Smoke filled the air mercilessly. The atmosphere was tainted with war and singed by fire. The border of Upper and Lower Ember was a battlefield. An air of uncertainty troubled Emberites of both sides. Not mentally ready for war, the people of Upper Ember stayed away from the border. Not physically prepared for war, the people of Lower Ember stayed away from the violent border.

As day turned to dusk, the Flamethrowers were pushed to their limits, severely outnumbered, and exhausted from battle. Cahya, Calida, Yuuna, and Beamer had successfully freed Sitara, and she swiftly left to resume her secret duty. This allowed four more Flamethrowers to engage in battle with Agnes' minions.

Inside the headquarters, the Flamethrowers were in the thick of the battle, led by Arrow. His Pyrocean genes became outstanding in battle. Breathing fire and being on fire, anyone with eyes could see how blessed the family of the DragonLords were. His gifts were extraordinary. He traveled by fire to attack and returned to the side of his fellow Flamethrowers, watching and defending their backs like a true soldier. Suvan, gifted with superhuman strength and power, protected his fellow Flamethrowers. He hypnotized whoever was weak enough to be lured by the intimate dance of the flame, only to be dangerously beckoned to their deaths. Flame, healed by Jai, shot fire arrows at his enemy. The trio fought to defend their Legend as he confronted Agnes.

The roof was on fire, and the left side of the building had completely burned down. However, the Flamethrowers fought without fear, determined not to leave without imprinting their fire into the minds of their opponents. Arin and Kiran fought soldiers on the first floor. They were back to back handling their own, to the disbelief and amazement of the enemy Firehearts. Alena was pursuing Zay, luring him away from Jai so he could confront Agnes. The roof was burning quickly, as she was hot on his heels. When she closed the distance on him, she attacked with fire punches. However, Zay's reflexes were acute. He blocked every punch with pinpoint accuracy, not phased by the threat of fire. His combat fighting was impressive, especially for one not gifted with the flame.

"Just give up already. It's almost night, and you're losing. Just give it up," Alena panted, struggling to breathe through the smoke.

"The only one who seems tired is you. Looks like you need to work on your stamina, Firefly," Zay replied. They had been running, ducking, and dodging for hours, and he was not breaking a sweat. Alena was thankful that he wasn't a gifted Fireheart, or she would have been in serious trouble. Zay punched, then made an attempt to strike her with his elbow. Alena blocked the punch and narrowly dodged his elbow. However, the elbow was a diversion from the sweeping motion of his foot. Alena fell backward as the roof was already unstable under her feet. Her eyes went wide as fear ran through her veins at the thought of falling from at least fifty feet in the air. She closed her eyes.

She was not falling. A hand had tightly grasped her wrist. She dared to open her eyes. Looking up, she saw that Zay had grabbed her, "Pull yourself up!"

"No! Let me go," Alena spat.

"Don't be stupid. You want me to drop you into a burning pile of rubbish. You fall, you're gonna die. Pull up!"

"No, I'd rather die like this," Alena choked, trying not to cry.

"I'm not trying to kill you, Firefly. If I wanted to kill you, rest assured, I wouldn't be holding onto your life right now," Zay gently spoke. Unsure she was too weak or scared, he used his strength to pull her from dangling on the edge of the burning roof. Never once did she grab onto him for safety. Did she really want to die?

After pulling her to somewhat of a safety zone, despite the flames on the roof, she punched him in the chest and knocked the wind out of him. "I told you to let me die!"

"Why," he hissed, "I was not trying to kill you."

"You want to kill Jai, so you're my enemy," she kicked fire at his face.

Zay was unphased and expertly dodged the flames, "Stop, you're just burning the roof faster. I'm not going to kill anyone. I wouldn't kill anyone without a good reason. I've done a lot of messed-up stuff, but I'm not a murderer. I hate Jai. Yes, I do. Sometimes the chance to kill him is freedom to me. But, I'd never be able to face my mother as a murderer," his eyes water. He chuckled, "I've faced her as many things, but I can't imagine tarnishing all of her... love like that." His eyes were glassy, almost as if he remembered a distant memory. Alena just watched him. He then shook his head. "If you want me to kill you, you'll have to give me a reason. The fire danced around their feet, and Zay looked down into the headquarters. In one fleeting moment, his dark brown eyes met her light brown ones, "Good luck, Firefly," he stepped over and dropped down into the headquarters.

Alena was left alone on top of a flame-filled roof. Her heart was racing. She peered over the edge where Zay had disappeared. "He saved me. I should be his enemy, but he still saved me," she murmured. She wouldn't let him out of her sight. He said he wasn't a murderer but confessed to hating Jai. At the last minute, Alena jumped over the edge and hurried to catch Zay. Jai was still her Legend, and she would not let any harm come to him.

She nimbly followed Zay, who led her straight to Agnes and Jai. Agnes appeared to have worn Jai down, his mask glistened from the flames that filled the room, and Jai looked tired.

"Now that I have you where I want you, I'll answer your question," Agnes slowly walked towards Jai. Alena was about to walk into the room before a hand covered her mouth from behind her.

"You can't go there if you don't want to die. If Agnes could wear him down and I could wear you down, you wouldn't last long in there," Zay whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

"I am going to eradicate the Legends. They have brought the common people nothing but chaos and hell. And the brutal truth is, the legends are not wanted anymore. Once upon a time, your kind was glorified. Then I started to ask why? Your kind has caused nothing but war, suffering, and Universal imbalance for the rest of us. And now, we're tired. We are tired of one person from each Nation being stronger than the rest of us. We are tired of being at your service. So, I proposed the idea of doing something that has never been done before," Agnes stepped up to Jai, leaning on the wall and grabbing his right shoulder, which was bleeding profusely, "I'm going to break the cycle. Alter the Universe and show everyone that we can save ourselves and solve our own problems without any of you. Don't worry. You're just the first one that I'm going to kill. Afterward, I'll hunt the rest of them before they are strong enough to take down an army. You just have the honor of dying first," the flames filled Agnes' hand as he went to grab Jai's throat. Jai held it, burning it with the light. Agnes groaned as Jai kicked him in the core.

Zay let Alena go and ran into the room, "So you're just a murderer. You're using us to murder four people because they're stronger than you!" Zay eyed Jai and slightly motioned his head towards the opening. Jai looked at Zay, uncertain as to his intentions. Was it a trap? He thought about what Sheraga told him about not accepting mercy from his enemies. He stayed put, clutching his bloody shoulder.

Agnes pushed Zay into a burning wall, and he hollered. Jai's eyes widened at Agnes in shock that he would turn on his own soldier like that. Jai focused and manipulated the fire into a soft ball of light before hurling the ball like a violent beam at Agnes. The beam cut the upper part of his arm. Zay groaned and turned over. Agnes made a wall of fire around Jai, completely encasing him. He slowly walked through the firewall and held something close in his long sleeve. Jai turned the firewall into a light wall, only for Agnes to turn it back. The offensive wall flickered back and forth from fire to light to fire again. "I'm impressed that you managed to learn this much control, Jai. It's a pleasant surprise that I have the honor of watching your fight to the death."

"No!" Alena ran inside and shot a burning arrow at Agnes' head. He never turned towards her. Somehow he completely burned the arrow to ashes before it reached him. Jai punched fire with his right hand and kicked a light beam at Agnes. He turned in a complete circle making a fire shield, defending himself from the attack. Zay pushed himself to his feet, trying to push Alena outside. He stopped and looked at his stomach. Agnes stabbed right through him with his hand, covered in lightning. Zay's eyes fluttered, "Just run, Firefly," he fell to his knees before collapsing. Alena screamed at the top of her lungs as she watched Zay bleed. Agnes looked immune to the murder.

Jai watched as Agnes flashed and murdered Zay mere seconds before he was trying to burn him to death. Zay was trying to help him and Alena. A wave of anger flowed as Jai saw Zay murdered while standing to protect Alena. He felt his eyes burning as Agnes raised his hand towards Alena the moment Zay's body hit the floor with a gentle thud. He felt like his body was on fire. As he charged Agnes to the ground, he went to burn the mask onto his face. Agnes yelled in pain. Alena was shooting her flaming arrows, but Agnes could still burn them before they made contact. Then Jai felt a strange sensation creeping upon him. He couldn't move. His body became still so suddenly.

"Jai," Alena called to him. The room was filled with smoke and flames. Alena ran over Zay and towards the last place she saw Jai. She dragged what she believed was his body towards the hall. Alena touched Jai, but he never moved. His eyes never opened. Agnes was nowhere to be found. She hurried and tried to pull Jai's body to safety. He was motionless. She then went back and looked at Zay's body. He wasn't dead yet. But he didn't have long. She also wanted to move him to safety but was afraid that any sudden movement would kill him instantly. She turned her back and ran back to Jai, hiding him as best as possible. Alena decided that she would stay with Jai and defend his motionless body until another Flamethrower found her. She peered at his face and sobbed. Alena felt like she had failed. And her failure cost two people their lives.

Agnes wiggled the mask around his face. He was only slightly burned. This did not bother him. He had an ally who would mend him afterward. He was surprised by what had transpired. He didn't expect the Legend to have been that proficient. He also didn't expect to be betrayed. However, he was not bothered. Zay would die soon, and the Legend would be dead by morning. The stupid girl could try whatever she wanted, but the die was already set. He chuckled to himself. The only thing he cared about now was to salvage the rest of his soldiers. He jumped to the first floor of his building decorated with flames and began to assist the flames in burning everything down. The building started to crumble completely.

Arrow watched Agnes, "Everyone get out. It's gonna collapse." The Flamethrowers fanned out desperately trying to escape. However, the stone building fell beneath them within seconds.

Calida's eyes watered as she saw the stone castle-like abode fall, and she could only think about her Flamethrowers. "No," she cried out, running towards the surrendering ruins.

"Calida, stop, don't go there," Cahya called out to his sister, and his words only fell on deaf ears. Cahya, Yuuna, and Beamer continued to hold the soldiers back to the best of their ability.

"Ignite!" Calida screamed as she shot an arrow into the sky. A fiery phoenix flew down and scooped her up. She stood on the back of the fiery beast as Agnes walked away from the ruins engulfed in flames. "Phoenix Rage," she screamed. A second phoenix erupted from the first and consumed Agnes completely. His body was swallowed by the mouth of the phoenix.

Suddenly the second flaming beast retreated into the first one, "What," Calida questioned.

Agnes simply looked to the phoenix she stood on. The sky split, and a massive lightning bolt erupted. Agnes claimed control over the bolt and shot it with extreme precision through the phoenix Calida was riding, causing it to dissipate. Calida was over sixty feet in the air and plummeted ferociously into the burning pile of rubbish. Cahya's heart dropped as his sister crashed into the ruins. He fell back and screamed, "Ignite!"

His phoenix was twice the size of Calida's. The phoenix engulfed the last of Agnes' soldiers. Yuuna and Beamer ran from the fiery wings of the massive phoenix to avoid being consumed by the enemy. The last of the soldiers took their last stand at that moment before burning to ashes from the rage of Cahya's loyal phoenix. Hate and bloodlust dominated Cahya's eyes as he shot a violent spewing fire at Agnes. His force was met with a hurling fire laced with lightning. They seemed evenly matched before Agnes started to saunter towards him, "Such raw power. You truly are a young master. I only feel your strength pulsing through the flames," Agnes marveled at Cahya's natural talent.

"Phoenix Attack!"

Cahya's phoenix traveled through his spewing fire, creating a surge in Cahya's raw power. Yuuna and Beamer watch in disbelief at how powerful Cahya is; they have never seen him like this before.

With the additional strength of the phoenix, an explosion erupted. A massive bomb of fire and smoke leveled everything within a fifty-foot radius. Cahya was flung backward into Yuuna and Beamer. The sheer impact rendered all three unconscious. Agnes took a deep breath before reveling in the destruction of his surroundings. Only he was left standing. "That Pyrocean and Phoenix welder truly had potential. What a shame to waste such young and talented young men. Hmm, even Arka's boy put up a good fight. What a shame to waste," Agnes shook his head slightly. His soldiers had put up a relentless fight. That last phoenix wiped them out. However, all was not lost. Agnes calmly walked away from the burning border as if nothing had happened.