Kael: panting Two down I don't know if I should be terrified or proud right now.
Yuna: staring at the scorched ground The Court itself is cracking Every Judge we face tears reality apart more and more.
Kael: grins Good That means they're scared of us.
Ryo: No That means their power is real. Underestimate them and you'll be erased before you understand why.
Kael: clicks tongue …Tch Always the mood killer Ryo.
The silence left by the fallen Judge lingers only for a moment Then the air heats first like a desert sun then like standing inside a furnace The Infinite Court turns red and fire seeps from the cracks in the stone floor Soon a towering figure emerges: the Judge of Flame.
Judge of Flame: his voice is fire itself searing and thunderous Who dares to silence Silence herself? Who dares to burn the flow of Time?
Kael: wiping sweat from his brow Great Another Judge with an ego the size of a planet.
Yuna: shielding her eyes from the glow No… this one feels different The others tried to control This one… he just wants to burn.
Judge of Flame: raises his hand firestorms spiral around him You children anomalies insects your existence mocks the law of fire I am the blaze that cleanses I am the inferno that ends.
Kael: smirking Funny, you sound exactly like every overpowered villain I've ever punched.
Judge of Flame: Insolent mortal his flames whip out like chains striking toward Kael
Yuna: Kael move!
Kael dives aside as the fire lashes carve molten scars into the ground where he stood The heat alone burns his skin.
Kael: gritting teeth Damn it! That wasn't even a direct hit!
Yuna: This isn't fire like we know it… it's
primordial flame Fire that existed before creation It burns not only flesh but memory soul… even history.
Kael: wide eyed Wait you're telling me if that flame touches me I don't just die I vanish? Like I was never born?
Yuna: Exactly.
Kael: smirks despite the fear Guess I'll have to make sure I don't get hit then.
Judge of Flame: There is no not getting hit All things are fuel All things are ash Even your voices will burn.
The flames erupt outward spreading across the Court like a tidal wave Yuna raises her arms summoning a barrier of shimmering ice For a moment it holds the hiss of steam filling the air but cracks form instantly under the sheer power of the Judge's fire.
Yuna: straining Kael! I can't hold this for long!
Kael: (leaps forward) Don't worry, I'll distract him!
Kael charges the Judge fists blazing with his own energy He punches through a curtain of fire screaming as his arm burns but lands a hit on the Judge's chest The impact barely makes the Judge stagger.
Judge of Flame: Pathetic spark.
He swats Kael aside with a wave of fire Kael crashes into the ground rolling across molten cracks smoke rising from his scorched armor.
Kael: groaning Damn… he's tougher than he looks.
Ryo: finally stepping forward unbothered by the flames Your fire does not impress me.
Judge of Flame: snarls You dare mock me anomaly? You who speak against Silence and stand against Time? You think fire does not consume you?
Ryo: Flame cannot consume what has no fuel.
Judge of Flame: Then let us see if your arrogance burns.
The Judge raises both arms summoning a storm of primordial fire that forms into a colossal sun above the Court The heat is unbearable Kael and Yuna collapse unable to even breathe The ground melts into rivers of lava.
Yuna: weakly Ryo… if that falls… there won't be anything left Not us, not the Court… nothing.
Kael: spitting blood still smiling Heh… looks like you're up Ryo.
Ryo gazes at the blazing sun calmly He raises his hand and his voice cuts through the roaring inferno.
Ryo: Burn all you like Fire ends in ash And from ash… only I remain.
The colossal sun descends The Judge roars flames consuming the Court But as the fire swallows everything Ryo does not move His words echo like thunder.
Ryo: I am not fuel I am not ash I am the word that fire cannot touch.
And then it happens The firestorm collapses inward flames folding into nothingness The colossal sun shatters like glass leaving only embers that flicker and die in the air Ryo walks forward through the fading blaze untouched.
Judge of Flame: staggering back his form cracking No… impossible…
Ryo: Fire ends.You do not.
With a final step Ryo's presence alone extinguishes the Judge of Flame The colossal being disintegrates his fire vanishing into the void Silence fills the Court once more.
Kael: coughing, barely able to stand …You've gotta be kidding me He just… snuffed out a god's fire like blowing out a candle.
Yuna: in awe That wasn't just fire That was the first flame. And Ryo… erased it.
Ryo: calmly Three Judges fall. More await And each will be stronger than the last.
Kael: grins despite his burns Hah… fine by me Let them come.
The Court shakes violently In the distance another figure stirs its body made of endless shadows and blades The Judge of War awakens.