Chapter 683: Untouchable

Aelthar’s gaze lingered on the bracelet beneath Grey’s sleeve before slowly rising back to his face, the flames shaping his features shifting into something close to amusement. The pressure rolling from him grew heavier by the second, but Grey’s posture never changed, his hands still buried in his pockets as though the giant Fire Elemental standing in front of him was only mildly interesting.

"You are bold, Grey Temolt."

Grey shrugged. "You don’t know the half of it. You’ll probably find out just how bold I can be before today is over."

Aelthar’s smile widened, thin lines of white-hot flame showing between what passed for his teeth as he regarded Grey with obvious interest. "I hope you can keep that smile."

He overturned one enormous hand, and fire gathered above his palm before flattening into a miniature cityscape that made Grey’s eyes narrow almost immediately. He had never been there before, but the Statue of Liberty was impossible to mistake, and once he recognized it, the skyline rising behind the monument needed no further explanation.

New York.

Aelthar glanced down at the tuxedo covering his flaming body, then looked back toward Grey. "You may be wondering where I acquired this suit. Would you believe me if I told you it fell out of the skies and landed almost directly in my lap?"

The burning city shifted across his palm as more details formed, tiny buildings and streets appearing between his fingers.

"I’ve discovered several pockets much like this one, and the Genesis System was even kind enough to provide me with a Quest related to them. It seems particularly displeased when outside forces interfere with its workings."

Tiny figures began moving through the streets, and Aelthar watched them for a moment before raising his eyes again.

"How many of these people do you think can defend themselves as well as you?"

The smile remained on Grey’s face, though everything warm behind it disappeared.

"You’re asking a very curious set of questions there, big guy."

Grey tipped his head slightly while studying the towering Elemental, then let his grin widen again.

"I’ve got a question for you too. Are there any Wood Elementals out there? I’m gonna need some kindling if I want to finish this nice little fireplace idea I have."

Aelthar’s flames rippled across his shoulders, but Grey continued before he could answer.

"Just imagine it. You can pop and crackle away in the corner, setting the ambience nicely while I bend your mom over."

For half a second, nobody in the room moved.

Then Aelthar threw his head back and laughed, the sound rolling through the private hall with enough weight to make the transparent walls seem to vibrate around them. His booming voice carried the cadence of something ancient and abyssal, yet there was genuine amusement inside it as he finally brought his head forward again.

"Good words, Grey Temolt. Good words, indeed."

His fingers closed around the burning image, crushing New York into a burst of sparks that vanished between his knuckles.

"I look forward to seeing how long you can maintain that facade of yours."

Grey didn’t so much as blink. "Check back after the auction and we’ll see. Also, be sure to check in on your mom for me, the heat doesn’t bother me. Wouldn’t be the first time I got burned for some pussy."

Aelthar turned away, and the floor cracked beneath his next step as the pressure surrounding him surged for a brief moment. He didn’t pause or look back before disappearing through the entrance, leaving the room to slowly cool while everyone inside watched the doorway in silence.

Grey’s expression changed only after Aelthar was gone.

Whatever had scattered pieces of Earth throughout the Genesis Games clearly hadn’t remained hidden from everyone else, and at least one of the Seven Betting Favorites had already found several of those pockets. That made the auction more important than Grey had wanted it to be, though Aelthar had also revealed enough for Grey to know the threat wasn’t nearly as immediate as he wanted it to sound.

Earth’s Integration was still underway, which meant the scattered populations remained under System protection while everything was being resolved. Aelthar might know where New York was, and he might have found several other pockets besides it, but that didn’t mean he could simply walk in and burn them whenever he wanted.

The tuxedo was probably bullshit too.

Grey highly doubted Earth had somehow developed formalwear capable of surviving direct contact with a Fire Elemental of Aelthar’s level, which meant the bastard had likely seen the design somewhere and had it recreated specifically for this meeting. It was a small thing, but Grey understood the message perfectly, and that made it irritating enough to work.

His fingers tightened inside his pockets. If Aelthar had been trying to pressure him into backing down, he’d managed the opposite.

Grey had already decided that releasing the Elemental blueprints was worth the consequences, but whatever little hesitation remained had just been burned out of him entirely. If the Elementals refused to learn restraint while they held the advantage, then maybe being forced to stare down the possibility of extinction would teach them something useful.

"Interesting."

Grey glanced toward Axion-9, who had remained quiet throughout the exchange while the smaller components orbiting his body continued making tiny adjustments around his central frame. There was something almost amused in the way his mechanical eyes rested on Grey now.

"You truly are interesting, Grey Temolt. Openly antagonizing one of the Seven Betting Favorites may be more reckless than anything I have done."

Grey raised an eyebrow as Axion-9 continued.

"I certainly would not speak to Trexlor-1 that way."

Grey stared at him for a moment. "Who the fuck is Trexlor-1?"

That earned a low mechanical chuckle from Axion-9. "Another of the Seven Betting Favorites, and the representative of the Para Bot Race."

Grey considered that for a second before another question immediately followed.

"Then why were you the headliner?"

The amusement faded from Axion-9’s expression, and even the mechanical pieces floating around his body seemed to slow as his tone became more serious.

"Trexlor-1 does not make mechs for others. He only creates for himself, and what he builds rarely leaves his possession long enough for anyone outside our Race to properly study it."

Axion-9 held Grey’s gaze.

"Among our generation, there are many Para Bots who can call themselves geniuses, and many more who believe they will eventually surpass those who came before us. In crafting, combat, and everything between the two, there is only one name none of us bother arguing about." His mechanical eyes dimmed slightly. "Trexlor-1 is untouchable."