The King Of Warriors novel (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5895

Boom!

The cavern convulsed; stone shards rained down while waves surged across the magma pool.

The shockwave drove everyone—save Ignatius and Jared—reeling backward.

Ignatius' beard flared with embers as he roared, "Malcolm Vayne! You dare project yourself into Earthfire Pavilion's forbidden ground?"

"Why not?" Malcolm's projection scoffed. "Listen up, Ignatius. Hand Jared Chance over, kneel, and swear fealty to Malevolent Path Hall, or Earthfire Pavilion will be erased from level eleven today."

"How arrogant!" Ignatius spat. "You think a single projection of yours frightens me?"

"Oh? Well, if one isn't enough, how about adding a few more?"

With that, three additional pillars of blood light speared through the ceiling, slamming into the cavern floor.

When the glow faded, three projections of Malevolent Path Hall elders stood—phantoms brimming with murderous intent.

Stifling nether aura flooded the chamber, grappling Ignatius' crimson flames in a clash of swirling atmospheres.

Malcolm's lips curled into a jagged smirk, the way molten metal cooled into cruel edges under moonlight. "Well, Ignatius—how do things look now? The four of us may be mere projections, yet together, we can stall you long enough. Outside, Malevolent Path Hall's army has already surrounded Earthfire Pavilion, waiting to smash your defense formation at my word."

Ignatius' face blanched to the color of ash beneath old embers. Sweat hissed where it touched the cavern's heat.

He never imagined that Malevolent Path Hall would act so boldly. Malcolm had come himself and even brought an army. They had, without a doubt, planned every step.

Earthfire Pavilion was strong, but against the Malevolent Path Hall, which had come fully prepared, victory seemed nearly impossible.

"Father..." Lindsay's voice quivered like a match about to gutter out. She clung to Ignatius' sleeve, knuckles white against the crimson fabric.

Around them, several Earthfire Pavilion elders raised their magical items—glimmering spears, blazing mirrors, rune-etched shields—forming a tense, flickering barricade of resolve.

Buoyed by Malcolm's threat, Elliot puffed out his chest. "Ignatius, surrender while you still can. Hand Jared over and every treasure in Earthfire Pavilion, and perhaps Malevolent Path Hall will spare you your pathetic life."

"You're courting death!" Ignatius' reply rumbled low, as though magma spoke through him.

Scarlet fury flashed in his eyes; he stepped forward, palm lifting to hurl a searing strike—then a new voice sliced through the cavern.

"Enough."

The single word echoed with quiet authority, neither loud nor hurried, yet it stilled every heartbeat.

No living throat in the chamber had spoken. The sound rose instead from the magma pool itself.

Bubbles burst. A fountain of lava roared heavenward, folding and folding until it shaped a towering figure of fire.

It was Gerald Earthfire—Earthfire Pavilion's myth, their long-departed founder, now reborn in living flame.

"Great Elder Earthfire?"

Ignatius and the elders gasped, disbelief turning instantly to savage joy. "Great Elder Earthfire, you're still alive?"

Earthfire Pavilion had kept paintings of Gerald so that the leaders and elders throughout the years could easily recognize their founder.

Although he was currently just a humanoid formed of flames, that aura, pressure, and unique fluctuation of the Law of Fire were unmistakable.

"I'm just a soul remnant," Gerald answered, golden-bright eyes sweeping the cavern until they pinned the four projections. "Yet even a remnant is more than enough to handle these projections. How dare these insolent ones run wild in my territory!"

The next second, he lifted one blazing hand.

A thunderous boom followed.

The Law of Fire awakened, weaving itself into four crimson-gold chains that lashed outward, coiling around each projection before resistance could form.

"What the hell is this?" one of the projections shouted.

"Chains of Law? What? How is this possible?" another wailed as the bindings tightened.

Malcolm and the others thrashed, but every struggle only made their images flicker, paling from bright specters to useless wisps.

"Perish."

With that single verdict from Gerald, the four chains of living fire coiled inward.

Links flared white-hot, tightened, and hissed around their struggling prey with the finality of a hangman's knot.

"No—!" the four looming projections shrieked in imperfect unison.

Alas, their voices were ripped apart mid-cry. Each projection imploded, dissolving into sparks that fluttered away like popped soap bubbles.

The accompanying crimson pillars fractured from base to crown, shattering into a blizzard of ember-red shards before vanishing altogether.

All of it transpired between one heartbeat and the next, as fleeting as lightning glancing off a blade.

Only moments ago, those same projections had threatened to erase the entire Earthfire Pavilion—yet now, as though a bad dream dismissed at dawn, they were simply gone.

Elliot stood rooted to the floor. Color drained from his face until it matched the pale ash drifting at his feet.

Ignatius and the assembled elders stared wide-eyed, tongues stilled, their collective awe too large for speech.

They had known their ancestor's might, of course, but never imagined that a single surviving wisp of Gerald's soul could snuff out four formidable projections so effortlessly.

It felt less like power than pure miracle.

A roar finally broke the silence. "All hail Great Elder Earthfire!"

Ignatius was the first to kneel. His voice trembled with emotion. "I, Ignatius Flameheart, pay my greetings to our ancestor, Great Elder Earthfire!"

"Greetings, Great Elder Earthfire!" the elders chorused, dropping to their knees in a thunderous wave of reverence.

Lindsay hurried down beside them. As she bowed, her gaze flicked toward Jared, eyes bright with confusion. How did Jared know the ancestor awaited us here? Is there some kind of connection between them?

Gerald's blazing outline rippled, voice low yet warm. "Rise, everyone. I am but a lingering soul fragment. I don't deserve such formality."

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