Chapter 3128 — Chapter 3128 Song of Fire

The dying city that had resembled hell was now in its final death throes, having truly become one. Fire was everywhere, greedily devouring the collapsing buildings. Thick smoke enveloped everything around, plunging the burning streets into an acrid darkness.

Most of the city had been built from stone, but the blaze consuming it was not of mundane nature. The liquid fire Morgan had developed with the help of the local sorcerers burned hot enough to melt stone, and it fed on it too. The flames swallowed one building after another, turning the corpses of those who had fallen to the plague into ash.

The flames were devouring the living, as well.

Everywhere in the burning city, the soldiers of the Steel Horde were screaming in harrowing agony, thrashing as their flesh was melting off their bones. Neither steel armor nor Awakened powers could protect them, and their tortured, terrified voices fused into a hellish litany.

But not all of them were burning... yet.

No matter how many barrels of the Stone Fire Morgan and her subordinates had created, it was not enough to cover every centimeter of the vast city. The fire was spreading, but it was not spreading fast enough.

Those who survived the initial explosion had the chance to save themselves, still. Some tried to save themselves by launching an assault on the Stone Castle, which was protected from the blaze both by Morgan's careful arrangements and by the withering Will of the Mason. The rest tried to flee through the city gate, and once they discovered that it had been sealed shut, turned their gazes to the wall.

All paths to the ramparts had been blocked or destroyed in advance, but humans, and especially Awakened, were resourceful. They would find a way to scale the city wall, overcome the traps waiting for them, and some — those of them who survived — would ultimately escape.

The rest might try to seek shelter in the harbor, instead. The Stone Fire burned atop the water, having turned it into a sea of flame, but if one could hold their breath long enough, they might reach salvation after all.

Kai could not allow that to happen. Nightwalker was holding the Stone Castle. Morgan and Seishan were meant to block off the harbor. So, it was his task to make sure that those who retreated to the city wall died — all of them, without exception. He rushed through the fire and smoke like a dark shadow.

The flames could not harm him today — he had earned the right to move through them by bathing in the scorching blood of a dragon. As he traversed the inferno with terrifying speed, he encountered pockets of surviving soldiers among the shadows.

The soldiers died before realizing what kind of monster lunged at them from the billowing flames. Awakened, Ascended... Kai did not pay them enough attention to determine their Rank. All he knew was that they were not the prey he was hunting for — they were not the Dread Generals, who had to die today at all costs.

Jet was somewhere behind enemy lines, destroying the supply lines of the Steel Horde all alone. Kai did not know what Azarax would choose — would he go after the elusive wraith that threatened to starve his army, or would he plunge into the flames devouring his best soldiers — so he had to hurry.

He slaughtered more soldiers on the way to the wall. At first, he killed them with his sword and his arrows. Then, judging it too slow, he assumed his draconic form, emerging from the fiery clouds of black smoke like a terrifying, towering visage of destruction and death.

Wreathed in fire and smoke, his midnight-blue scales looked almost entirely black.

Then, even that seemed like a waste of time. So, he simply commanded the flames to devour the soldiers of the Steel Horde in his place, using his Aspect to make the blaze move.

He felt it then, in the violent embrace of merciless slaughter...

The heartbeat of fire.

The blaze was like a living being — a giant, insatiable beast that longed to devour all of existence, to use all of existence as fuel for its fleeting radiance. It moved, it twisted, it churned... it grew, it withered. It wanted to be, it wanted to shine...

It wanted to burn.

Kai reached the city wall by then, and clashed with those two Dread Generals who had chosen it as their path to salvation. He burned their soldiers first, and then called upon the flames to attack the Transcendent thralls as well.

The champions of the Steel Horde could endure the flame... but they couldn't endure the fierce black dragon that emerged from the billowing sea of black smoke, wreathed in cinders and fire.

The three of them fought in the middle of hell, the dire force of their battle fueling the spreading inferno.

The Dread Generals were strong. They were heroic. They were seasoned and experienced, having survived innumerable campaigns.

But Kai was strong, heroic, and seasoned as well. In fact, he had survived far more horrifying things than these fallen heroes of annihilated kingdoms could ever imagine. So, he fought them fiercely.

He fought them earnestly.

And somewhere in the middle of that...

The Spell whispered in his ear.

It said:

[You have received an Aspect Legacy...]

At that moment, Kai felt something deep and profound take root in his mind — something that was as old as the world, or possibly even predated it. He recognized its form, as well. It was something that he had tried to master himself, but failed to fathom innumerable times.

It was the True Name of Fire.

There were those who were born with a talent for Shaping, and those who were born without it. Kai's case, however, was unique — his Transcendent form gave him a unique resonance with Shaping, making him believe that if he could invoke the Names, the result would be much more destructive than for any other sorcerer.

However, perhaps for that very reason, his mind had not been able to accommodate any Names. It was as if there was a powerful force blocking him from learning them. He did not merely lack the talent for Shaping... he was the opposite of talented, completely inept.

Until now.

Now, the Name of Fire — and a few more — lived in his mind, having fused with his very spirit, making it feel like invoking them was the most natural thing in the world... like it had been his power all along.

They were like songs, making him feel a familiar longing.

And so, Kai invoked it.

He invoked the Song of Fire.

In the next moment, a vast, roaring pillar of radiant silver flame escaped from his maw, swallowing the Dread Generals in an instant.

Enveloped by that beautiful flame, they only survived for a second.

Then, their figures dissolved into the silver radiance, turning to ash.

And then, the ash was annihilated as well. The pillar of silver flame crashed into the city and exploded, turning into a radiant sea of immolating fire, drowning the world in obliterating heat.

Kai was not done, though...

His hunt was only beginning.

No one was going to escape the burning city today.