Building Interstellar Empire With Universal Synthesis

Chapter 225: Chapter 225: Ignisius

Ignis POV.

Heat is the only true language of the cosmos. Everything else is just waiting to burn.

​I sit upon my throne of archaic iron, watching the rivers of liquid starlight and liquid magma churn beneath the glass floors of the Volcanic Pavilion. My domain is loud. It crackles with the endless symphony of destruction and rebirth.

Yet, today, the noise bores me. The faith energy trickling up from my designated lower realms is steady, predictable, and utterly uninspiring. I am Ignis, the God of Searing Flame, and I am starving for a real conflagration.

Crash!

​I crush a diamond goblet in my grip. The precious gems melt into slag between my fingers, dripping onto the charred floor. The lesser fire deities in my court flinch. They cower behind pillars of swirling plasma, terrified that my boredom will suddenly turn into a violent execution.

They are right to be afraid. A fire that does not spread is a fire that is dying. I need expansion. I need the atmospheric domains of the Sky Pavilion.

That cowardly fool Aris holds the keys to the upper winds, a territory that would allow my flames to breathe and consume across a thousand new divine realms.

​Just as I contemplate tearing a hole into Aris’s sanctum to challenge him directly, the heavy iron doors of my pavilion shudder. The doors do not burn open. They do not explode. They merely creak open, pushed by a pathetic, sickly green breeze.

​The lesser gods in my court gasp as the emerald wind spirals into the center of my throne room. It carries the distinct, pompous signature of the Wind God. But something is horribly wrong with it. The breeze lacked the usual crushing atmospheric pressure Aris loves to flaunt.

It feels fragile. It feels like the dying gasp of a suffocating mortal.

​The breeze solidifies into a glowing emerald scroll. It hovers in the air, waiting for me to take it.

​I do not stand up. I simply extend my will. A tendril of white hot plasma whips out from my throne, snatching the scroll and dragging it into my hand.

Zzzzz.

The moment my skin touches the emerald magic, I can feel the absolute weakness in the spellcraft. Aris is struggling. The realization brings a cruel, booming laugh to my lips. My laughter shakes the volcanic foundation of the pavilion, causing eruptions of magma to burst from the decorative fountains.

​"What is the matter with our Almighty Lord of the Sky? Did a stiff cloud bruise his delicate ego?" I mocked aloud, unrolling the scroll.

​The glowing runes of the edict project themselves into the smoky air. Aris’s voice echoes through the hall, but even the magical projection sounds strained and hollow.

​"Brother Ignis," the projection began

The title makes me sneer. We are not brothers. We are apex predators circling the same carcass.

"I send you this missive with a rare opportunity. A rogue demon has manifested in my eastern lower realms. This creature has somehow hoarded a massive, unprecedented cache of pure cosmic energy and stolen faith. It has constructed an illegal stellar fortress."

​I narrow my eyes, reading the glowing words carefully.

​"Normally, I would swat this insect myself. However, I am currently undergoing a supreme cosmic enlightenment. My physical form is too volatile to descend into the lower dimensions. The turbulence of my new power requires my complete isolation. Therefore, I offer this bounty to you. Cleanse my lower realm of this overgrown demon. You may keep seventy percent of the hoarded energy. Deliver the remaining thirty percent to the Sky Pavilion as a gesture of our continued goodwill."

​The projection fades, and the scroll crumbled into harmless green ash.

​Silence fell over the Volcanic Pavilion. My lesser gods watch me, waiting for my explosive reaction.

​I threw my head back and roar with genuine, chest heaving laughter. The sheer audacity of the lie is hilarious.

Supreme cosmic enlightenment? Volatile physical form?

Aris is a coward. He has always been a coward. I can smell the stench of his fear lingering on the ashes of his message. He is not undergoing enlightenment. He has clearly fumbled a mortal crisis and is too terrified of the Upper Court to admit his failure.

​He wants me to do his dirty work. He thinks he can tempt me with a seventy percent cut of a cosmic hoard.

​"70%? That sniveling coward thinks he can dictate terms to the Searing Flame."

Rumble!

​I stand up from my obsidian throne. My true divine form flares to life. Towering pillars of golden and white fire erupt from my shoulders, forming a mantle of absolute destruction. The temperature in the pavilion spikes so drastically that the gold trimming on the walls instantly vaporizes into a fine mist.

​I will not take 70 percent. I will descend into this lower realm, find this overgrown demon, and burn it to a crisp. Then, I will take one hundred percent of the cosmic energy. I will absorb every single drop of that stolen faith. And when I return to the Realm of Gods, my divine core will be overflowing with so much power that I will march straight to the Sky Pavilion and melt Aris’s throne into slag.

​That will be the stepping stone to my supreme domination over the Pantheon.

​"Vulcan!" I bellowed, my voice shattering the remaining glass fixtures in the room.

Buzzzz!

​Soon, a colossal figure of molten rock and raging fire steps forward from the shadows.

Vulcan is my High Commander, a Type Three Immortal who lives only to serve my destructive will. He bows deeply, the magma dripping from his chin burning holes into the floor.

​"I am here, Almighty Ignis," Vulcan rumbled.

​"I can see that. Sound the horns of the Ashen Vanguard. Awaken the Flame Behemoths. Harness my solar dragons to the war chariot. We are going on a hunt in the lower realms."

​Vulcan raised his head in astonishment.

"A full divine deployment, My Lord? Against a mere mortal demon?"

​"Yes, Vulcan. We leave nothing to chance, and we leave nothing behind. Aris claims this creature has a massive hoard. I want my army to strip the realm bare. I want every ounce of faith, every drop of cosmic mana, and every single soul converted into fuel for our flames. We will turn their illegal stellar fortress into a grand bonfire."

​The Volcanic Pavilion erupts into organized chaos. The deep, terrifying blasts of the war horns echo through the magma caverns. My army is a force that has brought entire galaxies to their knees. The Ashen Vanguard consists of ten thousand elite fire elementals, each possessing the strength of a mortal Saint. The Flame Behemoths are towering monstrosities of living lava, capable of crushing mountains under their burning hooves.

​I walked into my armory and summon my personal weapon.

The World Roaster.

It is a massive, two handed halberd forged from the core of a collapsed red giant. The blade radiates a heat so intense that space itself violently warps around the metal.

I gripped the handle, feeling the familiar, comforting surge of absolute devastation.

​Outside the pavilion, my war chariot awaited.

Four massive solar dragons, their scales glowing with the blinding light of a million suns, snort streams of pure plasma into the air. I step onto the chariot, feeling the raw, untamed power of my steeds.

​Vulcan rode up beside me on a massive hellhound. The vanguard falls into formation, like a sea of churning fire and blackened armor ready to consume whatever stands in our way.

​I raised the World Roaster high into the air.

​"Tear the veil!" I roared.

​Following my divine mandate, a dozen lesser deities of spatial magic rush forward, pooling their energy to rip a hole in the dimensional fabric. The golden barrier of the God Realm protests, screeching like tearing metal, but the sheer concentrated heat of my vanguard melts the spatial locks.

Boooooom.

​I snapped the reins. The solar dragons roar, diving straight into the dimensional rift. The Ashen Vanguard marches behind me, an endless river of fire pouring down into the mortal plane.

​The transition through the void is instantaneous.

We burst out of the dimensional tunnel, expecting to find a dark, corrupted demon den filled with screaming mortals.

​But, my chariot pulls to a sudden halt in the vacuum of space.

​I narrowed my eyes, staring at the sight before me. The coordinates are correct. This is the location of the former Saint Lands. But the sprawling, interconnected continents are completely gone. The golden chains of the Pantheon have been eradicated.

​In their place is something that completely defies mortal logic.

​Three massive, perfectly spherical planets orbit one another in flawless synchronization. They are pristine, radiating a deep, pulsing nether energy that feels incredibly ancient.

At the center of their orbit burns a miniature golden sun, casting a warm, defiant light across the void. Hovering above these newly forged worlds is a massive fleet of pitch black warships, unlike anything I have ever seen in the mortal realms.

​My divine senses reached out, scanning the planets. The amount of pure cosmic energy and condensed nether force radiating from this solar system is staggering.

Aris did not lie about the hoard. This place is a treasure trove of unimaginable wealth.

​But this was not built by a mere overgrown demon. This level of creation requires divine authority. It requires the power to bend the fundamental laws of reality.

​Suddenly, a figure floats up from the central planet, passing right through the atmosphere and entering the cold vacuum of space.

​The figure did not look like a monster. He looks like a young mortal man dressed in a pitch black coat. But as he floats closer, my divine core suddenly clenches. The aura radiating from this boy is entirely wrong. He possesses the physical density of a collapsing star. His obsidian bones glow with a terrifying starlight, and his eyes are piercing, golden reptilian slits.

​Those eyes lock onto my war chariot.

​A cold, completely unfamiliar sensation crawls down my spine. It feels remarkably like fear. I quickly crush the feeling, letting my arrogance and greed take over once again. He is just one being. I have brought the full might of the Searing Flame.

​"Mortal! I am Ignis, the God of Searing Flame! You stand before the absolute might of the Pantheon! Surrender this stolen energy, kneel before my chariot, and I might allow your soul to burn quickly!"

​The boy tilted his head. He looked at my massive army of fire elementals, my Flame Behemoths, and my roaring solar dragons.

And yet, he did not show a single ounce of fear.

​

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