A/N:
Hey guys. Okay, so this is different.
A request I ask:
Do you see this guy over here?
Can you waste a small moment of yours on this guy's worthless existence? Just give a small taste of what attention whores get, you know.
Thank you.
***
"Yo!"
Mo Fan looked deadpanned at the newly arrived guest before sighing, relieved that he could finally go back and regroup with the others.
The sorceress looked over at Mo Fan, making hand signs asking if he knew Damon.
"Yeah, I know him. A friend with whom I travelled here. He's come here looking for me. Can he stay here for a bit?"
The fiery sorceress nodded at Mo Fan's request, curious about the new human. She floated over to Damon, her elemental form gliding in the wind as she circled him curiously, giving out a warm cry to welcome him.
"Hello to you too," Damon greeted politely as a small rose of blue fire appeared in his hands. The flaming creature used her space element to accept it.
The glow of the fiery rose increased as the fiery sorceress let out a cry of joy, holding the fire.
"I came looking for my friend over there. Sorry if I intruded into your space," Damon apologized as he followed the creature over to Mo Fan.
"You look wrecked!" Covered in wounds all over, Damon laughed at Mo Fan, who just grumbled.
Damon took a seat beside Mo Fan before tossing a faint brown serum into his hands.
"Thanks!" Mo Fan received the serum and drank it in one go.
Damon glanced at him with a blank expression—the look he always gave whenever Mo Fan said something stupid. Mo Fan, accustomed to Damon's judgmental stares, didn't find anything wrong. He immediately wore a seemingly attractive smile that he thought was enough to charm thousands of girls and reassured Damon.
Damon was startled but took out another serum and pressed it onto Mo Fan's wounded face.
"This is meant for external application."
The blossoming smile on Mo Fan's face suddenly stiffened as Damon shook his head.
'This fucker… when will he learn some common sense?'
It had been six to seven years since Mo Fan arrived in this world, yet he still seemed to lack even basic common sense.
A charming giggle escaped the fiery sorceress as she watched the exchange. Mo Fan coughed out the brown serum, embarrassed, and took another one, applying it properly to his wounds.
His face flushed as he looked at the friendly creature with squinted eyes. She didn't stop laughing, which made him even more embarrassed as he smiled awkwardly.
As Mo Fan finished applying the medicine, Damon observed the fiery monarch in front of him. His mind recalled everything he knew about her—Mother of the last Flame Belle, Hetera, the monarch who was once human. He remembered how important the little girl she birthed was—her power, her intelligence—and everything he had gathered about this wonderful creature from old records.
A moment of quiet followed, the flicker of embers dancing gently across the rocky floor.
Mo Fan changed the topic when he saw her holding something cautiously in her hands.
"What's that? Something for me to eat?"
The fiery sorceress pulled a long face at the question.
Mo Fan felt awkward, realizing he had picked the wrong words.
The fiery sorceress was holding a transparent fruit in her hands. Its luster and pleasant scent were clear signs that it was of superior quality compared to the Fire Cloud Fruit.
"Could this be the Fire Calamity Fruit?" asked Damon softly.
The fiery sorceress hesitated for a while before nodding.
"W-wait! Fire Calamity Fruit!" Mo Fan was stunned as he heard the exchange, while Damon appeared calm as Mo Fan began asking questions.
"This is Fire Calamity Fruit?" Mo Fan asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah. The elemental species of the fiery sorceress are birthed through this fruit," Damon explained. "Instead of natural procreation, to keep their noble lineage pure, they give birth through the Fire Calamity Fruit."
"The fruit is the child they carry. Once it matures, the child is birthed with the injection of the parent's life force."
Mo Fan's eyes widened at the explanation. He never knew the fruit meant so much to the fiery sorceress.
'And to think that we wanted to take a monarch's child?'
He gulped, chills running down his spine, before frowning at the mention of life force.
"Life force?" he asked, tilting his head.
Damon sighed, rubbing his temples.
"It's the force that distinguishes the living from the dead. You're a goddamn university student!" he cursed, before looking at the fiery sorceress with softened eyes.
"They're like incarnations of fire. Nature only permits one of them to exist…" His tone softened further. "After the fire calamity descends, the calamity fruit appears. It's not only a sign of the birth of a new Flame Belle but also the end of the old one."
Silence filled the air. The flames around them flickered gently as the fiery sorceress caressed the fruit, her touch tender—like that of a mother holding her child.
"So that's how a Flame Belle is birthed…" Mo Fan wondered aloud. "But didn't she mention that she wasn't a Flame Belle? Then how could her child be?"
Listening to Mo Fan's question, Damon didn't answer directly. He looked at the fiery sorceress, who just nodded. With a flick of her hand, space bent as fire appeared out of nowhere, creating small figures of flame that moved like a film.
It showed a girl—a human figure made of fire—growing up with two parents, slowly aging, meeting a wonderful man with whom she married.
The figures kept changing, depicting a life of their own, as the two small figures held a little girl in their hands.
"Is this her life?" Mo Fan's face showed realization. 'This is a human life, isn't it?'
Damon stayed silent, focused on the duo of flaming figures who fought monsters, working as hunters travelling the world.
The duo arrived at the Burning Valley one day, where they encountered the fire calamity. The female figure pushed the male figure away, saving him with her own life as she suffered gruesome burns. At the end of her life, a bright, glowing figure—similar to the fiery sorceress—appeared before her eyes, giving her the Fire Calamity Fruit and turning the dying woman into the same as the man before he vanished.
The film came to an end, showing the fiery sorceress living in the valley, watching over the humans who arrived, as decades passed before the flaming vision extinguished.
"Wow…" Mo Fan said as the atmosphere suddenly became heavy. "You were once human."
The fiery sorceress gave a sorrowful nod, missing her old life.
'The world is full of wonders…' Damon thought as his earpiece rang with Lingling's voice.
"It seems Lingling and the group are fine. They joined up with Chen Yi's father, Zhao Yulin, and his group," Damon told Mo Fan.
But before Mo Fan could respond, the fiery sorceress let out a loud cry.
The names of her daughter and husband—the two most important people—brought memories buried deep inside her mind to the surface. The flames around them flared more intensely.
With a speed even Damon couldn't follow, she appeared before him, looking straight into his eyes, her gaze burning as her hands formed signs at impossible speed, asking him to repeat the names.
"Chen Yi and Zhao Yulin," Damon replied nervously.
The flame goddess circled the place, her expression full of joy, as she began cleaning and decorating the area with fire.
"What's happening? Why did she react so strongly hearing those two names?" Mo Fan asked, watching the joyful fiery sorceress.
"Don't know… but I think it was because she heard Chen Yi and her father's names."
"I know that too…" Mo Fan's voice trailed as the gears in his mind began to turn. "Chen Yi said that her parents were rescued by the flaming sorceress."
Looking at the fiery figure, Mo Fan gulped. "The fiery sorceress was once human… she gained the Fire Calamity Fruit… had a daughter and husband."
The dots connected in Mo Fan's mind as Damon inwardly grinned. *Finally, Mo Fan caught on,* he thought as Mo Fan continued piecing things together.
"Does that mean… she is Chen Yi's mother?" Mo Fan's eyes widened. "But wasn't she always there with Chen Yi?"
***
Okay we have covered 500 chapters till now.
A reminder for readers.. the plot from here on would be totally wreaked in the upcoming arcs a lot of major changes so be prepared.
Anyways also be sure to curse that man before!