The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 159

Chapter 159: White Flames
Lightning continued raining down the mountain and Vivian’s form was nowhere to be seen.

The dragon’s fury showed no signs of fading, even after it had unleashed bolts of lightning so powerful that not even Mythic-tier primals could have survived.

The cloaked figure, on the other hand, continued leaning on the rock, idly playing with his form, transforming his hand into different figures and weapons.

Ignoring the ongoing around him…well, only for a while before he turned to the lightning dragon.

“Overkill, much?” he muttered, amused. “And here I thought you were trying to harvest the phoenix’s heart, not vaporize it.”

It didn’t matter anyway, after all, the Master’s final goal was getting rid of Vivian since she was just another variable, just like his son.

The dragon finally stopped it’s lightning barrage, its anger seemed to have been successfully quelled.

“Let that be a lesson for your next life,” the dragon huffed “never stand against someone like me again.”

It turned toward the cloaked figure, ready to declare their deal complete—when suddenly, the ground beneath them began to tremble.

“Aren’t you declaring victory a bit too soon?” A calm voice resounded from within the destroyed mountain.

An explosion followed, and a towering pillar of flames surged into the sky, banishing the darkness and flooding the landscape with light—so brilliant, it was as if dawn had broken…. a phenomenon the residents of this place hadn’t seen in centuries.

_______

In a place far from where Vivian and the dragon faced off, a castle stood—one of the seven major ones in this world.

In the throne room of the castle, a being of unimaginable power sat upon the throne. One hand was clenched into a fist, supporting his head as he rested with eyes closed.

Standing within the shadows of the throne room were his army of primals, each at platinum tier and above, ready to move on its command.

Not that he needed them, after all, there was barely any being that could match its power apart from his six brothers and their father.

The eyes of the being on the throne suddenly snapped open, revealing his glowing red eyes.

“Hmm?” He muttered, sensing the sudden wave of energy in the air “that presence seems familiar.”

But that should be impossible since there was no way from that world into theirs, except —

A sudden blinding light rose into the skies, spilling into the throne room and brightening it.

“This aura” it grinned “he seemed fate couldn’t wait for us to meet again, little phoenix.”

He then stood up, his massive black wings unfurling and he picked up the sword leaning on his throne.

The primals in the shadows immediately started walking towards him, each kneeling or showing some form of submission as soon as they were in sight.

The being stepped down from the throne, each footfall shaking the very foundation of the castle.

“Get ready,” he commanded with the grin still on his face and his voice booming through the hall. “We shall officially welcome the phoenix to the world below.”

He then turned to one of his kneel primals and pointed his scaled finger at it.

“You,” he called out “make sure none of my siblings interfere.”

The primal trembled.

This was the same as a suicide mission because apart from their father, no one could stop the siblings if they wanted to do something.

And they would’ve also gotten curious about what the source of the pillar of light and the wave of power was from.

But even with that, it couldn’t deny his master’s will…not that it even wanted to.

“As you command, master” being one of his generals and one of the few primals with [Metamorphic transformation], it had the ability to speak.

Even Its current form was achieved by the skill. It had transformed itself to look as closely as possible to its master without it being seen as a sign of disrespect.

“Good,” the being said, a wicked glint in his glowing eyes. Then he turned to the rest of his army, his voice rumbling with dark amusement.

“Alright, children… let’s find out what the flesh of a human phoenix tastes like.”

________

Back at the mountains..

The pillar of flames receded but the wave of heat remained. The cloaked figure was barely holding his form together due to the heat.

His face melted like butter near a heat source but he held it up, creating a comical scene.

The cloaked figure let out a dry chuckle as his face slowly slid off, reforming like wax before solidifying again.

“Okay… maybe that was a bit more than just a dramatic comeback,” he muttered, shaking his molten hand until it hardened.

Even the dragon, that was in its lightning form could feel the heat radiating from the the mountain.

The suddenly temperature changed, going from almost melting the world around it to freezing cold.

The molten rocks immediately froze over, clearing the smoke they produced and revealing a figure,

Vivian.

But unlike her previous golden orange flames, her body was covered entirely in white flames.

“What’s this?” She asked surprised.

Raising her flaming hand, she flexed her fingers.

{I didn’t expect it to happen so soon} the phoenix started {that’s the phoenix’s white flames}

“…” Vivian’s eyes twitched.

Wasn’t it obviously enough that the flames were now white? What she really wanted to know was why her flames had changed to white.

As if sensing her thoughts, the phoenix said {I wasn’t done yet} before it continued.

{The phoenix has different colored flames, each with an attribute of its own} it explained {as you’ve seen with orange, they are flames of destruction—hot, wild, and chaotic.}

Vivian nodded, this much she knew already.

{And white flames..} the phoenix took a dramatic pause {White flames are the opposite—absolute zero fire that freezes as it burns.}

Vivian blinked, looking down at her hands. She could feel the cold radiating from the flames, but instead of freezing, it wrapped around her like a comfortable blanket.

{But I advise you not to stay in this form for too long} the phoenix warned.

“Why?” Vivian asked.

After all, he could feel how much power these flames offered in comparison to the orange ones.

{Although these flames offer you much power, they also require equal amounts of Phoenix energy} the phoenix explained {you can use it for thirty minutes, at most, before you’re left completely drained of phoenix energy, thereby leaving you defenseless.}

Thirty minutes didn’t seem too short, Vivian was confident in handling any threat within that time frame, especially with this much power flowing through her.

But the Phoenix wasn’t done it.

{But more importantly} it added {your emotions}

“My emotions?” Vivian frowned.

{Haven’t you noticed it yet?} With the phoenix’s words, Vivian calmly assessed herself.

That’s when she noticed it—the warmth in her heart, the love she’d reserved for her family, was slowly being drained away, replaced by an unsettling cold indifference.

{The white flames affect more than just the body,} the phoenix said, its tone quieter now, almost solemn. {They numb you… not just physically, but emotionally. These flames burn away fear, hesitation, even love—until all that’s left is cold calmness and indifference.}

Vivian’s brows furrowed. She clenched her fist, feeling how the cold flames pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat.

There was no rage, no sorrow, no fear, not even a hint of emotion—just a stillness. A calm that felt unnatural.

She remembered her sons. Her husband. Reid.

But her heart didn’t stir.

It should’ve.

{The more time you spend in this form,} the phoenix continued, {the harder it will be to return to who you were.}

Vivian took a deep breath.

“Then I’ll end this quickly,” she whispered.

High above, the lightning dragon hovered, staring down with narrowed eyes.

“You… should be ash,” it hissed. “What are you?”

Vivian raised her gaze slowly.

The dragon flinched as her eyes locked on it.

Even through the flames, her eyes —silver and glassy—showed no anger, no fear…. nothing, only calm indifference.

“DON’T YOU DARE THREATEN ME HUMAN” losing it’s calm, the dragon raged even though Vivian hadn’t said anything.

It could sense that she was still the same rank as it but something was different and it wasn’t only her flames.

She seemed to somehow be emitting a lot more energy than before, so much so that it eclipsed its own.

Even the cloaked figure seemed cautious as he witnessed Vivian’s new flames.

‘I must report this to the Master ‘ he thought as he quietly tried to slip away but before it could get far enough, a trail of flames cut through the air—faster than he could think, faster than even light.

In an instant, the cloaked figure’s body stopped, mid-step. A searing line of white frostfire traced across his chest, and for a brief second, he didn’t understand what had happened.

Then came the pain.

“AAARGH!” he screamed, his voice cut short as the flames solidified—crystallizing around him, sealing him within a pristine prison of white ice.

The cloaked figure was completely frozen, his mouth was still agape, frozen in a final scream, eyes wide with terror.

Vivian didn’t even spare him a glance, preferring to keep her eyes on the dragon.

“Now then,” she started as she summoned a white spear, “come at me?”