"What? No Master this fool is dull! I am brighter—let me!"
"Shut up! Your ashes are yellow! Come back when you grow some meat!"
With the addition of over five hundred Swallows, Elian and Bianca’s party swelled in number. And while the vast majority of them were well behaved, a minority was not.
"Can you all shut your beaks! Master will choose as she sees fit. I obviously go first. So stop making a fuss and go away already!" squawked the bird resting on Elian’s shoulders.
Elian tried very hard to not flip the switch and kill all the Flame Swallows. He even had to activate Adamant at one point. Meanwhile, the woman by his side had nothing but smiles as she admired the army they suddenly amassed.
"Look, Elian. Aren’t they magnificent? Their flames sing to me. I feel like I’m watching a choir of stars."
At least someone is happy, Elian thought.
Elian gazed up and watched the scene. The sun had already set as they made their way to the next floor. Yet instead of darkness their surroundings only grew brighter.
How could it not? Freed from the Curse of Compromise, hundreds of Flame Swallows now burned beside them. As if lit aflame, their plumages all shone in bright orange and red. They were quite literally on fire.
Yet for some reason, they didn’t turn to ash. No matter how much time passed, they remained just as bright. With their vast numbers it looked as if the very skies burned. The sight was unlike anything Elian saw before.
It looked imposing and quite honestly terrifying. Suddenly it made sense why Bianca wanted them. They were for all intents and purposes something meant to be used as a deterrent.
But if the Church had control of them. Why didn’t they use these as pets like the Snow Wolves? Why only use them as food?
"Master! Master! I see humans! It’s the Church! They have an encampment of over 50 people, present. They have already seen us and have begun to move."
At the Flame Swallow’s report, Elian began to arm himself. Only for Bianca to stop him.
"Elian, please do not engage them. Stay by my side and just watch," the witch requested in a sultry voice.
"O-Kay? Are you alright, Bianca?"
"I feel great, Elian. Especially now that we found some targets."
Dumbfounded all Elian could say was, "Huh?"
But excitedly she grabbed him and pulled him forward. She looked like a teenager excited to watch some fireworks, "Come, my weapon. I do not want to miss a single second. Hurry!"
At her urging, Elian picked her up and ignited his thrusters. Within a few seconds they came face to face with the humans. After a quick scan, Elian could only remark in disappointment.
"This group’s even weaker than Arjun’s. That’s... unfortunate."
However, Bianca didn’t even spare the humans a single glance, "It hardly matters".
She kept looking back to the Flame Swallows who began to raise their altitudes. Only Burny remained by Bianca’s side, he had yet to spark his plumage and remained normal.
"HALT! IDENTIFY YOURSELVES! THIS DUNGEON IS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE TRUTHSONG CHURCH!!" shouted the one leading the humans.
He was Mid Radiant tiered Breaker who carried a large axe. But despite roaring till his comrades probably went deaf, no one from Elian’s party paid any attention to him.
"Master. Please make your decision. This would go badly if you delay any longer."
Bianca pursed her lips and giggled, "Hmm. I wonder."
"Burny, what the hell is going on? Choose what?" Elian inquired.
"The order. Quickly, Sir Elian, have Master choose, or else the situation will be dire."
"What? I don’t understand what order? What is going to happen?"
Just then Bianca darted to Elian throwing her arms around his neck. Instinctively, Elian picked up her body in a bridal carry, "Hehe. Here it comes," Bianca remarked in excitement.
"AHHHH! I CAN’T WAIT ANY LONGER! LET’S BURN!"
"YEAH! WHO’S THE TARGET? IT’S THE HUMANS RIGHT?"
"NOT SURE! BUT MASTER KILLED HUMANS SO IT SHOULD BE OKAY!"
What the hell is going on? Why are they all shouting?
Elian heard the Flame Swallows shrieking from high above. And it wasn’t just one or two. It was hundreds of them. And what’s worse. Their bodies all began to glow brighter as if they were on the verge of detonating.
Even Burny ignited his feathers. His flames were far brighter than the others. He frantically shouted as he climbed higher and higher.
"Master, I will try my best to control them! Please see our dedication!"
"May the fire welcome you, Burny!" Bianca bid farewell.
"May the fire welcome you, master!"
The witch placed her finger on Elian’s mouth. Her face was sultry as she pointed to the Flame Swallows, "Be patient, my weapon. It will be a show unlike any other."
Burny quickly took lead and guided the entire flock of Flame Swallows to descend. His body burned brighter by the second much like the others.
"FOR THE MASTER! FOR AVERIGNIS! FOR THE FIRE!" He shrieked, Burny then tucked his wings inward and dived. "BURN SWALLOWS! BURN ALL THE HUMANS! BURN THEM ALL TILL NOT EVEN THEIR ASHES ARE LEFT!"
Then within an instant all hell broke loose.
"AHHHHHH! I’LL TURN YOU ALL INTO CINDERS!!"
"DIVE!! DIVE! DIVE! FOR THE FIRE!"
"SEE ME, MASTER! I COME TO MEET THE FIRE!!"
Elian then felt Bianca’s arms around him tense. He looked at her and saw a childlike joy. As if in this moment, nothing else mattered to her. She kept murmuring the phrase.
The hundreds of Flame Swallows following Burny all erupted into massive fire balls. Then like meteors they joined him as he streaked towards the poor humans. As if the world was ending five hundred burning stars fell from the heavens.
Then came the destruction. Elian saw the humans try to run away. Many erected mana shields or fortifications but none of it mattered. They might have withstood one. Maybe two. But ten, fifty, a hundred?
No, even I wouldn’t survive something .
The Flame Swallows crashed like comets and obliterated the humans, the ground the humans stood on and the dust their ashes fell on. Ash and smoke rose, the air burned. Yet the Swallows didn’t stop.
Each of them set fire to everything. As if hell opened it maw and kissed the earth.
Swallow after swallow came. They didn’t care what they crashed into. They didn’t even try to find an enemy. As if detonating their very souls was their only purpose in life. The ground shook. Again and again without stopping the ground was ripped apart.
As if bombarded by missiles from the sky, the human encampment was wiped from the face of the Earth. Flames ignited, scorching everything in sight.
This isn’t just overkill. This is pure stupidity.
Elian couldn’t even process what he was witnessing. That kind of fire power was enough to win wars. Yet the suicidal Flame Swallows joyfully raced to their deaths for no purpose other than setting fire to those surrounding them.
Even the very air turned suffocating due to all the oxygen being ignited. Quite frankly that was the only reason the fires even stopped.
Just what the hell is this?
Elian could only gawk absolutely dumbfounded. He could somehow understand Fralhame’s culture. But the Flame Swallows seemed mentally insane. Yet there was one beside him cheering in excitement!
"HAHAHAHA! BURN! BURN! BURN EVERYTHING! SO AMAZING! ELIAN DID YOU SEE THAT! LOOK AT THEM ALL!"
"You knew, didn’t you? About the nature of Flame Swallows. No wonder they are all Pyromaniacs. They are all fanatical arsonists."
"Of course I did. But isn’t it beautiful? To the Flame Swallows, they consider Fire their ancestor and origin. To them fire isn’t just a phenomenon, it’s a way of life. They exist only to find a suitable time to burn. Its simplicity is breathtaking."
Bianca then leaned her head on Elian. She stretched out her hand towards his hand and waited. He obliged. Bianca intertwined their fingers and kissed his hand.
"Flame Swallows do not lie or scheme. They only burn. It was a way of life I admired. No matter the lives they lived, it all ends in that bright moment. Sorrow, grief, loneliness, joy, even regret, Flame Swallows know no such concepts."
As Bianca explained Elian gained new understanding of the Flame Swallows. He also learned of the wounds in Bianca’s heart. She must have found refuge from seeing the straightforward lives of the Flame Swallows.
"The joy they feel when they meet the fire. I wonder what it is like? In my youth, I imagined myself a Flame Swallow and wanted to burn with them. I kept thinking, if I was born not as a human but as a Flame Swallow would I have been happier?"
Overwhelmed with sadness at Bianca’s thoughts Elian said nothing and simply hugged her. All while the army of meteors continued to decimate everything around them.