The world was burning.
Raizen stood at the heart of the battlefield, his eyes fixed on the massive figure looming in the distance — Flameheart Drax, the tyrant who had set the seas ablaze with his unyielding desire for control. The winds howled as if they themselves were caught in the fury of the storm that had been unleashed. The ground beneath him trembled as Drax's fleet approached, the waves rising like mountains, crashing against the hulls of his warships.
Drax's power had grown with every passing day, his flames an extension of his will, scorching everything in their path. The fire-bending army that had once followed his commands was nothing compared to the power he wielded now. Flameheart Drax had transcended mortal limits. He had become something more — something primal, something monstrous. And it was this new form, this Flame Titan, that Raizen now faced.
The sky above them darkened as Drax descended from the sky, his massive, fiery form casting an ominous shadow over the battlefield. The very air around him shimmered with heat, waves of flame licking the sky as he landed, shaking the earth beneath him. His armor, forged from molten steel and obsidian, glowed with an otherworldly light. His eyes, now burning pits of inferno, were fixed on Raizen with a terrifying intensity. The Flame Titan was no longer a man. He was a living furnace — a force of nature, unstoppable and unrelenting.
Raizen's breath caught in his throat. The power radiating from Drax was suffocating, and for a moment, he felt the weight of his own mortality pressing down on him. He had faced countless foes in his journey, but nothing — nothing — could have prepared him for this.
"Raizen," Drax's voice echoed through the air, booming with the power of a thousand fires. "You think you can stand against me? You, who have only just learned the taste of rebellion? You dare to defy the flames that have forged this world?"
Raizen's grip tightened around his sword, Cinderfang. He had faced countless battles, fought against monstrous odds, but this was different. This was a battle not just for survival — it was a battle for the very soul of the world.
"I fight for freedom," Raizen shouted, his voice defiant against the roaring winds. "I fight for the people who have been crushed beneath your tyranny, for those who can't stand for themselves. And I'll fight you until the very last spark of my soul is extinguished!"
Drax's laughter filled the air, mocking and full of disdain. "Freedom?" he spat. "You speak of freedom, yet you know nothing of it. You are a mere child playing at rebellion. I am the embodiment of fire — the force that drives the world forward. You cannot hope to extinguish what is eternal."
With a flick of his massive hand, Drax sent a wave of fire crashing toward Raizen. The flames roared with the fury of a thousand volcanoes, their heat so intense that the very air around Raizen seemed to warp and distort. Raizen's instincts kicked in, and he leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the inferno. The ground where he had been standing moments ago was now scorched black, a smoldering crater where the fire had touched.
But Drax was not done. With a roar that shook the heavens, the Flame Titan raised both arms, and from his massive form, torrents of flame erupted. The sea itself seemed to boil as the heat from Drax's attack radiated outward, warping the very landscape.
Raizen staggered back, the searing heat threatening to overwhelm him. His body was drenched in sweat, his muscles screaming from the exertion. He had faced powerful foes before, but this… this was something beyond his understanding. The very force of nature was aligned against him. Drax wasn't just a man — he was an unstoppable cataclysm, a force of destruction.
Raizen's mind raced. He had to find a way to counter this power. He couldn't afford to fight Drax head-on — not with the Flame Titan form. His blade, Cinderfang, could cut through steel, but it would be nothing against the endless flames Drax commanded. He needed to outsmart him, to find a weakness. But in the face of such overwhelming power, it seemed almost impossible.
"Do you see now, Raizen?" Drax's voice boomed, shaking the very earth beneath them. "You are nothing before me. A mere spark that will be snuffed out in the wind."
Raizen's heart pounded in his chest, but his resolve hardened. He couldn't afford to let fear take root. He was the flame that refused to be extinguished. He was the one who would stand against the world's darkness.
With a roar, Raizen lunged forward, his blade cutting through the air. He closed the distance between them with incredible speed, weaving through the flames that Drax sent hurling toward him. The heat was unbearable, but Raizen pushed through, drawing on every ounce of strength he had left.
Drax grinned as Raizen approached, his flames intensifying. He was too powerful, too overwhelming. Raizen would never reach him.
But Raizen's eyes locked onto something — a tiny flicker in the flames. A momentary weakness. The core of Drax's flame-powered armor, a crack in the unrelenting inferno that encased him. It was barely visible, but it was enough.
With a battle cry, Raizen made his move. His sword sliced through the air, a blur of steel and fire, aimed directly at the crack in Drax's armor. The flames roared as he approached, and just as he was about to strike, Drax unleashed a massive wave of fire to engulf him.
Raizen's body was slammed back by the force of the explosion. He tumbled through the air, his breath stolen by the heat and the blast. His body crashed into the jagged rocks of the cliffside, and for a moment, everything went black.
But Raizen refused to stay down. He gritted his teeth, his hands trembling as he pushed himself up from the ground. Blood trickled from his wounds, and his vision swam, but he could still hear the sound of Drax's laughter. The Flame Titan was unstoppable — but Raizen wasn't done.
With a desperate, defiant scream, Raizen surged forward once more. His body screamed in pain, but his heart burned with a fire that refused to die. He had no choice but to fight. He had to win. For the people, for the rebellion, for everything they had lost.
Raizen reached the center of the battlefield, his sword raised high as he summoned every ounce of power he had left. With a final cry of determination, he hurled himself toward Drax's massive form, aiming for that tiny crack in his armor. His sword, Cinderfang, collided with the flame-infused steel, and for a brief moment, time seemed to stop.
The air exploded with an ear-splitting roar as the crack in Drax's armor split wide open, sending a massive shockwave rippling through the battlefield. Flames erupted in every direction, but in the heart of the firestorm, Raizen stood firm, his sword embedded in Drax's fiery chest.
The Flame Titan let out a roar of pain, the flames around him flickering and wavering for the first time. For a fleeting moment, Raizen thought he had won. But then, Drax's eyes locked onto him, burning with fury.
"You think this will stop me?" Drax's voice was a guttural growl, filled with unbridled rage. "I am the flames! I cannot be defeated!"
And with that, the inferno surged around him once more, the flames swallowing everything in their path. Raizen staggered back, barely able to stay on his feet as the flames closed in, threatening to consume him whole.
But through the fire, through the agony and the chaos, Raizen knew one thing for certain. This was just the beginning.
END OF CHAPTER7