The Volcano of Origins was not a mountain.
It was a wound.
A raw, open gash torn through the crust of the Central Domain, bleeding liquid fire without pause or mercy. Rivers of magma crawled outward from its heart like veins, stretching for hundreds of miles, carving glowing scars into the land. Even the air itself warped above it, reality trembling beneath the constant pressure of heat.
Outside the caldera, the temperature hovered at fifteen hundred degrees Celsius.
Stone didn't crack here.
It surrendered.
High above the ash clouds, the Black Dragon Fortress hovered in defiance of nature, its massive hull wreathed in shimmering Void Shields. The shields flared angrily, dispersing thermal radiation in violent ripples of light, as if the ship itself were bracing against an invisible storm.
Inside the bridge, cooling systems roared at maximum capacity.
Serana tugged her hood lower, baring her fangs in irritation. "I hate this place," she hissed. Her pale skin already felt tight, dry, irritated. "Why is it that everything powerful insists on living inside an oven?"
Su Chen stood from his seat.
"Because fire," he said calmly, "burns away weakness."
Golden light washed over his body as his Gold Body activated instinctively. His skin hardened, transforming into burnished metal that drank in heat instead of rejecting it, glowing faintly like a forged artifact.
He turned toward her.
"Stay here. If you step outside, you'll desiccate in seconds. Only Esdeath and I can tolerate this environment."
Esdeath rose as well, unbothered. Her posture was sharp, her expression composed. Frost gathered around her skin, Absolute Zero forming a thin, invisible armor that bent heat away from her presence.
"Fire and ice," she said lightly. "A classic duet."
Su Chen nodded once.
The airlock opened.
They stepped into hell.
---
They didn't fall so much as descend, gravity pulling them toward the caldera like a verdict already passed.
Then—
ROAR.
It was not sound.
It was dominance.
A crushing wave of Dragon Spirit slammed into them, compressing the air, pulverizing the ash clouds into spiraling shock rings.
The sky split apart.
"ZII… LOS… DI DU!"
Your spirit is mine to devour.
The Voice tore reality open.
From the magma lake below, something vast stirred.
A colossal head emerged from the molten sea, obsidian scales glowing with internal heat, cracks filled with flowing magma like living veins. Eyes of molten gold locked onto the intruders.
Ignis.
The Calamity Dragon.
He was enormous—three hundred meters of pure sovereignty. Not merely a beast, but a natural disaster given will.
The Sovereign of the South.
Ignis did not inhale.
He spoke.
"YOL."
Fire was declared.
The air ignited in all directions, transforming into a violent storm of plasma that rushed outward, consuming everything in its path.
Su Chen did not dodge.
He hovered calmly in the inferno, Gold Body blazing like a newborn star.
He inhaled slowly.
Power surged through him—Dragon Soul resonance from Paarthurnax, genetic fury from the Wargod, Mind Authority tightening his control.
"FEIM… ZII… GRON."
Fade. Spirit. Bind.
His form destabilized, slipping half a step out of existence. The fire passed through him, roaring harmlessly through empty space as his body became void for a fraction of a second.
Then—
He reformed.
Instantly.
"JOOR… ZAH… FRUL!"
Mortal. Finite. Temporary.
The shout wasn't perfect. It was raw, forcibly assembled—mortality carved into syllables through sheer comprehension rather than tradition.
A wave of blue distortion slammed into Ignis.
The dragon screamed.
Not in pain.
In offense.
The concept of mortality wrapped around his wings like chains. Gravity returned. Weight crashed down upon him.
Ignis plummeted into the magma lake, displacing oceans of molten rock in a catastrophic eruption.
He rose moments later, furious—yet unsettled.
"You speak Dovahzul," Ignis thundered, his voice shifting, folding itself into a telepathic broadcast that pierced all minds equally. "You speak the tongue of the Makers."
Su Chen descended, hovering just above the molten surface, lava rolling harmlessly beneath his feet.
"I speak what I must," he said evenly. "Ignis. I am not here to take your territory."
Ignis's pupils narrowed.
"Then why do you trespass upon the Origin?"
Su Chen didn't waste time.
"I'm looking for the source of this world's expansion. The planet didn't grow naturally. It was fed."
Ignis exhaled, smoke pouring from his nostrils.
"You see what the others do not," he admitted. "The Lich. The Insect. The Human. They stare outward, fighting over land."
He plunged a claw into the magma.
And pulled something up.
Encased within an indestructible crystal sphere, suspended in the heart of the volcano, floated a Seed.
Green.
Vivid.
Impossibly alive.
It pulsed—slow, steady—its rhythm synchronized with the tectonic heartbeat of the planet itself.
Su Chen's breath caught.
"The World Tree," he murmured.
Ignis nodded. "A fragment. Fallen from the stars. I keep it warm. If it dies, this world withers. If it blooms…"
The dragon's eyes burned brighter.
"This world ascends."
Su Chen understood instantly.
Mana density. Planetary expansion. Evolution acceleration.
Everything traced back to this.
"The Insect Queen wants to consume it," Ignis continued. "To become divine. The Lich seeks to corrupt it, to birth a dead realm."
"And you," Su Chen said softly, "are the only thing stopping them."
Ignis lowered his head. "It is my burden."
Su Chen studied the seed.
He could take it.
The Black Dragon Fortress could run forever on its output. His growth would skyrocket.
But the planet would die.
"I won't take it," Su Chen said.
Ignis blinked. "You carry greed. I smell it. And yet… you refuse?"
"I don't destroy supply chains," Su Chen replied calmly. "I optimize them."
He descended, placing his palm against the crystal sphere.
Power surged.
Life slammed into Death.
His Lich Bloodline resisted violently, entropy clawing against growth. But his Gold Body—his indestructible container—held both in balance.
Green light flooded his veins.
Then stabilized.
Life and Death began to circulate.
Su Chen withdrew his hand.
"I have what I need."
Ignis stared.
Then Su Chen smiled.
"You're stuck here. Guarding this seed. Unable to roam."
Ignis said nothing.
"I can build you a solution," Su Chen continued. "A planetary formation. Magitek-based. Powered by the magnetic field and geothermal output. The seed will be protected without you nesting on it."
Suspicion flickered.
"You possess such sorcery?"
"I possess technology," Su Chen corrected. "In exchange… I want a single drop of your Heart Blood."
Ignis roared, heat surging violently.
"My blood is my life!"
"One drop," Su Chen countered calmly. "For your freedom."
Silence stretched.
Finally—
"One drop," Ignis agreed. "If your shield fails, I will burn you to nothing."
---
The construction took six hours.
Generators fused into the crust. Heat rerouted. Shields layered.
When Ignis struck the formation, it held.
Satisfied, the dragon tore open a scale near his heart.
A single drop of blood floated free—burning like a captured sun.
Su Chen sealed it within an ice-crystal vial.
Ignis spread his wings.
For the first time in decades, he left the crater.
"I go to hunt," he roared joyously. "The West has grown arrogant."
He vanished toward the horizon.
Esdeath watched, eyes shining. "That's war."
"Good," Su Chen said.
He turned back toward the ship.
"And next… magic."
Real magic.