Fire Mage

Chapter 400: Crimson Flame

Griffin Household Mansion, Saffron Street, Noble's District, City of Iron.

At that moment, an auburn-haired young lady stood on the mansion's balcony and stared at the Rebirth Tower with a smile on her face.

She had whirly-long hair, azure eyes, thin eyebrows and wore a traditional dress made of pure silk.

She was none other than Goddess Sasha!

"Finally! His soul shattered." She muttered in a cold tone, retracted her gaze, and turned around.

Then, she stepped forward, opened the balcony door from outside, and walked into the mansion.

....

Within the Sun God's Divine Realm, a golden castle stood at the top of a mountain.

It was the Sun God Abium's home.

Currently, an elven young man sat on the throne made of pure gold in the throne hall and stared at the white ceiling in a dazed look. He had blonde hair, amber eyes, pointy ears, and appeared to be around 20 years old.

At that moment, his amber eyes glittered in white light and showed him what was happening in the Rebirth Tower's 23rd Layer!

As he saw Charles's soul started shattering, he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

"Another death. I thought he would be the most capable one among the participants to get my job done. Was I mistaken?" He muttered in a disappointed tone.

Just as he was about to retract his gaze, he suddenly noticed a strange thing within the deepest part of Charles's soul and smiled.

"Interesting! So, he already made preparations, huh. Then, I should also think of a way to trick the God of Time once again. I wonder how he will react when he learns that I'm nothing more than a mere clone." A chuckle escaped out of his mouth.

He then stood up from his seat, turned around, and walked towards the golden throne's backside.

A mysterious fountain filled with white clouds and five lotus-like flowers appeared in front of his eyes.

All five lotus-like flowers were in different colors and seemed to be unique on their own.

If someone looks at those flowers closely, they will notice that the flower petals were actual divinities!

Abium took a step forward, touched the yellowish flower, and then closed his eyes.

A second later, he gathered the divine power from the flower and took out a green ring from his pocket.

Then, he activated that ring and spoke.

"I need your help, Helena. Also, bring Nicolas and Umi with you."

A strange silence appeared in the throne hall, followed by a short response.

"Okay."

...

23rd Layer, Rebirth Tower, City of Iron,

When Charles's soul shattered, his body shook violently and went motionless.

"Teacher!" Jessie and others cried out in shock.

On the other hand, the 'Heart' within the Rebirth spell model exploded and released a streak of crimson flame.

Soon, the crimson flame streak expanded like a wildfire and enveloped the whole sky.

Then, the fire moved out of his Inner World and wrapped both his shattered soul form and his body!

At that moment, Charles also saw that the strange crimson flames were spreading from broken voids and were seeping into his Inner World continuously!

In just two seconds, crimson flames appeared all over his Inner World.

But what shocked him most was that these strange fires froze everything in its path.

'Present Time!' The almost disappearing Charles opened his eyes wide and realized that the strange fire had already enveloped his illusionary form!

If not for his [Accelerate Thoughts] skill, he wouldn't have noticed this crimson flame!

At that time, he thought of something and cast [Fire Born] spell.

The next instant, he saw that the [Time-Stop] effect got nullified on his consciousness and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then, he shifted his attention towards the outside world and soon saw his body was burning in a crimson flame.

Meanwhile, Jessie and Noel showed panicking expressions on their faces and asked for help from the Tower spirit.

The only one who remained calm at that time was Rhea!

She raised her hand, conjured tens of water balls, and dropped them one by one on his body!

Unfortunately, a mysterious forcefield appeared around Charles's body and evaporated the water elements.

As Rhea saw this, she also got panicked and then attacked the forcefield with an ice spear!

"Rhea! Are you trying to kill our Teacher?" Upon seeing her action, Jessie screamed.

"IT'S NOT WORKING!" Rhea roared in anger.

"Zera! Do something." Noel also shouted with teary eyes and soon fell on his knees.

Meanwhile, Jessie and Rhea also showed a helpless expression on their faces and watched the fire burning their Teacher's body fiercely.

In just a few seconds, they saw a skeleton within the crimson flame and cried.

"No!" "Stop it! "Teacher!"

Alas, the crimson flame continued to burn his bones!

Before long, not even ashes were left behind!

...

Meanwhile, Charles noticed that the crimson flame rearranged his shattered soul form and directly pulled it into the Astral Plane!

At that moment, his consciousness left the Inner World, and soon he found himself in the shattered soul form!

Astral Plane seemed nothing special in front of his eyes.

The only difference was that he became invisible to others. Even if Charles tries to contact them, it would be impossible!

'I became a dead soul, huh. Let's see what this crimson flame could do.'

He soon shifted his attention towards his soul form and turned solemn.

If not for the crimson flame enveloping his foggy humanoid form, he knew that his shattered soul would dissolve into pure energies in a matter of seconds.

'Man, I got f*cked up pretty hard this time. But why did the crimson flame take my soul to the Astral Plane?' Just as that thought crossed his mind, his soul form suddenly moved upward.

He passed through the ceiling in a blink, moved towards the 24th floor, and soon reached the core room.

At that moment, he saw a white-haired old man standing before the blue screen and was watching the kids' reactions.

'This old monster also got attached to those kids, huh.' Charles sighed.

Suddenly, Runeth sensed someone's gaze from behind and turned around in surprise.

Although he didn't see Charles's soul form, he seemed to have perceived Charles's existence and soon laughed.

"I was damn right! You survived even after that bitch shattered your soul? Haha, good. Good." He deliberated for a second, raised his hand, waved at him, and then added.

"Come back sooner, lad."

Meanwhile, Charles noticed that the crimson flame was pulling him towards the sky and co-operated with it.

In a second, he appeared above the Rebirth Tower, continued to fly higher, and soon entered the clouds.

As for where this strange crimson flame was taking his shattered soul? Only time would give the correct answer.

...

Hill of Sorrow, the Last Island, Azure Federation Territory, Endless Sea.

A few seconds ago,

Valerie looked at the unconscious Charles in confusion and slowly knelt beside him. Then, she took out a water pouch from her space ring and splashed the water on his face.

To her shock, Charles showed no sign of movement.

"What a pure-hearted kid. I never heard of anyone falling unconscious because of a one-sided love breakup." She muttered inwardly and thought of taking him back to the Inn.

But as she was about to touch him, a crimson flame appeared on his chest and started spreading everywhere!

"What-? F*ck!" She opened her eyes wide and tried to extinguish them with her own hands.

To her shock, she noticed no burning sensation appeared on her hand and became dumbfounded.

'What is this?!' She stared at the flame with gawked eyes and soon noticed that Charles's body was the only thing burning fiercely.

In a panic, she also took out a water barrel and tried to pour it on him.

But a similar forcefield appeared around his body and completely evaporated the water.

Soon, she saw Charles's skeleton within the burning fire and went pale.

She also used different methods to extinguish the fire, but nothing worked.

In a few seconds, even his skeleton disappeared along with the crimson flame, leaving a pebble-sized red crystal behind!

"W-What the hell did I witness?! Charles died just like that?!" She asked herself in disbelief.

She remained in the same position for a whole minute and finally woke up from the shock.

She then picked up the strange gem and placed it on her smooth palm.

"Is this your final gift, my friend?" A bitter smile appeared on her face.

...

(End of Vol.4: Heart.)

...