A flash of firelight, and Red Pupil's figure materialized. But at this moment, his face was filled with rage, and the fluctuations of his aura were somewhat unstable.
He cast one bitter glance at the still-raging firestorm, then immediately turned away. His palm parted the air like drawing back a curtain, opening a spatial passage that carried him into the Lava World.
Boom!
More than ten seconds later, black lightning mixed with rock finally smashed through the entire firestorm, revealing the bedraggled figures of Jessiah and Archibald.
Crack! The massive rock face was covered with dense, web-like fractures, and huge chunks of stone rained down.
When it was over, Archibald's entire body had shrunk considerably, becoming almost pocket-sized.
Jessiah, standing beside him, was in even worse shape. Not only were his clothes covered in scorch marks, but a good portion of his hair had been burned away as well.
"After this, Red Pupil's injuries will take at least a hundred years to heal!"
Archibald laughed heartily, thoroughly delighted. Then he glanced at Jessiah.
"Well? Shall we chase after him?"
"I'm afraid not, Your Majesty the Fire Element Emperor! This body of mine can't handle any more combat intensity!" Jessiah replied with a bitter smile.
"Then forget it! The losses we've dealt to the Atlanta Federation this time should keep them busy for a while!"
Archibald chuckled. "In all previous competitions, our Fire Element Empire has always been in the lead. But now that the Fire Feather Clan has produced someone like Red Pupil, we can't help but take them a bit more seriously…"
"I believe that under Your Majesty's leadership, the fire element will eventually rule over the entire Lava World!"
Jessiah wore a pleasant smile.
For him, a little face and some flattering words meant nothing. As long as the underlying benefits were sufficient, he wouldn't hesitate to call the other the Master of the Lava World right then and there.
"Ha ha ha…" Even that was enough to make Archibald burst into hearty laughter.
"All right, according to our previous agreement, then…"
Jessiah was about to say more when his expression suddenly changed. "Damn it! Burns and his lot are completely useless!"
He spat a curse, his entire body transforming into a bolt of black lightning, and vanished from the spot in an instant.
"Heh heh… Interesting!" A massive flame erupted beneath Archibald's feet, lifting him up and propelling him forward as he followed.
Though he had allied with Jessiah moments ago, he had never let his guard down around these visitors from another world.
……
In the basement, beside the enormous magical array, Leilin faced a terrifying crisis!
The barrier that Red Pupil had personally set up contained a hidden trap. The moment it was touched by an outside force, it projected an illusory image of Red Pupil himself!
A devastating strike from a fifth-level powerhouse! Even Leilin in his current state would either perish on the spot or suffer catastrophic injuries!
"Shike's bloodline is correct! My Fire Feather Technique is fine too! Could it be Burns?!"
Leilin shot a quick glance at Burns, only to find him looking just as panicked—clearly he hadn't expected this either.
"Traitor! Die!"
The illusory Red Pupil roared furiously, his hair and eyebrows seemingly igniting. Colossal, ferocious flames took the shape of a blazing phoenix and surged toward Leilin and his companions.
The phantom seemed to retain some semblance of consciousness—its first target was the traitor, Burns.
"Aaagh!" Facing the overwhelming might of a fifth-level powerhouse, Burns fought desperately to save himself, but his Fire Feather Technique crumbled instantly before Red Pupil's power. He let out a blood-curdling scream and dissolved into flames.
In a single blow, Burns of Jupiter's Thunder perished at the phantom's hands.
After dispatching the traitor, Red Pupil turned his gaze toward the three remaining figures—Leilin in particular seemed to have become his primary target.
Every hair on Leilin's body stood on end.
"There's no other way! Should I combine forces with the other two dukes to perform the Kemoyin Snake Transformation? But that would probably destroy the entire underground structure!"
In the span of a heartbeat, countless thoughts raced through Leilin's mind. He ultimately abandoned the idea.
"No! I have to rely on the Fire Feather Technique!" A sharp gleam flashed in Leilin's eyes as he made his decision.
*Ding! Fire Feather Technique fusion projection progress: 100%! Task complete!* Just then, the Chip's notification sounded abruptly.
The Chip's projection for integrating the Fire Feather Technique into his singularity had already reached 99.9%. After scanning Burns' Fire Feather Technique circulation pathways, progress had surged forward, now hitting 100%!
"Mm!"
Leilin's expression shifted. The Fire Feather Technique energy within his sea of consciousness was entirely converted, transforming into a purely black energy that was drawn completely into his singularity.
Hum! The singularity trembled violently and began spinning rapidly, powerful waves of energy radiating outward.
The nebula surrounding the singularity expanded by half its area in a sudden surge before gradually coming to a stop.
The tenth improved layer of the Fire Feather Technique had been completely fused into his singularity—and the resulting effect was far more than the sum of its parts!
Moreover, since this was a perfect fusion rather than Burns' half-baked hybrid technique, the power amplification exceeded even Leilin's original expectations.
*Ding! Fire Feather Technique modification complete. Singularity strength increased. Main body…* The Chip's voice continued intermittently, but Leilin had no intention of stopping to analyze it.
The surge of power coursing through his body, combined with the imminent fifth-level attack, compelled him to strike without hesitation!
After the modification, the Morning Star's singularity power drove the Fire Feather Technique, instantly displaying truly terrifying might!
Roaring flames! Eerie black fire began manifesting around Leilin, coalescing into a colossal black fire phoenix.
The black phoenix cried out, radiating an aura of overwhelming power and sinister energy.
"Fire Feather Technique, Tenth Improved Layer: Arcane Art—Sinister Phoenix Soar!!!" Leilin threw his arms wide, sweeping in a graceful arc toward Red Pupil's phantom like a soaring phoenix.
A melodious phoenix cry rang out repeatedly as the black fire phoenix tore across the sky to meet the charging phantom of Red Pupil.
Facing this eerie black phoenix, a rare look of confusion—and even a trace of fear—flickered across Red Pupil's phantom face.
Boom!
The black flames and the crimson-gold flames crashed together with tremendous force. A massive shockwave swept outward as the two fires intertwined.
Then the black flames began devouring the opposing fire, burning ever more fiercely. In moments, they annihilated the other phoenix and engulfed Red Pupil's phantom entirely.
"The improved Fire Feather Technique actually uses other Fire Feather Techniques' fire energy as fuel—and it possesses this terrifying ability to devour and fuse!"
Watching Red Pupil's phantom struggle within the black flames before being utterly annihilated, even Leilin—the technique's creator—was somewhat shaken.
He had a premonition that through the Chip's mediating adjustments, fully integrating the essence of the Fire Feather Technique into his singularity had elevated this already powerful technique to an even more terrifying level.
Unfortunately, due to the Chip's uniqueness, only he could cultivate this black variant of the Fire Feather Technique.
"Just now… what happened?"
That was the full-power attack of a fifth-level powerhouse! For a moment, both Gilbert and Emma felt as though they were dreaming.
"L-Leilin, have you… broken through to the fifth level?" After a long silence, it was Gilbert who finally spoke.
"No, I've just made some progress with the Fire Feather Technique…" Leilin answered honestly. While the fusion had brought enormous benefits, it hadn't pushed him past the threshold of the fifth level. In fact, if the attack had come from Jessiah's phantom instead, he probably wouldn't have handled it so easily.
The real reason he was able to dispatch Red Pupil's phantom so effortlessly was almost certainly the mutated Fire Feather Technique!
"I have a strong feeling!" Leilin extended his hand, gazing at the eerie black flames dancing upon it. "This mutated black flame is the bane of all orthodox Fire Feather Techniques!"
"No matter—we have to grab the Fire Source Stone and get out of here! What a waste about Burns being the mole!"
Gilbert looked with some regret at the flames to one side, where Burns' luminous singularity was being drawn away by starlight to drift into the Star Realm.
"Open!"
Leilin paid no more attention to Burns. Instead, he aimed both hands at the fiery membrane from before.
The black, eerie flames began roaring across its surface.
No—not burning, but eroding! The supreme-tier Fire Feather Technique flames laid down by Red Pupil were steadily corroded by Leilin's mutated variant, until a massive hole was torn open.
"Let's go!" The three of them stepped into the intricate magical array.
"Spatial Lock runes! Dormancy Ritual runes! Life Drain runes! This array was probably designed to siphon the life force of some specific being!"
Emma traced the symbols on the ground, her expression growing solemn.
"That being… could it be the thing at the very center…" Leilin immediately turned his gaze to the red light at the heart of the array. The feeble glow was like a candle flickering in the wind, yet it stubbornly persisted.
"The energy fluctuations are similar to a Fire Source Stone! I think I've guessed what it is!"
Recalling the sorrowful feeling from before, Leilin sighed and produced the black copper key he had obtained from Burns.
Click! Click!
The massive black copper key floated into midair, projecting a flood of complex data and light patterns.
The magical array on the ground began activating, with sounds like a key turning in a lock ringing out continuously.
Along with those sounds, the runes on the ground released one by one, revealing an enormous cage.
Boom! Blazing red light flooded the entire basement. The cage at the very center opened, and a crimson egg of light materialized.