Chương 310: The Cowardly flames Success

Down through the endless abyss of burning flame, a corpse fell. Eskar's ruined body spun slowly through the infernal depths, limp and lifeless, the light long faded from his remaining eye. One arm had been severed completely, and the hollow wound through his chest marked the place where Frost's blade had pierced straight through his heart. Blood no longer poured from the injury because there was scarcely anything left to bleed.

Clutched tightly against his broken form rested the small Bloodscale dragon, its trembling claws dug desperately into Eskar's torn clothing as though refusing to allow death itself to separate them. Around them, the abyss burned without end. Flames consumed everything that existed within that impossible realm, or rather, everything except him. Though the inferno roared violently enough to melt mountains into liquid ruin, the fire curved around Eskar's body instead of touching it.

Rivers of molten orange bent aside as he descended deeper and deeper into the abyss, parting before him like loyal servants bowing before a king. It was as though the flames themselves recognized him. Welcomed him. Not that Eskar could notice anymore. He was dead. There was no denying it now. Frost had destroyed him utterly. An eye lost, an arm severed, a heart pierced clean through, no mortal survived wounds like those, not even within the Tower of Ruin.

And yet, even in death, the irony remained almost unbearable. Against all reason, against all logic, against a Divine Beast whose existence dwarfed his own like a mountain towering over dust, Eskar had technically won. He had wounded Frost. However small the injury had been, the damage existed, and by the terms of the duel, victory should have belonged to him. Yet Frost had killed him regardless. The Divine Beast had not honored the agreement. At least, not in any way Eskar could ever have understood.

How could murdering someone possibly count as keeping one's word? The question vanished into silence alongside him as the corpse continued falling endlessly through the abyssal sea of fire. Time lost all meaning there. Days may have passed. Perhaps weeks. There was no sky, no horizon, no stars to measure the passage of existence. Only an endless chasm overflowing with flames so dense they resembled oceans more than fire.

The deeper Eskar descended, the hotter the inferno became, until crimson and orange heat condensed into something almost physical around him, powerful enough to erase entire worlds if unleashed elsewhere. Yet still the flames refused to burn him. The tiny Bloodscale trembled violently against his chest, its glowing eyes darting through the abyss in growing desperation while it curled tighter around its dead master. Then, at last, something changed.

Far below, through the endless torrent of fire, dark shapes began emerging from the abyss. Jagged cliffs. Black mountains. Endless valleys carved from polished onyx stone. The flames abruptly split apart. And hell revealed itself. Red and orange lightning tore endlessly across the heavens like the wrath of forgotten gods while storms of freezing ice collided violently against oceans of living flame.

The two primordial forces crashed together in eternal war, creating a landscape that looked less like a world and more like the aftermath of creation itself. Some regions burned so fiercely the stone had melted into glowing rivers, while others stood frozen beneath glaciers of pale crystal sharp enough to pierce the sky. Life still existed there. But it was wrong. Twisted. Broken. Corrupted beyond recognition. Eskar's corpse struck the edge of a jagged cliff shoulder-first with a sickening crack.

His body bounced violently, spinning through the air before slamming into another outcropping farther below. Bones shattered. Flesh tore further apart. Fresh wounds spread across skin already ruined beyond recognition, yet neither the flames nor the cold touched him. Both elements bent away instinctively, as though terrified to interfere with whatever force carried him downward. The Bloodscale held on desperately while monstrous shrieks echoed throughout the valley below.

Creatures emerged from both the frozen wastelands and the burning cliffsides alike. Demonic things. Malformed horrors. Some looked vaguely human, though stretched and twisted into grotesque shapes of charred flesh and frozen bone. Others crawled across too many limbs or possessed jaws split wide enough to swallow entire beasts whole. Their bodies steamed constantly, one side burned black by flame while the other remained encased in jagged ice.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. And every single one of them stared hungrily at the falling corpse. Food. The Bloodscale realized the danger immediately. Panic surged through the tiny dragon as dozens, then hundreds, of shrieking abominations burst from their hiding places and began racing down the mountainside after Eskar's body. Burned horrors and frozen nightmares alike descended in endless waves, drawn by maddened hunger and the scent of death.

Eskar struck another cliff edge. Then another. Eventually his broken body crashed against the valley floor with a horrifying impact, shattered bones folding inward while his remaining arm twisted unnaturally beneath him. At the bottom of the abyss, his corpse barely resembled a human anymore. The Bloodscale hurried desperately toward Eskar's face, nudging him repeatedly while licking at his cold skin in a frantic attempt to wake him. To save him. But Eskar never moved. The demonic shrieks grew louder.

The Bloodscale looked upward and saw the creatures descending rapidly now, swarming down the cliffs in endless numbers. Burned abominations and frozen nightmares crawled toward the corpse with ravenous hunger gleaming in their malformed eyes. Fear overtook the tiny dragon at first. Then it looked back at Eskar. And courage replaced fear. The tiny creature roared. Its body ignited with brilliant crimson light as concentrated heat gathered within its throat before erupting outward in a devastating beam.

The blast tore through the mountainside with catastrophic force, vaporizing entire sections of stone alongside countless charging demons. The valley trembled violently beneath the explosion as fire and molten debris scattered across the abyss like fragments of a dying star. Dozens of creatures died instantly. But it was not enough. For every demon destroyed, ten more crawled from the darkness.

The Bloodscale panted heavily before charging another blast, then another after that, firing relentlessly into the descending horde. Each beam annihilated swarms of creatures while sections of the mountain collapsed beneath the overwhelming heat, yet the endless tide refused to stop. The demons continued pouring from the cliffsides and frozen caverns in shrieking waves, crawling closer and closer until eventually the little dragon's strength began to fail. Its breathing grew ragged.

Its small body trembled violently from exhaustion. The demons descended upon them from every direction now, shrieking wildly as they prepared to tear both dragon and corpse apart. The Bloodscale turned one final time toward Eskar, staring at his unmoving face before roaring defiantly at the approaching horde despite knowing it no longer possessed the strength to protect him. The creatures lunged. And instantly died.

Massive spikes of ice erupted violently from the valley floor, skewering entire waves of demons in a single moment while torrents of orange flame swept across the battlefield like divine judgment itself, incinerating every surviving creature they touched. The abyss filled with shrieks of terror as the monsters recoiled in panic before fleeing into the darkness without hesitation. Something had arrived. Something even they feared.

The Bloodscale stumbled weakly while searching for the source, barely capable of standing anymore. Then a voice echoed softly through the valley, hoarse beyond belief, like someone who had stood upon death's doorstep for centuries without ever being allowed to cross it.

"What exactly do we have here?" A pause followed.

"A Bloodscale…?" The dragon turned. A figure approached slowly through the smoke and ash. At first glance he resembled a man, but the illusion shattered the longer one looked at him. Nothing about him appeared truly human anymore. His skin had been burned entirely black, resembling cracked charcoal more than flesh, while entire portions of his body remained frozen solid beneath layers of eternal ice. Glowing orange heat pulsed visibly through the fractures in his ruined body like magma trapped beneath broken stone.

Every movement looked painful. Every step seemed capable of tearing him apart completely. And yet, despite his horrifying appearance, the man smiled gently at the tiny dragon.

"Do not fear, little one," he said softly.

"I am merely relieved to see that my dear friend's children still live." His gaze slowly shifted toward Eskar's corpse. The smile faded instantly.

"I see…" The burned man approached in silence while the exhausted Bloodscale attempted weakly to stop him, though it no longer possessed the strength to move properly. Kneeling beside Eskar's shattered body, the stranger carefully lifted the tiny dragon into his arms. Despite the monstrous appearance of his ruined form, warmth radiated from him, not painful heat, but the comforting warmth of a hearth during winter.

"So," he murmured quietly while staring at the corpse, "you defeated Frost." His burned fingers brushed lightly against Eskar's ruined chest.

"My child…" The man sighed deeply, ancient exhaustion filling the sound.

"Why can that dog never show restraint?" he muttered bitterly.

"Even if you challenged him… you are still my son." For several moments he remained silent, staring down at Eskar with an expression so heavy it seemed burdened by grief. Then his gaze lowered toward his own chest.

"You need not fear anymore," he whispered.

"You are safe here." His eyes drifted toward the endless infernal valley surrounding them.

"This is our home. The prison created to seal me away." A bitter smile spread slowly across his ruined face.

"The hell forged for the Cowardly Flame." Then his expression softened once more as he looked back down at Eskar.

"And within this place…" he murmured quietly, placing one hand against the corpse's chest, "no member of my family shall die." Without hesitation, he drove his fingers directly into his own chest. The Bloodscale cried out in shock. Molten blood erupted outward instantly, flowing like liquid magma while massive clouds of smoke billowed from the wound. Yet the burned man did not flinch. Slowly and painfully, he reached deeper into his own body before finally tearing something free. A heart. A glowing divine heart.

It burned brighter than the abyss itself. The man stared down at it silently for several long moments before finally speaking in a voice filled with sorrow.

"Please," he whispered.

"Live in my stead." His eyes darkened with grief older than civilizations.

"Take this heart of mine… and bear witness." Hesitation entered his voice now, accompanied by regret so immense it had long since become inseparable from his soul.

"Witness the day everything changed," he said quietly.

"The day everything went wrong." The glowing heart pulsed violently in his hand while the abyss itself seemed to grow quieter around them.

"The day…" he continued, his expression twisting with pain, "… we betrayed our friend." Then he pressed the divine heart directly into Eskar's ruined chest. Silence followed. One heartbeat echoed softly throughout the valley. Then another. Brilliant orange blood surged violently through Eskar's veins, flooding his destroyed body with impossible life. Bone reformed. Flesh regenerated. Torn organs repaired themselves while the massive wound in his chest sealed shut completely.

Rivers of molten divine fire spread beneath his skin like living magma, filling the corpse with power vast enough to shake the abyss itself. But consciousness did not return. Not yet. Before Eskar could awaken, before he could return to the world of the living, he first had to witness exactly what the Cowardly Flame demanded of him. The truth. The ancient betrayal. The day the old era ended forever.