A halted flame is destined to go out.
Fire must spread.
The sky was dyed red.
It was not because a massive sun had risen.
It was the light created by the flames of Volcanium as they burned the heavens.
Volcanium, capital of the Ignis Empire.
This was no mere city.
Rivers of boiling lava flowed throughout the city, and the earth pulsed like a heart, spewing red smoke.
At the center of Volcanium stood a colossal Citadel.
This Citadel had been built from rock formed by hardened lava and stone tempered within flame.
At its summit sat the throne of Vulcanus.
In the central hall of the Citadel, crimson flames blazed.
The entire city lived within fire.
On the ramparts, in the streets, even in the markets, flames danced.
Volcanium was hot.
Yet that very heat was the power of Ignis.
With the founding of the Ignis Empire, Ignis territory expanded around Volcanium.
And within that territory, countless citizens naturally came into being.
Of course, the citizens did not fear fire.
They were born with fire and lived with fire.
And whenever Ignis territory expanded, new beings were born ever more from within the flames, carrying those flames onward.
In Ignis, animals as well as citizens were born and grew.
Flame lizards, crimson wolves, and the like.
The citizens of Ignis raised these animals, or obtained meat from them.
There were also plants that had adapted to the burning environment of Ignis.
Ash-gray grass, redthorn vines, heartfruit, and so on.
For the most part, they were used as food or snacks for citizens and animals, or employed to protect against outside forces.
The foods citizens mainly enjoyed were flame meat, geothermal soup, and heart tea.
Flame meat was made from the flesh of flame lizards; geothermal soup used a thick, hot liquid extracted from redthorn vines as its main ingredient; and heart tea was a tea brewed from the flavor of heartfruit.
Citizens maintained their body temperature with food, tea, and the like.
Every day, the citizens handled fire and lived together with fire.
Children who had only recently been born played with drifting sparks as toys, while adults enjoyed competing with one another by spewing flames from within their own bodies.
And among them, the strong could be trained as soldiers.
To them, fire could rightly be called life itself.
Once more, before the Citadel where Volcanium’s enormous flame core blazed.
Vulcanus rose from his throne and looked around.
Vulcanus spoke in a low voice.
“Our Ignis Empire must spread like fire. But if there are none to spread the fire, the flames will eventually vanish.”
He summoned the Fire Artisans.
The Fire Artisans were the personnel responsible for construction within the Ignis Empire.
Vulcanus spoke to the Fire Artisans again.
“We must train soldiers to expand the Ignis Empire. An army as strong and unstoppable as the flames of Ignis. Therefore, we need Barracks. I will give you several flame cores, so use these flame cores to construct the Barracks.”
“Yes. We will begin at once.”
The Fire Artisans immediately began raising a massive structure with the crimson flame cores.
Before long, the Barracks were completed within Ignis.
Now, in this place, the citizens of Ignis would receive training and be reborn as soldiers.
Soldiers fundamentally had to endure a trial known as the “Trial of Fire.”
Only those who endured this place earned the right to be called “Flame Infantry.”
The training grounds consisted of boiling pools of fire and paths wreathed in flames.
Recruits trained to endure fire far hotter than themselves.
The weak failed to withstand this training and could not gain the qualifications of a soldier.
Once citizens safely passed this training in the Barracks, they became Flame Infantry and received weapons of their own.
They scattered sparks from their entire bodies and entered battle bearing fists and swords that burned without cease.
“Urgh…… I can endure this……! I will do it……!!”
A citizen aspiring to become a soldier was enduring the searing heat within the flames.
“Accept it with your entire body! If you give up here, you cannot become a soldier!”
The instructor shouted at the citizen.
A red glow began to circulate over the citizen’s skin.
“We are fire. We burn. We never go out. Become one with the fire……!”
The citizen endured the Trial of Fire with his eyes squeezed shut.
Soon, he opened his eyes.
His eyes shone bright orange.
Flames also rose from his skin.
He let out a monstrous cry.
“Kraaaa……!”
His once-dark skin now began to glow red.
It was the moment he passed the trial.
The instructor smiled.
“Another soldier has been born.”
Besides that citizen, countless citizens of Ignis had passed the trial and been reborn as soldiers.
A short while later, someone walked out before the soldiers.
His identity was Varcas, the commander-in-chief of the military.
Varcas shouted toward those who had been newly reborn as Flame Infantry.
“You have done well, soldiers. Now you are the burning flames of our Ignis Empire. We fight for our Ignis Empire. Keep advancing and expand our territory. Never stop. We march toward the world beyond. Before long, we will seize control of the world! Remember that!”
“Yes! Understood!!”
The Flame Infantry answered Varcas’s declaration with vigor.
The soldiers and citizens of Ignis generally struggled to contain their own scorching heat.
That was why they spread rapidly and expanded the empire’s territory, but they did not always vent their desires only in that way.
When Ignis soldiers did not go to the battlefield, they enjoyed other methods of reveling in combat.
It was a kind of sport.
A traditional game of the Ignis Empire in which one threw fire, chased fire, grasped fire, and seized victory: “Fireball.”
This game was held in a massive circular arena built together with the Barracks.
In this place called the “Flame Arena,” flames danced, and the spectators roared throughout the match.
Even now, a match between soldiers was underway in the Flame Arena.
One soldier was sprinting across the arena while carrying a ball-shaped rock blazing bright red.
“Go, Red Team!”
“Waaaaah!!”
The opposing team’s soldiers rushed in to defend against him.
“Here, take it! Pass!”
The soldier quickly threw the rock he was holding to another teammate.
Another soldier caught the rock.
“Ah, hot! Ah, hot! Ah, h-hot……!”
The soldier who received the pass could not bear the heat bursting from the rock and ran across the arena, repeatedly tossing the rock into the air and catching it again.
“Stop him, Orange Team!”
Cheers still thundered from the stands.
The soldier, struggling to endure the burning temperature of the rock, kept throwing it unsteadily into the air as he headed toward the Orange Team’s goal.
Until it was placed in the goal, the rock would only grow hotter and hotter.
“Ah, h-hot! Hot, hot! Ah, hot, hss, hot, h-hot……!!”
“Is that guy a rookie or something? He’s terrible at handling the ball.”
The Orange Team’s soldiers mocked him as they surrounded him.
From afar, a Red Team soldier shouted to him.
“Throw it over here!”
“Urgh, hot—take this!”
The soldier who had been holding the rock passed it in that direction.
However, the rock failed to reach that soldier and fell onto the floor of the arena.
Thud!
The impact made the rock burn even redder.
A soldier from the Red Team grabbed the rock first.
“Ah, hot! Damn it……!”
In the end, the rock had grown so hot that even most soldiers would not dare touch it.
“Damn, no choice! Flame Shot!”
The soldier kicked the rock toward the Orange Team’s goal from where he stood.
Boom! Kwaaang!!
“Ooh……?”
“Waaaaah!!!”
The rock he kicked dramatically entered the Orange Team’s goal, but it had been so violent that the rock caused an explosion, damaging part of the goal.
Pssshhh……
The rock that entered the goal immediately lost its heat, and its temperature fell.
The Fire Elder serving as referee shouted.
“Goal acknowledged! But keep it moderate next time! Red Team wins!”
“Ooooooh!!”
“Waaaaah!!!”
The Red Team soldiers and the citizens cheering for them roared.
Vulcanus was watching the Fireball match from his Citadel.
He nodded.
“My soldiers and citizens are living hotly again today.”
He walked to his throne.
He sat upon the throne and looked at the burning map engraved on the wall of the Citadel.
The Ignis Empire’s current territory, a powerful land of fire centered on Volcanium, was marked in the middle of the map.
Around him stood two key vassals of the Ignis Empire.
Varcas, commander-in-chief of the military, and Ragdor, the strategist.
“The expansion of our Ignis Empire is both inevitable and our mission. However, we cannot broaden our power through war alone.”
Vulcanus said this as he looked at his vassals.
His gaze was intense, enough to make even the flames in the room tremble.
Varcas spoke.
“Your Majesty, the Barracks have now been completed, and the first Flame Infantry unit is ready. However, the information secured by our scouts is still insufficient, so I believe reckless expansion would be dangerous……”
Vulcanus looked at him.
“Dangerous? Danger does not disappear unless it is conquered. We are fire. If fire stops out of fear, it only goes out in the end.”
Then Ragdor spoke.
“As Your Majesty wills, expanding our forces is essential. However, it is important that we first fortify the border regions and establish a defensive line. Otherwise, some outside force from afar may cut off our flames.”
“Hmm……”
Vulcanus stroked his chin.
“Very well. Then we shall create a defensive line with our flames.”
Vulcanus rose from his throne and extended his hand.
Flames flickered at his fingertips, and the room grew even hotter.
The energy cores in his possession also trembled, as if affected by that aura of fire.
Before long, the energy cores transformed into crimson flame cores.
“Flame cores are the very lifeline of Ignis. What raised this city, and what trained our army, were all these flame cores. With these, we can build fortresses, increase our forces, and expand our domain. Moreover, the wider our territory becomes, the greater the number of cores we can obtain. Heat calls cores, and cores give birth to construction and soldiers. Therefore, through these cores, we will spread the flames of Ignis even farther. The farther Ignis’s flames spread, the stronger our power becomes.”
Vulcanus rose from his throne.
Every time he walked, flames sparked at his feet.
“We shall continue onward.”
The flames of Ignis were strong.
But just how far could they spread?
In a certain region to the north, someone’s sea lay waiting.
An empire of someone who would swallow the flames of Ignis.