Chapter Three – Part Three
Kingdom of Fire
The path to the Fire Kingdom was carved through scorched land, where the earth itself bore the scars of centuries of burning rage. The ground beneath Shura's feet was cracked and blackened, veins of molten heat glowing faintly like dying embers trapped beneath stone. Every step he took caused the air to tremble, as though the land recognized him—not as a traveler, but as a calamity.
The heat was suffocating.
It pressed against his skin, crawled into his lungs, and tried to burn its way into his bones. For ordinary men, this place would have been an instant grave. Even the wind here did not cool—it seared, howling through jagged rock formations like the screams of souls long reduced to ash.
Yet Shura walked forward without hesitation.
His expression was calm. Too calm.
Behind his left eye, the Serpent stirred, its presence coiling tighter around his consciousness, savoring the rising temperature, the approaching carnage.
"This kingdom reeks of arrogance," the Serpent whispered, its voice slithering through his mind like molten venom.
"A fitting place for extermination."
At the horizon, the gates of the Fire Kingdom finally emerged.
They were colossal—towers of obsidian and blazing steel fused together by ancient fire magic. Rivers of lava flowed beside the walls like defensive moats, illuminating the massive stone guardians standing watch at the entrance.
Fire Golems.
Each one stood taller than a fortress tower, their bodies forged from enchanted rock and living flame. Their cores pulsed with unstable heat, and their eyes burned with artificial awareness. These were not mere guards. They were weapons designed to erase armies.
The moment Shura stepped within their domain, the ground shook violently.
The golems awakened.
Their massive heads turned in unison, molten eyes locking onto him as alarms echoed throughout the kingdom. The air vibrated as their internal flames roared to life, and with earth-shattering force, they began to move.
Shura stopped.
Slowly, deliberately, he raised his left arm.
The serpent-bone blades responded instantly.
They erupted from his flesh like living extensions of his will—ivory-white, engraved with ancient runes, twisting and coiling around his arm as though alive. The heat of the Fire Kingdom licked against them, but the blades did not melt.
They hissed.
Shura clenched his fist.
In that single motion, the world seemed to pause.
Then—
He hurled the blades forward.
They didn't fly like weapons.
They hunted.
The serpent-bone blades twisted through the air at impossible speeds, splitting into multiple arcs, drilling straight through the golems' cores. A deafening explosion followed as their internal flames destabilized, erupting outward in violent bursts of fire and molten stone.
One golem collapsed.
Then another.
And another.
In less than a heartbeat, the guardians of the Fire Kingdom were reduced to crumbling, burning debris. The ground trembled violently as their massive bodies shattered, flames sputtering out like dying stars.
Shura didn't look back.
"This is not battle," he muttered coldly.
"It is correction."
He continued forward.
With each step, his presence alone seemed to suffocate the land. The lava rivers beside him boiled violently, reacting to the unnatural pressure emanating from his aura. Even fire, it seemed, recognized a superior predator.
Reaching the inner gates, Shura planted his foot against the massive doors.
He struck once.
The impact thundered across the kingdom.
The gates didn't simply break—they were obliterated, blasted inward in a storm of shattered steel and flaming stone. The shockwave tore through the palace corridors beyond, sending guards and servants alike crashing into walls before they even understood what had happened.
Inside the palace, chaos erupted.
Alarms rang.
Fire magic surged wildly.
And then—they arrived.
Ten figures descended from above, landing in a precise formation that sealed off the main hall. They wore robes woven with flame-resistant enchantments, their bodies surrounded by swirling infernos controlled with masterful precision.
The Ten Great Fire Mages.
Each one was a legend in their own right—masters of destruction, capable of incinerating cities. Together, they were the kingdom's final line of defense.
One of them stepped forward, his eyes blazing.
"So the rumors were true," he said grimly.
"The Serpent's Vessel walks the earth once more."
Shura looked at them.
And felt nothing.
Before any of them could complete their incantations, the serpent-bone blades moved again.
They spun around Shura like a cyclone of death, accelerating until the air itself screamed. In an instant, the blades shot outward, piercing through magical barriers, severing limbs, and ripping bodies apart before spells could even manifest.
Flames flared wildly as the mages died one by one—some screaming, some never even realizing they had been struck.
The entire exchange lasted seconds.
When it ended, the floor was littered with scorched corpses and extinguished flames.
Shura stepped over them.
"Pathetic," he whispered.
From the far end of the hall, a new presence emerged.
The temperature spiked violently.
The very walls began to melt.
She descended the palace stairs with regal composure, her form wreathed in living fire. Her hair flowed like molten gold, her eyes burned brighter than any flame Shura had yet seen.
The Fire Queen.
She surveyed the destruction calmly, her expression twisting into a smile that held no fear—only disdain.
"So," she said softly,
"the monster finally arrives."
Shura met her gaze, his left eye glowing faintly with serpentine light.
"This kingdom ends tonight."
She laughed.
A sound like cracking embers.
"You think yourself unstoppable," she replied, raising her hand as flames surged violently behind her.
"But fire is the ultimate judge. And you stand before its throne."
Without warning, the ground beneath Shura exploded.
A massive pillar of flame erupted, engulfing him completely and blasting him through multiple palace walls. The impact sent him crashing into the courtyard beyond, stone and fire raining down in a catastrophic explosion.
For a moment—
Silence.
Then the Fire Queen stepped forward, her flames intensifying.
"Burn," she commanded coldly.
The inferno intensified, swallowing the courtyard entirely.
Inside the flames, Shura stood.
Unmoving.
Unbroken.
His aura expanded violently, forcing the fire away from his body as dark energy surged outward. The flames recoiled as if struck by fear, and from within the inferno, Shura's laughter echoed—low, distorted, and
"You threaten me with hell," he said, his voice reverberating unnaturally.
"Yet I am hell incarnate."
He vanished.
The Fire Queen's eyes widened as Shura reappeared directly before her, serpent-bone blades striking with brutal precision. She barely managed to block, conjuring a massive flame barrier that shattered under the impact.
The battle escalated.
Flames roared into the sky.
Dark energy clashed violently with fire magic.
The queen summoned wings of blazing inferno, her power peaking as she forged a sword of molten flame—its heat distorting reality itself.
She struck.
Shura was driven back, his body skidding across molten stone as the ground split beneath him. Pain surged—but it was fleeting.
The Serpent laughed inside him
"Yes… let it burn… let it sharpen you."
Shura rose slowly.
His wounds sealed themselves with bone and shadow.
At that moment, the Fire Queen realized the truth.
She was not fighting a man.
She was fighting extinction.
Shura disappeared again.
A scream echoed.
Her left arm fell to the ground, severed cleanly.
She collapsed, clutching the wound, terror finally overtaking her composure.
"Wait—!" she cried desperately.
"I can offer you anything! Power! Gold! Dominion over fire itself!"
Shura stood over her, eyes devoid of mercy.
"I do not bargain," he said quietly.
"I erase."
With a single gesture, the serpent-bone blades descended.
Her screams were brief.
When the flames died down, only ash remained.
Shura stood amidst the ruins of the Fire Kingdom, the palace collapsing behind him, lava rivers overflowing and consuming everything in their path.
The kingdom burned.
Completely.
From a high mountain overlooking the destruction, Shura gazed into the distance.
The Serpent whispered softly:
"My birth draws near…
Shura closed his eyes.
"We move on."
The horizon burned red.
And somewhere far away—
The remaining kingdoms trembled.
Because hell was walking toward them.