Before the counterattack of iron, which had endured for so long, what would be the fate of fire?
The crimson sky heaved as though rippling in waves.
But it was not the mere wavering of a sunset.
From the watchtower of the Ignis Empire’s fortress, Ragudor could not believe what he had discovered.
“S-something enormous is approaching from Metallum! No matter how I look at it... that is undoubtedly a dragon!”
“A dragon...?”
At Ragudor’s report, Emperor Vulcanus’s eyes trembled slightly.
Even a man of his fierce temperament could not take this situation lightly.
“They’ve summoned a dragon...”
Vulcanus, who had been seated upon the throne, rose to his feet.
Then Barkas came rushing before him as well.
“We must respond at once! That thing is clearly coming toward us!”
“Understood. Make preparations immediately!”
Vulcanus shouted to his retainers.
“With the cores we currently possess, train as many soldiers as possible. For now, produce two-element core troop types and stop them!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
After Barkas left the fortress, Ragudor asked Vulcanus in a trembling voice.
“B-but will they truly be enough to face it...?”
“That is not what matters. Whether they can face it or not, we must buy time.”
Vulcanus’s gaze was colder than ever, unlike him.
He knew it instinctively.
The white dragon of the Metallum Empire, Aureus, was not moving according to Emperor Oruma’s orders.
Aureus was now roaming the world of its own will, and its target was Ignis—the empire he ruled.
“We must stop it somehow... even if we have to stake everything!”
Vulcanus’s retainers all dispersed and devoted themselves to cultivating two-element troop types.
Pelos entered the fusion facility and ordered the researchers to fuse cores, while Barkas produced soldiers from the fused cores.
And Ragudor led the soldiers to the border.
Pelos said,
“The core that may prove most lethal against Metallum is the ember core. Not only our fire, but also Sylva’s wood energy can become harder than iron if its power grows strong enough. Gold and geyser are also acceptable, but lava contains the energy of earth, which aids iron, so do not fuse it for the time being.”
Following his instructions, the two-element cores that were produced gave rise to carbonized infantry, coal throwers, steam infantry, and molten infantry.
“Our enemy is one! Bring down the dragon approaching from the northwest!”
Barkas shouted.
Ignis’s various troop types moved in unison in a single direction.
Beyond the sky outside the empire, a long white silhouette slowly revealed its gleaming body.
The light reflected from Aureus’s steel scales was calm and restrained, as though mocking the flames of Ignis.
At last, Aureus, the white dragon of the Metallum Empire, reached the northwestern border of the Ignis Empire.
Because Ignis had expanded its territory so greatly through diffusion, it did not take Aureus long to intrude upon its domain.
The defensive wall at the border was already fated to collapse the moment Aureus’s shadow fell upon it.
“B-begin the attack...!”
The Crimson Flame Knights guarding the border fought back the instant Aureus appeared within sight.
Red flames surged upward into the sky once more, and for a moment, the fire obscured the white scales.
“Wooooong, weeeeeeng...”
The sound of machinery operating came from within Aureus’s body.
Though surrounded by flames from every direction, it trampled the embers as if nothing were happening.
Thoom, groooom...
The flames of the Ignis soldiers crushed beneath Aureus’s feet were extinguished on the spot.
“Attack!”
The coal throwers hurled projectiles from a distance.
But even they were far from enough against Aureus.
“Wooooong...”
Kugugung!
Aureus’s steel foot struck the burning zone once more.
At that moment, a shockwave burst forth, and the ember soldiers exploded into fragments.
“Molten infantry, advance! Surround it from both sides!”
The soldiers of the gold core were deployed at once.
It was an ironic situation, soldiers bearing the same energy of iron opposing one another.
For now, the molten infantry produced by Ignis belonged to Ignis.
However, sending gold soldiers before Aureus was close to a mistake on Ignis’s part.
Their existence instead enraged Aureus.
“Wooooong, weeeeeeeeng!”
Kwaaaang!
Aureus crawled toward the molten infantry in great strides and destroyed them in an instant with its steel feet.
“Aaaagh!”
The Crimson Flame Knights screamed as they witnessed the molten infantry being shattered to pieces.
“This won’t do. Steam infantry, deploy!”
At Barkas’s command, the steam infantry also attempted to attack Aureus.
Since fusing a single geyser core required four flame cores, depending on the circumstances, the steam infantry were hotter than fire.
In addition, thanks to the energy of water, which received assistance from the energy of iron, the damage they received from metal soldiers was comparatively reduced.
The steam infantry used their attributes to endure against Aureus.
If they could hold back Aureus’s incursion until additional troops were deployed, there would be a chance of victory.
“Huh?”
“This is...”
Barkas and Ragudor could only become even more flustered.
Behind Aureus, additional forces from Metallum had revealed themselves.
Several siege colossi and countless Steel Knights were surging forward in a mass.
Barkas muttered to himself.
“The dragon was the vanguard. Now we have to deal with those bastards too...”
There was no time to delay, not even for a moment.
This place was dangerous.
Metallum’s forces were far too powerful.
“The front line is collapsing! Retreat!”
Barkas shouted.
Ignis had no choice but to abandon part of its territory for the time being.
The army withdrew to the rear according to his orders.
Pelos came running over in a panic.
“There are hardly any two-element cores left! Even if we produce more soldiers, it will be useless!”
Ragudor answered.
“Understood! Then we shall train soldiers using only our own cores!”
To produce two-element cores, cores from other empires were necessary.
And at present, to obtain cores from other empires, they had no choice but to directly invade those empires and seize their cores.
Naturally, in an urgent situation like this, they had no such leeway.
At that moment, an enormous blaze exploded from the rear.
At last, the Hell Destroyers had appeared before Metallum’s forces.
Ignis’s strongest troop type at the present moment.
The five Hell Destroyers charged forward at once and collided head-on with Aureus.
“F-finally... I-I only hope even they can stop those monsters...”
Ragudor felt relieved, yet anxious at the same time.
Now, the only thing they could trust was the Hell Destroyers.
Fwoooosh!
“Weeeeeng...!”
Paaat!
Kwaang!
Fire and iron clashed against each other.
Indeed, the heat enveloping the Hell Destroyers was by no means weak.
Even Aureus subtly retreated.
No matter how strong iron might be, fire still held the superior position in their opposition.
A battle between fire and iron was originally an asymmetrical fight in which fire had the advantage.
Even if Ignis’s forces were smaller in scale, they could avoid being easily pushed back by the larger army of Metallum.
Ignis had to make use of this point to resist Metallum.
“Protect Aureus! Stop them from getting close!”
At that moment, someone’s shout rang out from among Metallum’s forces.
Following that voice, the Steel Knights surged forward, and the siege colossi blocked the path before the Hell Destroyers.
Puhung!
Fwoooosh...!
The Hell Destroyers engulfed the siege colossi in flames, as though spewing fire from their mouths.
The siege colossi, instantly wrapped in fire, attempted to counterattack the Hell Destroyers, but unable to withstand the scorching heat, they slowly melted and collapsed to the ground.
Ignis’s Hell Destroyers and Metallum’s siege colossi were both fourth-tier troop types, and in terms of compatibility, the Hell Destroyers inevitably held the advantage.
“Good. We’re still fine!”
Barkas shouted.
The Crimson Flame Knights filled themselves with morale and faced Metallum’s army.
Each time the Hell Destroyers took a step, the earth burned, and scorching flames spewed from their mouths, heating countless Metallum soldiers.
The Crimson Flame Knights also charged into the Steel Knights, eliminating them one by one.
However, the problem was still Aureus.
Ignis still had no troop type capable of opposing it.
The siege colossi and Steel Knights were soldiers who had charged in together to support Aureus, and Aureus itself remained as sturdy as ever.
“Eliminate the easy ones first! The dragon comes later!”
Following Ragudor’s command, the soldiers first dealt with the Steel Knights and siege colossi.
Of course, this strategy was not an easy method either.
Even in the midst of battle, Aureus destroyed soldiers with its steel feet and snuffed out their embers.
“Now! Focus your attacks on the dragon again!”
Each time Metallum’s forces were cleared out to some degree, the soldiers shifted their target back to Aureus.
However, additional Metallum forces continued to arrive from afar.
Their troops were replenished periodically, interfering with Ignis’s battle.
“Retreat again. Do not give up. This is merely a slightly difficult battle! We are Ignis of victory!”
Ignis abandoned more of its domain.
Aureus and Metallum’s army came even deeper inside.
Aureus faced one of the Hell Destroyers.
Paaat!
Fwoooosh!
The Hell Destroyer did not retreat and spewed fire toward Aureus.
But Aureus endured the flames.
Its foot struck the Hell Destroyer’s body, and one of the Destroyer’s arms was twisted off.
“Requesting additional Hell Destroyer support!”
Ragudor shouted.
Ignis continued to reinforce its troops, but the same was true of the enemy.
The Metallum troop types following behind Aureus began to surge in like a flood, and Ignis was being eroded by them little by little.
“Damn it...!”
At the edge of the fortress, Vulcanus lamented as he watched the flames gradually dying out.
“How can this be? We attacked them no fewer than four times and still they did not fall, so how can they do this much to us in a single attack...!”
Vulcanus clenched his fist tightly.
Flames scattered in every direction around him.
“Damn it. Are you telling me they endured all this time for this very moment?”
This battle was not a simple contest of strength between fire and iron.
The resentment etched into the history of iron had gradually accumulated, and this was a war that had taken form as a being known as the white dragon.
And fire was far too light to overcome that accumulated resentment.
Meanwhile, in the north, located opposite the south, there was nothing but peace itself.
Empress Nereia was quietly watching that urgent situation from within her own fortress.
“A white dragon summoned by Metallum...”
She closed her eyes.
After being lost in thought for a moment, she opened her eyes again and turned away.