Fire burning at the bottom of the ocean was an insult to the laws of physics. But Ignis's existence did not merely break the rules. He reduced them to charcoal.

  Rising from within the massive crater that had split open, Ignis was no longer a weary and disillusioned prisoner. He was an ancient god of destruction who had shattered his chains, his vision drowned in bloodlust. The surrounding water heated so violently that bubbles transformed into enormous clouds of steam, reducing visibility to zero. The suffocating heat within the sea made even breathing feel like drawing boiling water into the lungs.

  "This guy…" Kai muttered, gripping his daggers tightly. The sweat running down his face evaporated within seconds. "…he's actually angry."

  "Less talking, more positioning, thief," Octavia hissed. She was trying to regenerate a new limb from the black ink-like blood flowing from where her left arm had been severed, but her mana was drastically depleted. Behind her, King Dagon and Prince Nereus lay under Lypin's healing spell. Octavia's eyes were locked onto the monster setting the ocean ablaze. "I will tear that flaming freak apart for crushing my father."

  Hope slammed his scythe against the ground. Green flames burned in his eyes. He resurrected the soul army Ignis had reduced to ash moments ago.

  [HIDDEN CLASS TRAIT: AWAKENING OF SOULS]

  The black shadows on the ground boiled once more. Flame Tyrant, the Two-Headed Ogre, Obsidian Alpha, and the Bonebreaker horde rose again with their fractured shadow bodies. But this time, their green veins shone brighter, their fury more savage.

  "You know, sweetheart," Octavia said with a crooked smile through her bloodied lips, glancing toward Hope, "I never imagined in my life that I would fight shoulder to shoulder with a surface-dweller. Especially one this… tempting."

  "I never thought I'd watch my back with a psychopath either," Hope replied without taking his eyes off Ignis. "If we survive, we'll celebrate. Attack!"

  The soul army lunged at Ignis with a loyalty that knew no fear. Flame Tyrant hammered his magma fists into Ignis's face. Obsidian Alpha attacked his legs. The Two-Headed Ogre swung his massive bone mace from above, aiming to split Ignis's skull in two.

  Ignis looked at the massive shadow beasts raining down upon him with nothing but pity.

  "Repeating the same trick after seeing it fail…" Ignis said, slowly raising his right hand. "…is simply stupidity."

  [ANCIENT CORE: CENTER OF HELL]

  The moment Ignis clenched his fist, a shield formed in a ten-meter radius around him. The temperature spiked so suddenly and so horrifyingly that the Two-Headed Ogre's mace liquefied midair just before striking Ignis's head. Obsidian Alpha turned into a cloud of smoke before even touching his skin. Flame Tyrant was reduced to ash inside a fire hotter than his own without even managing to scream. The soul army was completely erased from existence in three seconds.

  But Ignis had forgotten one thing.

  The soul army was not a weapon. They were merely a curtain.

  From the center of smoke and ashes, two slender silhouettes shot forward.

  "Now, Bianca!" Kai shouted.

  Using his own agility skill similar to Shadow Step, Kai had slipped into Ignis's blind spot directly behind him. He viciously drove his two poison-coated daggers toward the tendons behind Ignis's knees. At the same second, Bianca lunged from the front. Flipping midair, she drew six throwing blades sealed with ice and water mana from her belt and hurled them toward Ignis's face and the core in his chest.

  The blades began melting the moment they entered Ignis's aura, but thanks to the special water mana Bianca had infused into them, they created small freezing explosions upon impact with his skin.

  CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

  Small fractures appeared on Ignis's volcanic face due to thermal shock from extreme heat and sudden cooling.

  "You are quick, little flies," Ignis growled.

  When Kai's daggers struck Ignis's knee, they rebounded as if hitting diamond. As the tips of his daggers began to melt, Kai cursed and leapt backward. Ignis casually backhanded behind him as if swatting a boulder. Kai folded midair and flew backward, crashing into a pillar.

  "Kai!" Bianca lost focus for half a second, and in that instant, her eyes met Ignis's gaze. Two thin beams of fire shot from Ignis's eyes, piercing through Bianca's shoulder armor. She screamed in pain and rolled across the ground.

  "Fall back!" Hope roared. He had leapt into the air, gripping his scythe with both hands.

  [HELLFIRE]

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  The long shaft of the scythe burned with green Hellfire. Using gravity and the force of his descent, Hope brought the scythe down directly onto Ignis's shoulder. At the same time, Octavia glided through the water like a spider launching an ambush.

  [INK BLOOD: CRIMSON SPEARS]

  The black blood bursting from Octavia's severed limb transformed into ten sharp spears, launching in perfect synchronization with Hope's strike, aiming to impale Ignis from both sides.

  Hope's green scythe and Octavia's blood spears struck simultaneously.

  BOOOOM!

  The impact created the effect of an earthquake within the sea. The sharp tip of the scythe managed to pierce Ignis's volcanic armor, embedding inches into his right shoulder. Octavia's blood spears impaled his arms and torso.

  "That's it!" Octavia shouted triumphantly. "Tear him apart, sweetheart!"

  But when the smoke cleared, the sight did not promise victory.

  The scythe protruded from Ignis's shoulder. Spears remained embedded in his body. Yet there was no pain on his face. Only that deep, bottomless weariness.

  "You unite in the face of death," Ignis said, slowly turning his head toward Hope. "But had you survived, you would have slit each other's throats within seconds. A hypocritical, false alliance."

  Ignoring the scythe lodged in his shoulder, Ignis slowly raised his left hand and looked at Octavia, who controlled the blood spears.

  "Your blood may be poisonous, Octopus Princess. But blood is still liquid. And liquids…"

  Ignis's body suddenly flared like the sun.

  "…boil."

  [ANCIENT CORE: INTERNAL DETONATION]

  The blood spears impaled in Ignis vaporized in less than a second. The black ink blood violently recoiled back toward Octavia's arms, and the boiling blood began burning her own veins.

  "AHH!" Octavia screamed. Her own blood had betrayed her. Her skin blistered and burned as she was thrown backward and slammed onto the ground.

  Now it was Hope's turn.

  Ignis grasped the shaft of the scythe lodged in his shoulder with his bare right hand. Hope tried to pull it free, but it would not budge, like a legendary sword embedded in stone. Ignis's grip was crushing.

  "Your flame burns souls, child," Ignis said, locking eyes with Hope. The heat was so intense that even Hope's eyelashes began to melt. "But I am the flame itself."

  While holding the scythe, Ignis sent a dense crimson wave of magma from his right hand along the weapon toward Hope. Hope tried to release his grip and retreat, but it was too late. The crimson fire slammed into his chest.

  BAM!

  Hope felt his ribcage shatter. The air in his lungs instantly vaporized. His vision darkened. His body flew backward like a rag doll torn from gravity, crashing into the palace's massive molten gates before collapsing to the ground.

  Only a few minutes had passed, and Ignis had single-handedly forced the entire alliance to their knees.

  Kai and Bianca were injured. Octavia writhed on the ground as her own boiling blood consumed her. In the back, Lypin was nearly exhausted, spending all her mana to keep the gravely wounded Dagon and Nereus alive.

  Hope coughed on the molten marble floor. Blood spilled from his mouth. A deep, charred burn mark covered his chest where Ignis's flames had struck. His [System] screen was entirely red, countless Critical Damage and Loss of Consciousness warnings flashing.

  Heavy footsteps slowly approached him. Through the boiling water, Ignis's feet came into view. He stopped directly above Hope.

  "Your resistance was meaningless," Ignis said wearily. "Let this rotten city perish along with these cursed waters. Saving the world is far too heavy a burden for the shoulders of a child like you."

  Ignis raised his massive magma-dripping right hand. It transformed into pure molten lava. He was about to bring it down directly onto Hope's head, to end the boy's life swiftly and decisively.

  "Ashes to ashes, child," Ignis whispered. "Sleep in peace."

  Hope could barely keep his eyes open. He did not even have the strength to raise his hand. He had never imagined his end would come at the hands of this burning man. Perhaps the Prince had been right. Perhaps he would never leave this ocean. He closed his eyes and accepted death.

  The lava-covered hand descended like a guillotine.

  But death did not reach Hope's face.

  Instead, a blinding beam of blue and gold light tore across the battlefield.

  It was like lightning striking the ocean floor. The water ionized. Hair rose. Lungs filled with static electricity. An incredible crackling explosion erupted.

  ZAAAP!

  The blinding blue-gold bolt slammed into Ignis's raised lava-covered arm with bullet-like speed. The collision was so violent that a massive electric shockwave exploded underwater. Ignis's enormous, unyielding body convulsed violently as if struck by millions of volts. He staggered backward involuntarily. Smoke did not rise from his arm. Sparks did. His left arm was temporarily paralyzed, completely numb.

  "What…" Ignis stared at his arm in shock. Pure electricity at the bottom of the ocean? That defied nature.

  Hope slowly opened his eyes.

  Floating between him and Ignis was a small, familiar silhouette.

  Once merely cute and shy, the creature had transformed into something entirely different. Its body glowed an intense sky blue. Beneath its translucent skin, golden veins pulsed like constant lightning. The surrounding water crackled and boiled from the high static electricity radiating from it.

  The blue creature turned toward Ignis. Instead of a cute sound, it released a deep, threatening, electrically charged hiss.

  "Mira…" Hope whispered with a bloodstained smile.

  During the days spent with Lypin, absorbing Starfallen energy and the dense ancient mana of Atlantis, Mira had undergone a new evolution. She was no longer a simple little pet.

  [SYSTEM ANALYSIS: MIRA][RACE: UNKNOWN][STATUS: NEW EVOLUTION][TRAIT: ABSOLUTE CONDUCTIVITY AND LIGHTNING]

  Ignis narrowed his eyes at the small crackling creature.

  "Another freak joke of nature?" Ignis said, shaking his paralyzed arm. "You are far too eager to die, little fox."

  Ignis hurled a massive wave of magma toward Mira. But she did not move. The golden veins within her body blazed.

  [LIGHTNING BURST]

  A massive network of blue lightning erupted from Mira's body, carrying the energy of a storm cloud. The magma wave solidified and shattered midair upon colliding with the pure electricity. The lightning spread through the water, engulfing Ignis once more.

  Though not in pain, Ignis was forced to slide backward with visible discomfort. The stone mask on his face cracked with fury.

  "You… irritating vermin!" Ignis roared.

  Behind the protective barrier Mira provided, Hope slowly rose to his feet, gripping his scythe with trembling hands. His ribs stabbed with pain. His breath faltered. But the green flame in his eyes burned brighter than ever.

  "You said ashes to ashes, didn't you, old man?" Hope spat blood from his mouth and glanced at the crackling Mira floating beside him.

  "You're right. But today… you're the one who burns."

  The alliance had not fallen.

  It had merely changed shape.

  And with the arrival of a small storm, the rules of the game were being rewritten.