The dying embers flare anew.
The Ignis Empire after the army of the Metallum Empire withdrew.
Where a great war had swept through, only a silence no one had expected remained.
The lands of Ignis, where sparks had once flown, were now covered only in thick black ash.
The structures of flame, where fires had once blazed with vigor, had been destroyed, and even their embers had gone out and cooled, leaving them still as though a red heart had stopped beating.
The citizens of the Ignis Empire were clearing away the ruins left by Metallum and Aureus.
Some set fallen plants upright again, while others gathered shattered chunks of stone and tried to kindle sparks atop them.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life.”
A Knight of Crimson Flame said as he repaired the ruined wall of the Fireball Stadium.
Beside him, another knight carried stones heated in the fire.
“The truth is, we’ve lived far too safely until now. The only forces that could attack us were Aqua and Metallum, but Aqua was blocked by Terra and had no chance of coming down this far. Metallum caused trouble here and there, but maybe they were afraid of us, because they never even seemed to approach our borders. But then those bastards summoned a dragon, and their attitude changed completely. They invaded us. To think their first attempt would bring us this low.”
The knight asked again.
“If it weren’t for that damned dragon, the Metallum bastards still wouldn’t have dared attack us, right?”
“Probably. And it was proven in practice too. Once the dragon fell, look at how the remaining bastards scattered before us like defeated soldiers.”
“Phew, damn it. But as far as I know, dragons act of their own accord, don’t they? It seems true that Metallum didn’t send the dragon at us, but that the dragon came here on its own, and the Metallum bastards followed after it.”
“Well, yes, that’s true. Though it feels like the same thing either way.”
The Knight of Crimson Flame thought for a moment, then continued.
“Another important thing is that blue dragon that appeared later, isn’t it? It was a dragon from Silva, right? Silva had no particular reason to help us, so the fact that Silva’s dragon supported us means that dragon wasn’t moving under orders either.”
The other knight glanced up at the red sky and muttered.
“Is it because the enemy of my enemy is an ally? Metallum is our enemy, but all the more so for Silva. We melt metal, but metal cuts down wood. Last time, Silva supported us with cores too, so we made some Ember Cores. The reason they supported us then was probably similar. They must have wanted us to keep Metallum in check.”
The Knights of Crimson Flame began stacking the burning stones.
“Whatever the case, I wish we had a dragon too. Everyone else is summoning dragons one after another, so why are we late? We were the first to create a dual-attribute core, but when exactly are we going to summon a dragon?”
“The citadel hasn’t even finished expanding yet. Only when the citadel expands to its final stage can the barracks be expanded the same way, and then we can summon a dragon. Even our citadel is still incomplete.”
“Tch. It was good that we made a dual-attribute core, but weren’t we too obsessed with only that? We should have realized sooner that even with a pure single attribute, we could summon an extraordinary weapon.”
“Well, I’m sure there are limits to that too. In any case, we’ve been given a second chance. I just hope we don’t repeat the same mistake.”
The bodies of the soldiers and citizens of the Ignis Empire were exhausted.
But embers still remained within them.
Their belief that the embers of Ignis would never go out remained unchanged.
The heart of Ignis, inside the citadel of Volcanium.
Vulcanus sat upon the throne, lost in thought.
Around the citadel lay fragments of countless soldiers’ shattered swords.
Traces left behind by the fallen soldiers of Ignis.
They were not dead.
They had merely vanished for a time.
As long as Ignis existed in this world, they would return to the Flame Core once more.
Vulcanus did not open his mouth.
His gaze was calm as cold iron, but inside, he was burning away like ash.
“Has there ever been such humiliation in this world……?”
It was bad enough that they had been defeated by Metallum, who were inferior to them in the relationship of opposing elements, but the fact that they had failed to drive them out with their own forces and had barely survived with the aid of Silva’s blue dragon, Nemorensis, was disgrace itself.
“Are we weak, or are they strong……?”
Vulcanus struggled to organize his thoughts.
Ignis had once stood ahead of all others.
And yet the Ignis of now had narrowly escaped a crisis in which the empire’s fate had nearly come to an end, left only with the dreadful, desolate marks of that disaster.
“Where did it go wrong?”
Had they chosen the wrong direction for the spread of their flames?
They had taken a path unlike any other empire, a peerless course of their own, but had that choice perhaps been mistaken?
“We must rebuild the empire……. We must light the fire again, and burn once more…….”
Vulcanus clenched his fist tightly.
Within his fist, an ember shone brightly.
Vulcanus’s retainers carefully entered his chamber.
All of them were watching Vulcanus’s mood.
In his eyes, anger and helplessness were mixed together.
In the silence where only the sound of burning could be heard, Varkas spoke first.
“Your Majesty, now that Aureus has disappeared, should we not also…… prepare a dragon?”
At his words, the other retainers nodded as well.
Ragdor then agreed with him.
“I am of the same opinion. The reason we were pushed this far was because of Metallum’s dragon. If not for that, Metallum would never have dared attack us.”
Pellos also spoke quietly.
“Now, it is our turn…….”
Vulcanus silently stroked his chin.
His retainers’ words were more than mere opinions; they were also facts.
Beginning with Terra Empire’s yellow dragon, Montanus, followed by Metallum’s white dragon, Aureus, Silva’s blue dragon, Nemorensis, and now even Aqua’s black dragon, Marinus, had appeared.
The only force that had still not summoned its own dragon was the Ignis Empire.
But Vulcanus thought differently.
“Following the path the other empires walk is not like us.”
His voice was low and heavy.
Varkas spoke in confusion.
“From what I hear, a dragon has now appeared in Aqua as well. That dragon is even more dangerous than Metallum’s dragon. It seems to be quiet for now, but when and how things may change……”
“Terra will take care of Aqua. You all know the reason Aqua has been unable to come south until now, do you not?”
“Even so, should we not prepare for the worst……?”
Vulcanus let out a single breath of hot air.
“There is one fact that has become widely known. The dragons appearing in all directions now are all beings that move according to their own will, not according to anyone’s orders. What they have shown is not power, but direction.”
The retainers looked at one another as if they did not understand.
Pellos asked him.
“What do you mean……?”
“I mean there is no guarantee that even if we summon a dragon, our dragon will take revenge on Metallum.”
“B-but I believe the possibility is certainly there……”
Vulcanus shook his head, still seeming reluctant.
“What if we pioneer a new direction as well? If we follow the direction others take, we cannot get ahead. We must create the direction in which the world moves, and make others follow us.”
Ragdor asked cautiously.
“What direction do you intend to take?”
“We are Ignis, the empire that opened the era of dual-attribute cores. Beginning with the Golden Core, the other empires also began creating their own different dual-attribute cores.”
Vulcanus paused briefly, then continued.
“The laboratory where we fused cores is now operating as a fusion facility. Inside, I heard the researchers discussing something. Triple-attribute cores.”
The atmosphere in the room changed.
Anticipation and fear spread at the same time.
Pellos reacted with some surprise.
“Triple-attribute……? Is such a technique possible? I have heard of it in passing as well, but I thought it was nothing more than idle curiosity.”
“No, it is well worth attempting.”
Vulcanus sank deeply into his throne as he spoke.
“We are fire. We burn everything, but we also create new things. As befits the empire that began the era of dual-attribute cores, we will also be the first to begin triple-attribute cores. Of course, this time as well, we must begin the research quietly, without anyone knowing. Clashing and fighting is not the only form of war. This, too, is a kind of war.”
The retainers bowed their heads.
His words sounded somewhat absurd, but if that research succeeded, the state of the world would be overturned once again.
After the retainers left, Vulcanus looked down at his territory from within the citadel.
He muttered to himself.
“Silva’s dragon sacrificed itself for us…….”
Inside the fusion facility, the mood returned to calm once more.
Lexa let out a sigh.
“Has Metallum finally withdrawn……?”
Calteon said,
“Even so, we can’t feel at ease. We survived by luck thanks to Silva……”
Nexor also spoke as he organized the cores on the table.
“I don’t know why Silva helped us, but could it be a sign that our relationship with Silva might become closer? Well, not that I ever wished for it.”
Lexa shook her head.
“I don’t know. It’ll depend on the situation at the time.”
Lexa looked down at the various types of cores, now only a few in number, and continued.
“More importantly, triple-attribute cores. We only imagined them before, but now the time has come to turn that into reality.”
Nexor asked from beside her.
“Do we really have to try that?”
“Yes. It is His Majesty’s order. We have decided not to move toward summoning a dragon. Instead, we are going to develop triple-attribute cores.”
Calteon spoke with his arms crossed.
“How should we do it? For a new attribute to enter between two attributes that have already been fused……”
Nexor also said,
“Should we try fusing three cores simultaneously from the start?”
Lexa still did not take her eyes off the cores.
“Hmm. To research this, we’ll need to have enough cores. But I think we’ll have to try with these for now.”
The proper conditions for research were not yet in place, but with the great crisis having passed, they held hope that they could burn once more.
Soon, their hands became busy again.
On the opposite side of the Ignis Empire, the deep sea of the Aqua Empire maintained gentle waves.
Empress Nereia silently gazed at the deep sea from her throne.
Her gaze was fixed on the black dragon Marinus.
Splash, splash……
Spray spread from Marinus’s toes.
It created a current upon the surface of the calm sea.