Cutoff of Flames

Soul looked around the burning city, white, orange and red flames combining as the fire spread along with the weakened timber. "So, now that Ronin has been dealt with, what do we do?" Soul asked Orochi and Oki as Amana walked over. "Well, you could start by extinguishing this fire. After all, I really don't think it's a good idea to have a huge fire burning out here!" Amana yelled at them, pointing out the painfully obvious.

Soul and Orochi had just been ignoring the death of the Beastpeople the entire time that Ronin and Soul had been fighting.

"Oh, I forgot about that. If I put water on it, a huge steam explosion will occur. Give me a second. I'm cutting off all the oxygen in this area." Soul explained, his fingers snapping. As the snap emanated through the air, Oki, Orochi and Amana, along with everyone still alive, realised that they couldn't breathe. However, the fire was almost immediately extinguished. The oxygen almost immediately returned to the area, leaving everybody, bar Soul, gasping for breath.

"Sorry about that. However, I don't think it would have been a good idea for the world to explode due to a high-energy steam explosion, would it?" Soul apologised before looking at the large pile of rubble that sat in front of him. "Well, you can't really live here anymore, can you?" Soul reasoned, looking at the charred buildings and wooden planks with disdain.

"Well, we can rebuild it. It'll take a few months or even years, but we'll be able to make ourselves another home." Amana responded, staring Soul directly in his red eyes. "Unless you have a different plan in mind, Soul?"

"Well, I do have one. I have my own Kingdom, where we welcome all kinds of intelligent monsters. So, if you feel like joining us there, go ahead." Soul responded nonchalantly, shocking Amana. "So you're telling me that you have your own Kingdom and thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to inform us earlier?!" Amana responded, practically yelling at him. "Woah, calm down. I did tell your citizens before helping them. However, the one I had talked to the most was burned alive by Ronin. Essentially, I came to save you and ask you to join my Kingdom, but then this all happened. Still, the offer is open to you guys. However, you may want to fly over that damn forest of yours. It's infested with monsters, as you probably know." Soul explained before turning around and picking up Oki.

"Well, you have your options laid in front of you, Amana. Rebuild your own Kingdom, or take banner under mime. The choice is yours." Soul informed Amana, preparing to jump away. After all, he had no reason to be there any longer. "Wait! Explain to me more about your Kingdom! I want to know what the advantages would be of joining you." Amana asked him, frigid as a rock.

"Well, that's a surprise. I honestly thought you'd prefer building your own Kingdom back up. However, this is quite interesting, so I'll tell you." Soul responded, turning around to face her as Orochi realised what was happening. "My Kingdom is a coalition of monsters where all monsters of conversational and reasonable capabilities can live their lives. An otherwise unreachable goal of neutrality, or even peace, between humans and monsters." Soul explained, causing Amana to break out laughing.

"Are you an idiot? Monsters are meant to have a business-only relationship. You know how they rarely talk, and even when they do, there is high tension? That's how monsters and humans interact. Hell, we've only been visited by the human King once. Even then, it was just to tell us about some regulations between Inhumans and mankind." Amana mocked him, thinking of the idea as insanity.

"Funny that you speak of the human King. I had a little talk with him if you want to call it that. He's been persuaded to help our cause." Soul replied, staring Amana directly in her eyes. "He travelled with Aaron to the land of the Ice Wardens, where he showcased his wind sprinting. It turns out that he can run pretty fast for a human."

"So, you're telling me that the King of humans thought it was a good idea to showcase his abilities to you as you visited the second strongest enemy on this planet?" Ezrahel asked, trying to confirm what Soul had said. "Yes, that's correct," Soul responded, the red Corruption slowly fading away from his body.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I may actually need to rest. I've lost a lot of adrenaline, and even though I have Boundless mana, I feel like I'm about to fall unconscious." Soul finished, his eyes vanishing from his black flesh. The horns on his head shattered as his body hit the ground, an almost unnoticeable noise of him hitting the floor hitting the ears of those near him.

"Well, what do we do now? After all, he was our main transport out of here." Oki asked the group as they all began brainstorming their ideas to themselves. That's when Orochi remembered something that should have been obvious. He was a dragon. "So, uh, how do you guys feel about riding on the back of a dragon?" Orochi asked, before being met with a look of confusion. "Do you think you'll be able to carry everyone here on your back at once?" Amana asked Orochi while bringing his attention to the thousand Beastpeople still alive.

"Now, this may sound rude, but I thought more of them might have died during that searing fire." Orochi reasoned as Ezrahel gave his own response. "It's not the fire that kills people, dragon. It's the smoke. The smoke is what kills people."

"What they lose in a fire, we have to pick up in the ashes." Oki realised, looking intently at the burnt structures that lay in front of them, as a sparkle caught his eye.

"We have some digging to do."