As expected, the Lord of Heat and Explosions truly seemed to have a fiery temper. He didn’t even have a shred of self-restraint.

His spiky hair was covered in metal rings, clinking and jangling with every movement as they hung from his hair, shoulders, and clothes. His back bulged with all the things he carried. Scowling fiercely at me, he immediately pulled out a bomb.

It was a small cylindrical bomb, about the size of a fingertip, with a short fuse attached. It looked small... but he was a lord of the Heat Nation. It wouldn’t be so easy to deal with him.

Holding more bombs than he could fit in his hands, he shouted.

“I am Lord Lowket!!! If your ears are blocked, I’ll blow them open. Listen closely!”

“People call you the Lord of Heat and Explosions, though.”

“That’s what those idiots of the world! Keep calling me without a clue!!!”

“A title’s purpose is to set something straightforwardly so others know what to call you. Doesn’t that make sense?”

As soon as I finished speaking, all the bombs in Lowket’s hands lit up. Yep, that settled it. Whoever came up with the title “Lord of Heat and Explosions” clearly did it on purpose.

“The purpose of bombs is to blow up pests like you!!!”

Unable to hold back his anger, Lowket furiously hurled the bombs.

Lowket’s unique magic made metal flammable. Normally, steel would only scorch, not burn, but anything touched by his power exploded like popcorn.

But it was metal, so the destructive force was hardly comparable to mere popcorn. And if he had it ground into powder and packed...

Uh-oh. Now wasn’t the time for this. I shouted urgently.

“Azi, dodge!!”

“Woof woof!”

Azi sensed the danger first, veering sharply to the side.

The large cart spun around him in a wide circle. I nearly got flung out from the sharp turn. Thankfully, I’d secured myself beforehand; otherwise, I’d have been sent flying.

Tossing me off along with the cart, Azi bolted. Behind us, a massive explosion erupted. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of bombs detonated at once, a hot wind blowing at my back.

“Phew. He really is the Lord of Heat and Explosions. When he gets heated, he really explodes.”

“Shut up! You dare mock me?!”

Lowket reached for the four-wheeled vehicle he was riding. Magic surged from his hand, transforming the vehicle’s structure.

The cover peeled back, revealing eight propulsion units in total. It was overkill, yet all eight engines aimed backward, belching intense flames. A booming horn blared from the blazing pipes.

“A dog sled?! You only managed to catch up to a quarter of my speed! Let’s see if you can dodge me at full throttle!”

Fwoooosh! With a roar of flames, Lowket tore through the air.

How was that even a vehicle? He was practically flying on an explosion. At top speed, he might actually be faster than Azi. Had humans reached a speed that could outpace the king of beasts?

Of course, Azi is a four-legged animal. With agile evasive maneuvers, he could easily lose him...

“Woof woof! You’re heavy!”

But if he did that, I wouldn’t survive the ride. A sudden turn would fling me and the cart to the ground, leaving me a bloody mess. Azi, who couldn’t bear to hurt a human, had no choice but to keep running.

But that’s fine. Azi isn’t my only option. I screamed at the sky.

“Hurry up!”

“I’m on my way!”

The voice grew closer. Before long, the Regressor landed with a thud in front of us. Signaling for Azi to stop, I called out to the Regressor.

“Why are you so late?”

“I ran here the moment I saw it! You could’ve given me a heads-up if you found the lord!”

“How was I supposed to know I’d find him before I found him?”

“You could’ve at least said you were looking!”

Grumbling, the Regressor pulled out his staff and struck the ground. The earth rumbled and rose, forming a low wall. It wasn’t high enough to be hard to jump over, but it would be a hassle for a wheeled vehicle.

“And who the hell are you?!”

Lowket’s vehicle redirected its propulsion units toward the earthen wall. All eight engines roared, creating a wall of flames. Reducing his speed with reverse thrust, Lowket shouted.

Standing before the yelling Lowket, the Regressor replied calmly.

“They called you the Lord of Heat and Explosions, right? I’ve got something to say.”

“Stop calling me the Lord of Heat and Explosions! I’m Lord Lowket, for the last time!!”

“Ah, sorry. Got it. Lord Lowket.”

The Regressor’s response held no special intent. He just addressed him by the name he gave. Upon hearing his desired title, Lowket visibly relaxed and perched himself on the edge of his seat.

“Fine. Speak.”

What’s with this guy? As easily as his temper rises, it seems to cool down just as fast. Is his emotional threshold practically zero?

Is there some unspoken understanding between abnormal people? The Regressor held the most civil conversation I’d seen him have.

“As a lord, you must know the location of the Golden Palace, right? You mentioned receiving orders from them.”

“Hah! Of course I do!”

“Great. Then tell me where it is.”

“What? Just like that?”

Lowket waved his hand dismissively.

“If you’re putting your offer on one side of the scale, something should balance it on the other. What do I get in return if I give you information?”

‘Oh, right. I forgot the Heat Nation charges a price for everything.’

The Regressor rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a multifaceted gold piece—Gold of Understanding.

“Here, take this.”

“...Don’t you know what a scale is? Offering me the right to be executed by the Golden Mirror himself? You can’t tell the difference between something rare and something valuable. Take that cursed thing away!”

Lowket grimaced. As the Regressor sheepishly put the Gold of Understanding back, Lowket sighed.

“What you want is information. Then there must be equivalent information on the other side of the scale! Speak. If not, there’s no deal!”

“Ugh. Just a moment…”

The Regressor frowned, recalling things he’d experienced in previous cycles.

‘Information, huh? I don’t remember encountering a lord called the Lord of Heat and Explosions in the previous cycles… Oh! Right! I saw in a propaganda flyer that he got shot down and killed by a gunman!’

Is that really the only information you have from past cycles? That hasn’t even happened this time, so how are you planning to persuade him with that?

The Regressor blurted out.

“You. You’ll die if a war breaks out.”

“...What?”

“The war with the Military Nation. If it happens, you’ll be the first to die.”

Wait a second. That hasn’t even happened yet. Can he really say that?

“We’re actually here to negotiate a ceasefire. If the war stops, you won’t die. What do you think? It’s a win-win.”

The Regressor replied with a shrug.

Right. If the war ends, the Lord of Heat and Explosions won’t die. With his firsthand experience of tragedy, the Regressor saw the ceasefire as beneficial for everyone, a decision with no downside.

But the truth doesn’t always sway hearts, as evidenced by the way Lowket silently glared at the Regressor.

“A ceasefire? Is that the Military Nation’s proposal?”

“Yes, you could say that.”

“Is that why you attacked my Wyvern Corps?”

“It’s not like I killed them, is it? They were killing Heat Nation people left and right.”

Lowket surveyed his surroundings.

True enough, most of the Wyvern Corps members had merely fallen to the ground. The Regressor had shut down their propulsion units to stop the slaughter, and even Tir was only taking out his anger on them without actually killing them.

At present, the scavengers, enraged, were attacking the Wyvern Corps. But since they clashed while fleeing, there hadn’t been significant casualties among the Wyvern Corps yet.

Understanding the situation, Lowket rose from his vehicle.

“There have been hundreds who wanted to kill me, laughing at my power and calling me a fool wasting money on the ground. Do you know what I did to them?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. Lowket stomped hard. The back of his four-wheeled vehicle opened, and hundreds of rockets shot into the sky in formation.

“I stuffed rockets in their mouths and blew them up. Every last one.”

The rockets streaked across the dark sky, exploding mid-air. Thousands of steel fragments showered down like burning rain. Steel infused with Lowket’s power ignited without reason, swept up in a wind of their own making.

Even if the fuel for the propulsion units was exhausted, it didn’t matter. With the Lord of Heat and Explosions filling the space with his power, this land was now Lowket’s domain.

“My power, fused with the Golden Mirror’s alchemy! A force to blow away every damn nuisance!!”

The extinguished propulsion units burst back to life. The fallen Wyvern Corps rose again, fueled by the burning steel fragments floating in the air.

Standing amidst it all, the Lord of Heat and Explosions, Lowket, appeared as the very embodiment of war’s wrath.

“War?! Dying? Don’t make me laugh! Nothing has managed to kill me so far!!”

However, the Regressor responded with indifference.

“Then you’ll die next time.”

‘If the Gunner’s perfect aim is triggered, it never misses. Even if you’re flying, you’ll be slower than a bullet, so it’ll definitely hit. And if he’s mastered the art of simultaneous shooting with bayonets… your squad will fall like autumn leaves.’

The Regressor had it all planned out, though Lowket wasn’t privy to his thoughts. Unfortunately, Lowket didn’t have mind-reading abilities. And as someone who could take even straightforward words as fuel to ignite his fury, the Regressor’s statement was more than enough to provoke him.

“Try killing me if you can!!!”

Lowket flung his hand outward, scattering iron powder in the air, which began to ignite. The Regressor quickly raised his sword, Cheonaeng, creating a barrier of wind, shouting.

“What… what the hell?! Why is this happening?!”

The truth is, if he was looking for a ceasefire, he’d barked up the wrong tree.

“War will come! And your deaths will only be the beginning, growing ever fiercer!!”

The Lord of Heat and Explosions, Lowket, was a warhawk—a man who wanted nothing more than the outbreak of war.