"Fire Phoenix!"
The voice of Ephilos, the Green Dragon King, rang through the sky.
"Stop watching! Help me kill Hogniaki! Fire Dragon Valley is yours, and so is his treasure!"
As soon as he finished, a gentle female voice came from higher in the sky.
"Ephilos, you offered that yourself. I didn't ask for it."
The voice sounded soft, like an older girl from next door speaking. But in the ears of Hogniaki, the Fire Dragon King, it struck like a thunderclap.
For the first time, his ever-calm expression changed.
The Hellfire Phoenix!
The Fire Dragon King abruptly looked up. Higher in the sky, a dark red figure was slowly descending. It was a phoenix, much smaller than a dragon, but that oppressive aura-
Saint.
And not a Saint who had only just broken through. Her aura was close to his own.
"Fire Phoenix." Hogniaki's voice was low. "Why are you here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" The Hellfire Phoenix hovered in the air, flapping her wings gracefully, her dark red feathers gleaming eerily in the sunlight. "Hogniaki, I've taken a fancy to your territory."
Talking was one thing. Attacking was another.
The Hellfire Phoenix opened her mouth and began chanting an arcane magic incantation.
Forbidden Magic-Blazing City!
In an instant, the fire elements above all of Fire Dragon Valley ran wild. The already scorching air began to burn, and the sky became a sea of flames. But that was not the most terrifying part-threads of dark red light mingled with the flames. That was the Hellfire Phoenix's unique karmic fire.
When karmic fire engulfed someone, it burned not only the flesh, but the soul as well.
The vast sea of flames bore down on the Fire Dragon King!
At that same moment, the Green Dragon King moved too.
"Hogniaki!" Ephilos's roar