Water is the source of life.But at this moment, in the heart of Atlantis, water itself was becoming death.

  At thousands of meters beneath the ocean's surface, under unimaginable pressure, it was impossible for water to boil. The laws of physics did not allow it. But laws only existed for those who were bound to obey them.

  And the man who had just entered the battlefield did not obey the laws.He burned them.

  King Dagon lay on the ground, his chest crushed and his limbs shattered, when he saw the crimson silhouette emerging from the curtain of steam. A sick, twisted smile spread across his pain-stricken face. Black blood trickled from his mouth as he let out a hoarse laugh.

  "Finally…" Dagon said, his voice like a broken record. "You finally came, my partner."

  Dagon forced his head up and looked toward Elara, who was under Leviathan's control, and toward Hope, who stood frozen in shock.

  "Now…" Dagon said drunkenly with victory. "…now you are finished! The greatest calamity of the ocean stands before you! Burn them! Reduce Atlantis to ashes!"

  The man within the flames acted as if he had not heard Dagon's screams.

  His steps were heavy, rhythmic, and weary. Wherever he stepped, the marble floor hissed and melted into glowing orange magma, which hardened within the water and left behind black obsidian scars.

  His body was covered in a constantly shifting, fluid layer of lava. His face resembled a mask carved from cooled volcanic stone; expressionless, exhausted, with liquid fire glowing through the cracks.

  The man walked through the ranks of Dagon's army, the loyal Octopus soldiers.

  One Octopus commander, not understanding who this newcomer was, instinctively pointed his spear at him instead of stepping aside.

  "Stop!" the commander shouted. "Who are you?!"

  The man did not stop.

  He did not even turn his head.

  He simply walked.

  The moment the commander's body entered the man's terrifying heat aura, he ignited in less than a second. Underwater.

  Without even having time to scream, his armor melted, his flesh carbonized, and within seconds he became nothing more than a drifting cloud of gray ash.

  The soldiers behind him met the same fate. The man passed through his own allies like a scythe cutting through wheat. His mere presence vaporized them.

  Dagon's eyes widened in horror.

  "What are you doing?!" Dagon roared, trying to rise from the ground. "They are my men! We are allies! We had a deal! You were supposed to kill the Sirens, not my army!"

  The burning man stopped.

  Slowly, he turned his head and looked at the King of the Octopuses lying helpless like an insect.

  His eyes… there was no anger in them. No hatred.

  Only endless weariness and deep emptiness.

  "Allies?" the man said. His voice sounded like crackling wood in a fire. Dry, muted, unsettling. "Everyone who becomes fuel for my flame is equal, Dagon. Your soldiers or the Sirens… you are all merely noise."

  "You…" Dagon struggled to gather his words. "You promised me! You were going to give Atlantis to me!"

  The man lifted his hand slightly.

  "Be silent."

  With that simple command, the water inside Dagon's throat instantly vaporized. The vacuum and extreme heat seared his vocal cords on the spot. The King opened his mouth to scream, but only a hoarse, soundless hiss escaped his lips.

  The man turned forward again and continued walking toward the heart of Atlantis, toward the massive main gates of the Royal Palace.

  "I have no business with Atlantis," the man said, almost as if speaking to himself. "I have no interest in your crowns, your thrones, or your petty wars. Just give me… the Heart of the Sea."

  From afar, Hope tried to analyze the man, but [Architect Sight] returned errors.

  [ERROR: TEMPERATURE VALUE UNMEASURABLE][ERROR: TARGET EXISTENCE CONTRADICTS PHYSICAL LAWS]

  "Hope!" Kai shouted from behind a pillar in the rear. "Who is this bastard?! He is burning underwater! That is impossible!"

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "I do not know," Hope replied, drenched in sweat. "But he is not here to fight. He is here to destroy."

  The man's destination was clear. He intended to descend into the vaults beneath the palace.

  According to legend, that was where the ancient artifact known as the Heart of the Sea rested, the object that kept Atlantis above water, or below it, and balanced the ocean's energy.

  If the Heart were destroyed, the shields protecting Atlantis would fall, the ocean would crush the city, and most importantly, the ancient curse binding this man to this place would be broken.

  But someone blocked his path.

  Elara floated in the air, surrounded by golden auras.

  Leviathan could not tolerate this fire burning within its waters. It was an insult. A violation of nature's balance.

  "UNINVITED GUEST," Leviathan declared. Its voice was the roar of the ocean. "YOUR EXISTENCE POLLUTES MY WATERS."

  The burning man lifted his head and looked at Leviathan.

  "Ah…" he said, almost nostalgically. "The old monster. Do you still love your chains? Still guarding this wet, cold cage?"

  Leviathan did not answer. It acted.

  Elara raised her hand and transformed all the water surrounding Atlantis into a single colossal spear.

  [LEVIATHAN'S DECREE: OCEAN PIERCER]

  The massive water spear descended upon the man with enough force to erase him and the entire block from existence.

  Hope closed his eyes. Surviving that attack was impossible.

  CZZZZZZZZT!

  There was no explosion.

  Instead, there was the sound of red-hot iron plunged into water.

  Steam. Thick, white steam exploded outward, covering everything.

  When the steam cleared, Hope could not believe what he saw.

  The man was still there.

  He had not even altered his stride.

  The millions of tons of water had completely vaporized within a thousandth of a second upon touching his aura.

  Smoke rose from his shoulders. His volcanic skin glowed brighter and redder, but he was unharmed.

  "You assume water extinguishes fire," the man said as he continued walking toward Leviathan. "But a hot enough flame… can vaporize even the ocean."

  Leviathan grew furious.

  "This girl's body was not meant for my full descent!"

  Its golden eyes flared. Elara's body trembled.

  This time Leviathan did not use water. It used pressure. The space around the man warped as Leviathan attempted to crush him.

  The man staggered. The weight on his shoulders cracked the ground. His knees bent slightly.

  "Heavy…" he whispered. "Like the exhaustion of centuries."

  Then he took a deep breath.

  And when he exhaled—

  [ETERNAL CORE: ASHEN BREATH]

  What came from his mouth was not fire. It was pure white ash.

  The ash spread through the water and mixed with Leviathan's pressure field. Every water molecule touched by the ash instantly lost its energy and vanished. The pressure field collapsed.

  The man straightened.

  "I am Ignis… I think. I do not even fully remember my own name," he said, his voice echoing throughout Atlantis. "The last ember left from ancient wars. I was cursed. Condemned to burn beneath these waters, never to extinguish and never to die. I have walked for centuries. And I am tired."

  Ignis placed his hand over his chest. The blinding core within his ribcage flared.

  "I will destroy the Heart of the Sea. This cursed ocean will dry. And at last, I will finally extinguish in peace and become ash carried by the wind."

  This was not the plan of a villain seeking to conquer the world.

  This was a suffering soul willing to burn the world for freedom.

  Leviathan understood the magnitude of the threat. If this man was not stopped, the balance of the ocean would be broken.

  Elara descended swiftly and landed before Ignis, physically blocking his path. She froze the surrounding water into massive walls of ice.

  Ignis touched the ice wall. It instantly sublimated.

  "Move aside, little girl," Ignis said to Elara. "Do not let that monster use your body. You will burn."

  Ignis swung his hand.

  A crimson wave of flame surged toward Elara like a tsunami.

  Elara raised a water barrier, but the flames pierced through it.

  The heat scorched her skin. Even Leviathan's regenerative power could not keep pace with the temperature. Elara screamed in pain as she was thrown backward.

  Hope could not watch any longer.

  Elara was dying. Atlantis was on the verge of collapse. And this man… this man continued walking.

  Hope leapt from behind the pillar.

  "Kai! Bianca! Deniz!" he shouted. "Form a barrier! Protect me!"

  His teammates did not hesitate. Deniz, despite being wounded, rose to his feet and activated his mechanical shields. Kai and Bianca stepped in front of Hope, positioning themselves to intercept any physical assault.

  Hope planted himself directly in Ignis's path.

  He gripped his scythe with both hands.

  The green flames in his eyes flared, challenging Ignis's crimson inferno.

  Ignis stopped.

  He turned his tired eyes toward the small boy before him.

  "Another fly," he said wearily. "Step aside."

  "You cannot pass," Hope said, breathing heavily. The heat dried his skin, cracked his lips. "If you destroy that Heart, everyone here will die. Innocents, children… even those foolish Octopuses who were your allies."

  Ignis shrugged. "Death is mercy, child. You cannot comprehend the agony of endless life."

  Ignis stepped forward. A wave of heat struck Hope.

  Hope's clothes ignited.

  But he did not retreat.

  Instead…

  The green flame within him, the Hellfire, reacted to the immense heat source before him. As if it sensed something familiar.

  Hope spun his scythe and struck its blade against the ground.

  [FLAME SPIRIT: RESONANCE]

  Hope's green flames collided with Ignis's crimson aura.

  Under normal circumstances, Hope should have vaporized instantly.

  But he did not.

  The green flames absorbed the heat, bent it, and formed a shield around him.

  For the first time, something other than weariness appeared in Ignis's eyes.

  Surprise.

  And… curiosity.

  "That flame…" Ignis said, leaning toward Hope. His eyes narrowed. "…green."

  Ignis extended his hand, as if he wished to touch Hope's fire.

  "A spiritual flame?" he murmured. "Truly… interesting."

  The stone mask of Ignis's face cracked slightly, brighter light leaking through.

  "Who are you, child?" Ignis asked. "Why do you carry The Architect's signature within your soul?"

  Hope froze.

  Architect.

  His class. His title.

  Did this man know the First Architect?

  "I am Hope," the boy said, not lowering his scythe. "And I will not allow you to burn this city."

  Ignis let out a short, dry laugh.

  "Allow?"

  Ignis snapped his fingers.

  The Green Flame Shield around Hope instantly dispersed. Hope was thrown aside as if struck by an invisible hand.

  "You have potential, child," Ignis said as he began walking again. "For the sake of that green spark in your soul, I will not kill you immediately. Watch and learn. See how a true conflagration begins."

  Ignis reached the palace's main gate.

  He placed his hand upon the massive coral doors.

  Within seconds, the doors melted and flowed to the ground.

  The path was open.

  The heart of Atlantis lay defenseless.

  And as Ignis stepped inside, the destruction he left behind was only the beginning.

  But at that moment, a voice rose from behind him!

  "AWAKE!"