Chapter 723: Origin of False Flame
"It seems we are in the Blood Empire's territory," Runeth spoke as he looked at the faraway city with seven Magic Towers soaring up to the clouds.
"So, what should we do now?" Charles asked.
"I'm going back to the Ember Kingdom and take back the Ringer's Demiplane entrance key. After that, I'll return to the Rebirth Tower and will be isolation for a decade or two." Runeth said as he slowly ascended towards the sky and then added.
"Don't worry about anything. I'll also bring the Nightwind Family to the Iron Kingdom. Meanwhile, you should go back to Riverdale City or the Rebirth Tower and focus on improving your strength."
"Do you need my help to get there?" Charles asked as he also ascended to the sky.
"Nah, I can manage," Runeth said before controlling his wisdom power and flying up into the sky.
Meanwhile, Charles remained in the same place for a while and decided to return to the Rebirth Tower first.
"The only one remaining is Red Prince. As long as I kill him, I can avenge Eve wholeheartedly." Unfortunately, he was still weak enough to face an Evil God-like existence.
Without delay, he opened a portal by manipulating his false Flame, stepped into it, and soon disappeared.
...
Rebirth Tower, Iron Kingdom.
After a few hours of travel, Charles arrived before an 800-meter-tall golden tower and slowly descended outside the invisible forcefield layer, startling knights and young mystics entering and leaving the tower.
Just as the nearby guard was about to unsheath his sword and point it in his direction, an illusionary female figure appeared before Charles and bowed her head in greeting. She had long silver hair, blue eyes, and elongated ears and appeared to be around 25 years old.
"Welcome back, Tower Master!" Zera said with a smile.
"Send me to 24th Layer, Zera," Charles ordered.
Just as he spoke, the space around him started to distort and forcefully teleported him from there.
A second later, Charles appeared in a familiar luxurious bedroom hall and looked around.
Then, he moved towards the red-painted wardrobe that was placed right next to the luxurious bed, opened it with both hands and took out a blue robe.
Afterward, he went to the opposite side, entered the bathroom, and bathed.
More than 30 minutes later, he returned from the bathroom in his blue-robed attire and quietly sat on the bed.
"Hmm, Zera, are you there?" He asked.
A second later, Zera appeared right next to him in her illusionary form and bowed her head.
"Yes, Tower Master."
"Just call me 'Charles.'" Charles waved his hand and added.
"I'm planning on constructing the remaining spell models. Can you show me the list of spell models?"
"Of course, Charles." Zera quickly spoke and summoned a notebook-sized blue interface before his face.
Charles saw the familiar seven folders along with seven different types of fire names.
He soon clicked the 'Mind Fire' option and noticed only one spell option.
'Eternal Flame Seed, huh? It's a spell capable of entering one's main consciousness and interrupting their Thinking Process by burning their memories every 5 seconds, making it almost impossible for the enemy to battle. The Eternal Flame Seed remains in one's consciousness for more than an hour by slowly consuming their memories and is almost impossible to erase forcefully, like a strong curse. Even Gods find it difficult to tackle this spell and consider it one of the most powerful curse spells in the Universe. As the User's understanding of Mind Fire increases, the duration of this cursed spell would also increase.' Charles couldn't help but let out a stunned expression on his face.
"This is indeed a powerful curse spell. Although 'Burning Thoughts' is good, it won't work on people who are more powerful than me. On the other hand, this spell seems to be working fine even if the opponent is a Godly being. Damn, just with these mind fire spells, I can easily capable of destroying any Legend Rank powerhouse from within." Thanks to his current wisdom power, he was an invincible existence in the same rank!
Charles nodded with a pleased smile and moved to the next spell option.
"Soul Fire, huh?" He opened the option and soon squinted as he read the description.
"Cleansing Fire: Spell Description: Cleansing Fire purifies the soul by enveloping it in a Soul Flame essence. This Flame can burn away chaotic energies in one's body, mind, soul, and negative emotions and even purify soul curses. The process is akin to a spiritual cleansing. Oh? If I had this spell, I wouldn't be affected by the 'Love Curse.' Hmm, I could also have saved Father Reynolds. A hint of regret appeared in his eyes.
"No, even if I manage to purify the curse, the being behind his curse seems to be a very powerful entity. In the end, I might have ended up getting the wrath of another enemy. Hmm, I should at least help his adopted daughter to not feeling any guilt." He shook his head and shifted his attention to the next spell option.
"Overlord of Domination: Dreadful Domination surrounds the target with black flames that instill a sense of overwhelming fear and submission. Those affected become paralyzed by dread, willing to obey any command to escape the torment of the engulfing shadows. Unless the opponent is one rank higher than the caster, it's almost impossible to escape from the Domination spell." As Charles read this spell's description, he was pleased.
"Not bad, not bad at all. Each one of the spell is amazing in their own way." He muttered solemnly and turned his attention towards the final spell.
"False Flame, huh?" Among all the other spells, this one was the weirdest and strangest.
"Next is 'False Flame.'" Just as he touched the option, the crimson badge in his space ring came out of its own and started hovering before his eyes, startling him greatly.
"Abium's gift badge? Why did it come out-?"
Before Charles could mutter, his vision turned blurry for a moment, and soon, he found himself standing inside the space ring-like void.
He soon saw the Golden Shield spell model hovering ten meters away and furrowed.
'Why am I here?'
'I summoned you here under the order of Abium, lad.' A mature woman's voice echoed in his head, stunning him.
But he didn't lose his calm and started analyzing the situation briefly before questioning.
'Who are you? Wait... The Present Time I felt inside this badge when I first entered... This place has a connection with Sun God's Divine Domain?'
A stunned silence appeared from the other side, followed by a heavy sigh.
'No wonder that brat thinks so highly of you. I'm Azolla, the keeper of Itera and also the Abium's personal assistant. Also, your badge is a replica of the 'Fire Angel of Time's Ring' and connects to the Divine Throne Room. The reason I contacted you is mainly to warn you not to use the 'False Flame' recklessly. The more you use it, the more it will start to gain consciousness on its own and might even devour you.'
'Can you elaborate more?' Charles asked with a frown.
'Yes. False Flame is an invisible flame capable of manipulating all other elements and is also the root cause of the birth of other flames like 'Mind Fire, Soul Fire, Hell Fire, Lawful Fire, Chaos Fire, and Rebirth Flame.' For example, there was only a single fire at the birth of the Universe which is called 'Origin Fire.' But a part of Origin Fire got separated by growing own consciousness and became invisible like a shadow before searching for other elements to satisfy its curiosity and greed. It first tried to consume many different elements and rejected by the other elements itself. But over time, it ended up consumed a wisp of a higher being's consciousness, ended up creating a 'Star of Purple' filled with nothing but Fire capable of devouring memories and even consciousness!'
'Star of Purple?' Charles suddenly thought of the strange, endless star within one of those beads of a strange bracelet he obtained in the Star Tombs Dungeon.
'Then, it consumed the power of Life, Death, Chaos, Power of Justice, and even Wicked thoughts and created entities with Soul Fire, Rebirth Fire, Chaos Fire, Hell Fire, and Law Fire. The Phoenix you saw within the star is a creation of this False Flame. The reason that Star of Purple is sealed inside that bead is also because of its dangers. Also, the 'Chaos Eye' you have in that crystal dimension is also part of a being called 'Pyralis,' which formed through this same process as the Phoenix. But unlike the Phoenix, it has a bad temper and has caused a lot of destruction. If I'm not wrong, Seiyon might have killed that 'Being' long ago and separated its body parts before sealing them in different parts of the Universe.' Azolla spoke in a solemn tone within his head.
Meanwhile, Charles was greatly startled by this information and felt a strange wariness.
'It might be a coincidence if I got the 'Chaos Eye,' but the 'Purple Star' in the bead?' His eyes turned colder as he stared at the vacant space before asking.
'It's all Abium's doing, isn't it? What is his plan? I don't think the mission to bring the 'Wisdom Heart' to some coordination is his main objective.
Azolla remained silent for a few seconds and soon spoke.
'I can't say much. But a great war this Universe never seen before is going to erupt. Be prepared for that. If you want to survive, do your best to improve and wait.' As soon as she spoke, Charles noticed that the strange Present Time within the badge started disappearing, causing him to frown deeper.
