains unchanged: we do not need your help. I have not the slightest desire to turn our earth into your sea of flames.”
Vulcanus gave a faint laugh.
“That remains to be seen. Ah, stay there for a moment.”
Terramont was about to turn away but stopped.
“Do you have more to say?”
“Of course.”
Vulcanus looked back and gestured toward somewhere.
A moment later, Phellos, Vulcanus’s subject and engineer, appeared.
In his hands were several lava cores.
Vulcanus said,
“You came at just the right time. We should give what we ought to give as well. We made these cores using the cores we received from you. We call them lava cores. It would look rather poor to let you return empty-handed, would it not?”
Terramont’s subjects seemed flustered by Vulcanus’s unexpected action.
Terramont answered,
“Very well. But we do not need many. We will take only one.”
Vulcanus’s eyes flashed.
“That is neither acceptance nor refusal. Do as you wish.”
Terramont’s party left Ignis with a single lava core handed over by Vulcanus’s side.
On the road back to the Terra Empire, Latos looked into the lava core in his hand and said,
“As Your Majesty said, it seems the earth is blazing fiercely. If Ignis’s army enters our territory, this is what it will look like.”
Gorban added,
“As expected, Ignis was also aiming for the center. I could sense Vulcanus’s intentions from his tone. In terms of compatibility, fire may aid earth, but it is hardly welcome. Their way is far too different from ours.”
Gaia also said a word.
“The more the situation becomes like this, the stronger we must become. First, we must summon Montanus again. And...”
He continued cautiously.
“Could we perhaps make use of two-attribute cores? In effect, every empire in every direction is approaching us. Can we truly defend against them all...?”
Terramont answered,
“We have no need of other energies. The reborn Montanus will move to protect the center, but only one Montanus can exist in this world. Therefore, we must defend this center with the mountain giants.”
Soon, they arrived at the citadel of Montera.
Latos placed the lava core inside the core storage chamber.
He glanced at the cores, then left the chamber and murmured to himself,
“I do not know where it will be used. I wonder if we can obtain other cores as well...”
Terramont and his subjects gathered in the conference room.
Gorban opened his mouth first.
“It seems everyone is so absorbed in researching two-attribute cores that they are neglecting the elevation of their own citadels. We remain the only ones whose citadel has been elevated to the final stage.”
Gaia nodded.
“Which means we are also the only empire capable of summoning a dragon.”
Latos, who had returned from the core storage chamber, said,
“Having many types of cores does not make one strong. True power comes from depth.”
Before long, the subjects’ gazes gathered on Terramont.
Gaia said,
“However, I am somewhat concerned about what happens from here on. Before long, the energies in every direction will have elevated their citadels to the end as well, and they too will summon dragons. How will each of those dragons move?”
Terramont looked up at the ceiling.
“Each dragon will move according to its own way. Just as Montanus moved for the balance of the world. The age of two-attribute cores is not fading. When the final two-attribute core is born, that will be another beginning. Bear this in mind. We are not being swayed by them.”
And he added one more sentence.
“They are the ones being swayed by us.”
With the help of the Terra Empire, the Ignis Empire was able to accelerate its research into the Aqua Empire’s wave cores.
And at last, the final core among the two-attribute cores revealed itself to the world.
The moment had arrived when the energies of fire and water, which had never once been compatible, would meet.