Ash and embers drifted in the air, carried by waves of heat that made the ground shimmer. The temperature kept rising as they moved forward through the cracked stone path.
Asher pulled out the dungeon's projection map and pointed at a red mark flashing over the structure ahead. It was a mansion, half-sunk into lava and still burning from the inside.
"This is it," he said.
Valeris stepped closer and looked at the map. "The core?"
"Yeah," Asher said. "The boss. Flame Duke Osiris."
This chapter is updated by Novel~Fire. (n)et
Veyra's eyes narrowed. "Duke Osiris… Sounds place was once a dukedom."
"It is—or was, in the past," Asher replied. "And here, it still means something to him. That's why his ghost still lingers. Over the years, through this world's unique laws, it's turned into a dungeon."
As they approached the burning mansion, the sigil above its gate glowed brighter and then cracked open. The main doors groaned and slammed outward, releasing a wave of fire so strong it split the ground and pushed molten rock to the sides.
A figure stepped out of the flames.
He was massive—over nine feet tall. His body looked like it was made from bronze and obsidian, with fire burning just under the surface. He wore a long cloak of molten chains that sizzled with every movement. His head was crowned with two large horns, and in his hand he held a huge spear that looked like it was forged from the core of a sun. Heat radiated from it in steady waves.
The man stopped at the edge of the scorched platform.
"I don't remember inviting anyone here," he said, his voice heavy and loud. "This is my domain. Who are you to walk it?"
Valeris's shadow moved under his feet like liquid, growing larger.
Behind Veyra, a pair of wings formed from glowing blood and stretched out.
Asher stepped forward and stared directly at the boss.
"We don't need your permission," Asher said.
The Flame Duke didn't waste any more words. With a motion of his hand, the ground shook and vents opened in the scorched stone. From beneath, firebombs and molten spears erupted—like volcanic missiles raining down on them.
Asher and Valeris jumped back, letting Veyra take the front. She stepped forward without hesitation, her blood vines snapping to life around her.
"Veyra, this one's yours. Show me what you've got," Asher said, already pulling back.
Veyra gave a sharp nod, eyes fixed on the towering flame-wreathed enemy.
Valeris stood beside Asher, arms crossed, watching the battlefield below. "How long do you think she'll take to win?"
Asher observed Veyra for a moment before answering. "Hard to say. She's still not fully in sync with her new powers. The Bloodroot of Crimson Bloom is evolving—it's no longer just about life and decay. Now that she's inherited the Duskroot legacy, it's transforming into something colder. Sharper. An Icy Bloom."
He paused, then added, "The Duskroot family's innate skill is the Blood Moon Blade—an ancient legacy of both Ice and Blood elements. Now that Veyra's awakened her Empyrean Vampire race, she's also inherited fragments of my high-level Blood Supreme authority. Normally, that kind of control is restricted to my Sanguine Supreme abilities."
Valeris glanced at him, brow raised. "So her base traits were life, corruption, and blood. But now…"
"Now," Asher continued, "she's gaining the chilling precision of blood-ice from the Duskroot line, layered with the absolute dominion over blood granted by her Empyrean Vampire bloodline—because of me. I don't even know what the final form of her skill will be. That's why I'm letting her fight this battle alone. It'll push her forward. Force her evolution."
They both turned their attention back to Veyra. Her vines, once thick with rot and thorns, now shimmered with crystalline frost. Icy-red tendrils lashed through the air, each movement precise and lethal.
Valeris nodded slowly. "So she also has access to the Duskroot family's Moon-blade techniques?"
"She does," Asher confirmed. "And she's started replicating elements of Moon Bloom too. That technique was originally designed to reflect both pure light and extreme cold. If she can fuse that with her blood constructs... then even someone like Flame Duke Osiris won't hold her for long."
Valeris narrowed her eyes as Veyra's silhouette moved through the scorched battlefield, flickering between firelight and frost. "She's shifting her footing. Adapting."
Asher nodded. "Good. She's starting to weave the elements."
Below, the battle began in earnest.
The Flame Duke Osiris raised his sun-forged spear and thrust it forward. A jet of molten fire ripped through the earth, exploding outward in a fan-shaped inferno. The ground cracked and split beneath his fury, magma veins erupting in chaotic spirals.
Veyra leapt sideways, her body twisting midair as blood-frost vines burst from her arms and back. They struck the walls and dug deep, anchoring her high above the molten blast. Her eyes glowed—not with panic, but focus.
She dropped her hand. The vines released from the stone and snapped downward like serpents.
They slammed toward Osiris, but the Flame Duke merely sneered. He swung his spear in a burning arc, and the heatwave alone evaporated the first wave of icy vines.
"She'll need to get past that fire domain," Valeris muttered.
"She will," Asher said. "Just wait."
As if on cue, the next volley was different. The vines shimmered—coated not just in frost, but in reflected light. Each tendril curved with unnatural grace, bending around the heat, angling for the shadows behind Osiris's armor.
Valeris blinked. "That's… Moon Bloom."
"She's using it as a redirecting medium," Asher said, impressed. "Reflecting light and cold around the thermal pressure. Smart girl."
Osiris stomped forward, his chains clinking against the lava-carved stones. He roared, and a pyroclastic shockwave burst from his body, forcing Veyra back. Her blood-ice constructs shattered midair.
Instead, the scattered shards spun like petals and reconverged into a scythe—long, elegant, and lined with jagged frost runes.
"New construct," Valeris murmured.
Asher's eyes glinted. "It's part of the Duskroot technique set. That's the Lunar Scythe Form. She's not just copying—it's becoming hers."
Veyra landed, knees bent, the scythe in one hand. Her body now radiated a dual aura: crimson haze and glacial silver. The blood beneath her skin ran cold and bright. The battlefield responded—the ambient heat began to drop in waves, like the moon had begun to eclipse the sun.
Osiris charged, spear forward, flame wings bursting from his back.
Veyra stepped into the attack—not back, but forward—and twisted.
Spear met scythe. Fire met frost.
A wave of light exploded outward as the clash sent ripples through the chamber. Lava cracked, the stone floor shivered, and even the walls of the dungeon flickered from the force of impact.
But it was Osiris who skidded backward.
His armor hissed, steam rising from the frozen gash now etched across his chestplate.
Valeris raised a brow. "She broke his armor?"
"No," Asher said softly. "She cut through his Fire Law Weave. That scythe isn't just ice and blood. It's starting to carry conceptual weight. She's weaponizing her lineage."
Osiris bellowed in rage, flames flaring once more. "You dare—!"
But Veyra didn't answer. Her scythe spun in her hand, light trailing behind it in crescent arcs. Her feet moved like a dancer's, but her eyes were sharp as blades.
Chains of frost lashed out. Vines burst beneath her steps. A dozen blood-tipped icicles swirled in orbit around her body.
One step. Twist. Flash of light and cold.
Another strike. Curve. Slice through fire and molten breath.
Osiris tried to counter, but she was already past him—behind, her scythe tracing a moonlit path across his back.
Osiris staggered, growling—but now, his flames were flickering. Uneven. His spear dimmed slightly, the radiant eruption on its shaft sputtering.
"She's suppressing his flame domain," Valeris noted.
Asher gave a faint nod. "She's reversing the battlefield dynamic. Turning the volcanic terrain into a frozen coffin."
And indeed, as Veyra advanced, frost bloomed behind her. The lava cooled to obsidian. The air burned less. And above them, for the first time, the eternal crimson glow of the dungeon's artificial sky flickered—tinted silver-blue by the reflected gleam of moonlight.
She stopped a few meters from Osiris, who was now breathing hard, one knee slightly dipped.
Veyra's voice was calm, but carried a weight that reverberated across the broken battlefield.
"Your domain has burned for long enough. Now… it's winter."
She raised her hand. Her scythe dissolved into threads of blood and light—then bloomed behind her into a massive spectral rose, each petal etched with glowing frost runes and silver veins.
It floated for a second—then launched forward in a burst of silence.
Osiris screamed, thrusting his spear one last time.
But it never reached her.
The rose exploded in silence, enveloping him in a blizzard of blood and ice.
When the mist cleared, Osiris knelt in the center of a rapidly freezing crater, his flames dimmed, body covered in crackling frost, spear shattered beside him.
And Veyra stood tall.
Not panting. Not trembling.
Asher smiled slightly. "Not bad."
Valeris exhaled. "She's stronger than she realizes."
"Not for long," Asher said. "Now… she'll start to understand."