Second Genesis

~An hour ago~

—

[GreyDominion: Wait.]

[GreyDominion: WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT. I’ve seen that guy before. Where have I seen him before?]

[FinchTheDiddler: Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.]

[SpellSeeker: That is not a normal Fire Elemental.]

[EpicPelvis: LMAO. He is so unbelievably fucked.]

—

The chat had reacted almost the instant Grey appeared on the competition grounds, long before Grey himself understood there was anything unusual about the solitary Elemental sitting on a rock.

Veyrath wasn’t merely talented. He was a Prince.

Among Elementals, the title had nothing to do with royalty in the way humans understood it. Princes were nobles of their respective elements, inheritors personally blessed by their ancestors and chosen as possible futures of their Clans, existences expected to carry an entire elemental lineage forward if they survived long enough to mature.

But it didn’t necessarily have anything to do with bloodline. Not that elementals had bloodlines in the normal sense to begin with.

Veyrath belonged to the Infernal Arc Clan, one of the most powerful Fire Elemental lineages participating in the Genesis Games, and among their current generation there were five inheritors who stood above everyone else.

Four were called Princes.

The fifth was called the Infernal King.

—

[GreyDominion: Okay, somebody explain why everyone is freaking out. He’s just sitting there.]

[FinchTheDiddler: "Just sitting there" because apparently being one of the Four Infernal Princes isn’t enough for you.]

[GreyDominion: FOUR WHAT.]

[SpellSeeker: The Infernal Arc Clan has five premier inheritors. Four Princes, one eventual Infernal King, but normally nobody receives the King title until after the Games because the Clan needs to see which inheritor proves themselves worthy.]

[EpicPelvis: Normally.]

—

This generation had broken that tradition. The Infernal King had already been chosen.

Aelthar Infernis.

One of the Seven Betting Favorites.

His position was considered so undeniable that the other four Princes had voluntarily stepped aside, accepting that none of them had a meaningful claim to the title anymore. Even more absurdly, almost nobody had actually seen Aelthar fight seriously, because the Four Princes were powerful enough that there had never been any reason for their future King to act.

—

[GreyDominion: So you’re telling me THIS GUY is one of the ones who stepped aside?]

[FinchTheDiddler: Yep.]

[GreyDominion: And we’re supposed to feel better because he’s weaker than the other guy???]

[SpellSeeker: No. You should feel worse, because if Veyrath is appearing in Grey’s progression route, Grey will almost certainly encounter the Infernal Arc Clan again in Arc II.]

[GreyDominion: ...]

[GreyDominion: My Greypoo is cooked.]

[EpicPelvis: Finally, somebody understands.]

—

The chat’s prediction seemed painfully accurate once Veyrath finally stepped onto the battlefield.

Heat rolled through the arena in concentrated waves, Grey’s skin dried before sweat could properly form, and the slightest flick of Veyrath’s fiery whip carried enough energy to distort space itself.

Fighting Fire Elementals was already miserable enough, but fighting one with this level of control was something else entirely.

—

[SpellSeeker: That’s the real issue. Raw fire isn’t impressive at this level, control is.]

[FinchTheDiddler: Yeah, no shit. He’s turning Grey into beef jerky without even touching him.]

[SpellSeeker: When you concentrate thermal energy that tightly, you’re basically fighting a miniature sun. Almost none of it is being lost to the environment.]

[GreyDominion: STOP EXPLAINING WHY HE’S FUCKED.]

—

Then Grey’s armor changed.

The heat-resistant crystalline layers snapped into place, the wall of fire parted, and before the chat fully understood what had happened, Grey had crossed the distance and smashed The Virtueless into Veyrath’s body.

BOOM.

—

[GreyDominion: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!]

[FinchTheDiddler: WHAT THE FUCK DID HE JUST MAKE.]

[SpellSeeker: He altered the crystalline composition on the fly. What is up with this guy.]

[EpicPelvis: That’s impossible.]

[FinchTheDiddler: You’ve been watching this idiot for how long and THAT’S where you draw the line?]

[GreyDominion: I’M STILL FREEZING OVER HERE BABYYYYYY.]

—

Veyrath slowly pushed himself upright.

Grey didn’t let him finish.

He vanished from where he stood, appeared directly in front of the Elemental, and drove his knee into Veyrath’s face hard enough that the surrounding fire exploded outward.

BANG.

"Thought I was going to let you stand there and aura farm?" Grey asked as he landed. "Only one person does that around here, and it’s me."

Veyrath’s body burst apart.

Flames scattered around Grey before reforming several meters behind him, but Grey was already turning, his feet flowing through the motion as arcs of shadow trailed from his Black Forces.

Then something heavy hit the ground.

BANG.

A gauntlet, it seemed.

The heat in the air surged, multiplying several times over in a breath.

BANG.

Another guantlet landed beside it.

Grey’s expression flattened. "Oh, come on."

Veyrath began removing the rest of his armor piece by piece, and with every section that fell, the pressure in the arena climbed.

Grey sighed. "Yet another act of copyright infringement. The Genesis Games really don’t give a shit about intellectual property, huh?"

The helm fell last.

BANG.

For the first time, Grey saw what lay beneath.

Veyrath was almost entirely flame.

Not flesh covered in fire, but a condensed humanoid mass of red-gold inferno that had somehow taken the shape of a man. Only several bands remained solid, one around each wrist, one around each ankle, another around his neck, and a final golden band resting across his forehead like a crown.

Then something strange happened. The heat disappeared completely.

Grey’s eyes narrowed.

Veyrath still burned, yet for a moment he looked almost human, his body settling into such perfectly controlled crimson flame that there was no wasted heat left to feel.

His eyes lifted.

"The infernal hell does not burn because it is hot," Veyrath said softly. "It burns because all things eventually belong to it."

Grey made a weird face. "What sort of weird philosophical mumbo jumbo is that? If you want to fight, then fight. What’s with all this bullshit?"

Veyrath disappeared, but this time, Grey didn’t see him move. Not because his eyes were still blind. They had already healed.

Even Grey’s Resonant Sense couldn’t pick up on Veyrath. It was like he had completely vanished.

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