You promised to wreak havoc on the dungeon, but instead you've got Dragon Slime!

As long as this fire burns, the empire will never perish.

He stopped pointing when he saw the last sentence.

If fire gives rise to a king, it will surely destroy the old king.

Those who defy their master will become shadows.

Ron squinted.

"...So that's it."

He picked up the old fire seal next to the stone tablet and pressed it into his palm.

This completely ignited the entire King's Fire Ritual Mouth.

The flames retreated, and simultaneously, fire patterns lit up the upper level of the furnace, the middle level of the dungeon, the Ash Nest settlement, and the old furnace tower.

Everyone outside could see that the sealed main fire vein was gradually lighting up.

Fire rose from beneath the throne.

The fire veins lit up, and the ground throughout the entire underground city could be felt gently warming.

In the Ash Nest settlement, one by one, the tribesmen who had been hiding in the shadows emerged from the caves, cracks, and pipes. Their bodies were no longer covered in cracked bone and skin, but instead, fire patterns danced on their skin, and their bone armor was being reshaped.

As soon as the fire imprint appeared, they were like human machines suddenly "ignited," letting out a howl and kneeling down in the direction of the fire vein.

“The Fire Soldiers have awakened.” Viser stood at the fault line, the fire patterns on the back of his hand glowing on their own. He stammered, “Do you know what this means?”

“Ron is alive.” Claudia’s words shut him down.

"...Aren't you afraid that thing will eat him?"

"If you actually ate it, the fire wouldn't taste like this."

After she finished speaking, she turned back and activated the communication array, summoning the tribal guards.

"Gather everyone," she ordered. "Notify Grayscale, Riftblade, Old Wellgang... all those willing to take up fire, come here."

"What are we gathering for?"

"Pick someone up."

"Who to pick up?"

"Welcome your new furnace master."

……

The gate at the entrance to the Wang Huoji Temple remained closed.

It exploded.

Click—boom!

The main fire pit, which had been sealed for decades, was directly blasted open by a wave of grayish-purple fire, causing cracks in the walls and creating a deep trench in the passage.

Ron emerged from the fire.

No one dared to move.

He wasn't wearing armor, nor did he have any armor plates on his body.

Only the fire patterns covering the skin, like iron wires burning out of the body, stretched all the way to the fingers.

The moment he stepped out, the broken furnace at the deepest part of the underground city automatically went out.

"What...did he do?" Viser was dumbfounded.

“He set the whole city on fire.” Claudia walked over. “As long as the fire goes out, the city will never need a furnace again.”

A large number of Gray Nest tribe members knelt down.

The fire soldiers are no longer awakened as individual members of their tribe, but rather as companies and even as blocks. They all stand up, clad in bone armor, holding weapons in both hands, standing motionless between the lines of fire and earth.

The first true underground army emerged in the entire underground city.

It doesn't rely on food or commands; it's awakened entirely by the Fire Emblem.

Ron stood in front of the sacrificial altar, looking at the neatly lined-up Gray Nest soldiers in the distance.

He didn't say a word.

The bone imprint behind him rose up and slowly rotated above his head.

Viser leaned closer and whispered, "Do you know what this means?"

"What do you mean?"

“You are not the Lord of Fire now, you are the King of Fire.”

Ron didn't reply to him.

He simply looked into the distance.

The entire underground city began to operate automatically.

The furnace is not static; it is the core of the fire vein. With the sacrificial mouth, the royal fire, and the fire soldiers, what remains is just one word:

—Go into battle.

"Are you really going to do it?" Claudia asked him.

"Ah."

"Now?"

"Fire waits for no one."

"Who are you going to kill?"

Ron's gaze swept over the fire soldiers.

Sweep to the side of the gray scale wasteland.

"The Empire sent people to try to breach my furnace opening. You should know who those people who pledged their loyalty are."

“I know,” Claudia said through gritted teeth. “I also know where they’re hiding.”

"Clearly demarcate those plots of land for me."

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's start the first battle."

"Should we start with them?"

"No."

Ron's gaze darkened.

"I want the Empire to see that fire is not dead, and fire can be fought back."

Claudia stared at him for a few seconds.

Finally, he gritted his teeth, turned around, waved, and gave the order.

"Fire Nest Zone 1, Old Iron Belt, Gray Scale West Mine, and Cracked Abandoned Well are all subject to relocation. All personnel will be replaced with firefighters, and the old personnel are prohibited from entering."

"Then notify the nest leaders in each location."

"Your new king is about to lead you into your first battle."

……

That night, the underground city organized its first fire formation drill.

It's not a simulation.

It's a hands-on exercise.

An entire ore-fracturing line was dug open, and the firemen emerged from the bottom up in six columns, each with fifty men.

They didn't shout or run; they simply moved forward in unison when the fire patterns lit up. The firelight flickered on their bone armor, and not a single person fell behind.

Ron stood at the front of the line.

Behind it is the newly built King's Flame Platform in the Fire Nest.

Viser was standing behind taking notes, his pen trembling.

"...This is no longer an armed group."

"This is... the Legion."

His lips trembled, but he finally managed to utter the word.

"Earthfire Army".

The Imperial Capital - Xuanhuo Hall.

In the dead of night, the entire palace was wide awake.

Su Mo, the head of the Soul Rift Hunters, arrived in person and was summoned to a meeting at the military headquarters. No one dared to glance at him along the way; everyone knew his temper, and he had recently suffered two defeats.

But this time he didn't get angry; as soon as he entered the room, he threw a fire seal on the table.

Snapped--

That was a section of gray nest bone imprint.

The flames hadn't died down, and the bones were still warm.

"Where did this come from?" the chief minister of Xuanhuo Hall asked in a low voice.

“It was sent back last night,” Somo said in a low voice. “It was personally delivered by our informant who was buried in the Grayscale Mine.”

"Tinder?"

“It’s not just a spark,” Soma said, pointing to the bone mark. “This is ‘Royal Fire’.”

The room fell silent instantly.

Wang Huo.

That was something the previous empire feared most.

It was also a scrapped proposal that was forbidden to be mentioned within the royal family.