Chapter 156: Ignis? Nah, Campfire.
The man lifted his hand, pointing a single finger toward YuWon, and without warning, a fireball shot from his fingertip. YuWon was immune to fire, but in that moment he was running on reflexes and ducked.
The fireball flew past him, hitting the temple behind. In an instant, the ancient structure erupted in a fiery explosion, the walls crumbling as the blast reduced the stone to smoldering rubble.
The Chirons were backing away until that point. But after seeing their temple turn to dust, something snapped in them.
"Attack! Don\'t let him desecrate our home!" Tehron roared.
As he did, the flaming man turned to face them. As the first Chiron warrior lunged, thrusting his spear toward the intruder\'s chest, the man didn\'t even flinch.
"No! Wait!" Alecton yelled, but no one listened to him.
Instead, he lifted his hand, stopping the spear with his finger. The Chiron put his entire weight behind the spear, but nothing happened until the man tilted his head and smiled.
In an instant, the entire spear was set on fire. The flames raced up the weapon and engulfed the Chiron warrior before he could let go of the weapon. Within seconds, the warrior was reduced to nothing but ashes carried away in the wind.
Another Chiron attempted to strike from behind. She swung her sword down with all her might. But the flaming man twisted around, catching the blade with his bare hand.
As it happened with the spear, the sword melted as if it were made of wax. The Chiron warrior stared in horror as her hand caught fire. Just like the one before, the fire spread across his armor and consumed her until nothing but ashes remained.
YuWon watched them get slaughtered. But when no other Chiron stepped up, the man\'s focus went back to YuWon.
"You. Dead." the man mumbled, pointing at YuWon. "I. Ignis. Kill."
"No. Me. Whoop your ass."
Ignis didn\'t take kindly to YuWon\'s taunt and rushed at him with flames trailing behind him like a comet. He kept looking at the fire spirit heading his way and, at the last moment; he sidestepped.
Ignis skidded to a halt, glaring at YuWon. "Running. Stop."
"Running? Dude, I didn\'t even move," YuWon smirked. "You. Slow. Dumbass."
Ignis lunged at him again, his fist blazing as he swung at YuWon\'s face. But YuWon ducked, dodging the attack yet again. Ignis followed up with another punch, but YuWon ducked before smacking him in the head.
"Stand still!" Ignis yelled.
"Hey! You spoke two words together!" YuWon laughed. "Let me hit you more. Maybe it\'ll fix your broken speech."
Ignis got angrier, which showed as the intensity of his flames increased. Even his attacks became more fierce. But no matter how fast or hard he struck, YuWon was one step ahead, dodging his attacks with minimal effort.
Finally, YuWon stopped moving, standing still as Ignis unleashed another powerful punch. The flaming fist connected with YuWon\'s chest—but instead of burning him, the flames bounced off YuWon\'s skin, leaving him completely unharmed.
"No. Burn?" Ignis mumbled, surprised.
"Yeah, dumbass," YuWon smiled. "I\'m immune to fire."
With that, YuWon hit Ignis across the face. The impact sent the fiery man stumbling backward, momentarily dazed. Ignis roared in frustration, flames flaring around him as he regained his balance.
Enraged, Ignis began gathering flames in his hand, slowly creating a fireball. It would have been easier to stop him. But YuWon didn\'t bother. The more destruction Ignis caused, the more time it\'d take the Chirons to reclaim their position.
"Go ahead," he taunted, crossing his arms. "Give it your best shot."
Ignis hurled the fireball at YuWon. The massive sphere came crashing into YuWon like a meteor. But just as the fireball was about to make contact, he raised his hand, catching it with his bare palm.
The Chirons backed away from the heat, but YuWon held it firmly, unharmed by the searing heat. Ignis stared in disbelief as YuWon causally threw the fireball away.
"Is that all?" YuWon asked before yawning.
"Impossible. Mother. Told. Me. Strongest!"
"She hasn\'t met me yet, I guess," YuWon shrugged. "Who is she either way?"
"Mother is Mother."
"...why did I even bother?"
"Burn… all…!" Ignis roared.
He slammed his fists on the ground, sending out waves of flames and setting everything around him on fire. The Chiron could only watch in horror as their houses were set on fire.
Meanwhile, YuWon watched him with his arms crossed. He could easily take down Ignis now, but he held back. After all, Ignis was doing his dirty work for him.
This destruction would weaken the Chiron, eliminate any thoughts of resistance from them, and give him one less potential hurdle to deal with later.
"More… burn more!" Ignis roared, stomping across the temple grounds, setting fire to everything within his reach.
The houses, the carefully cultivated gardens, everything the Chiron had made for themselves was slowly turning to dust. The Chiron were running all over the place trying to dodge the flames.
After throwing the tantrum, Ignis slowed, his chest heaving with each breath.
"Are you done?" YuWon asked as the flames died down.
"No… no… burn… you!"
Ignis attempted to throw another barrage of fire at YuWon. But his flames sputtered, barely a flicker compared to the earlier chaos he caused. Knowing Ignis couldn\'t do anything to help him anymore, YuWon took a step towards him.
"Give your mother my regards."
YuWon clenched his fists, preparing for the final blow. Just as he was about to strike, Ignis\'s body got covered with flames. Before YuWon knew what was happening, Ignis vanished, leaving only a fading trail of embers in his place.
"...dude took my words to heart," YuWon mumbled, scratching his head.