Ruler of Heat: One Man, A Thousand Thirsts
Chapter 46: March of the Obsidian Guard

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: March of the Obsidian Guard

The canyon winds howled.

Not with cold—but with weight. History. Violence. Secrets long buried in blackened soil.

Rivan stood at the southern rim of the battlefield-to-be, his eyes fixed on the horizon. The war camp buzzed behind him — training drills, weapon sharpening, scouts filing in and out with updated terrain maps. Everyone prepared.

Everyone except him.

He was waiting.

[System Update: Strategic Support Unit Missing – Final Allied Faction Pending]

[Time Remaining Until Awakening: 67:01:52]

Selina stepped up beside him, her hair pulled back, her weapons glowing faintly with sealed sigils.

"They’re late."

"They’re deciding," Rivan said. "They don’t pledge easily."

Kael approached from the high ridge. "Camp morale is holding. Barely. Your name’s holding it together."

Rivan didn’t respond.

Because they weren’t ready.

Not without the Obsidian Guard.

Not without the warriors who used to be the Crown’s deadliest enforcers — until they rebelled, vanished, and swore to never serve again.

[Faction Status: Obsidian Guard – Unknown. Location: Unconfirmed. Allegiance: Neutral Hostile]

"Why would they come at all?" Selina asked.

"Because I carry the flame they bled for," Rivan said. "Because they remember what it felt like to be used. And because I’m the last weapon they didn’t forge — but might follow."

A horn sounded.

Not from the camp.

From the mountains.

A black wave of figures descended the slope — armored in ash-gray, visors down, their movements in perfect formation. Each carried obsidian-forged blades that drank light instead of reflecting it.

Kael exhaled. "That’s them."

The vanguard stopped fifty feet from the main camp. One stepped forward — his armor inscribed with a red X over the chestplate.

Rivan stepped out to meet him.

The soldier removed his helmet.

A scarred face. Pale eyes. Cold voice.

"I am Commander Vask of the Guard. Who calls us back to war?"

Rivan met his gaze.

"I do. Rivan Cross. Bearer of the Sovereign Core. And the man about to fight your enemy."

Silence.

Then Vask spoke.

"Speak your fire, Sovereign."

The camp fell silent.

All eyes watched as Rivan stepped closer to Commander Vask, the scarred veteran whose name once made even Crown agents hesitate.

The man who had vanished with a thousand elite soldiers after the last Purge.

"You carry the Core," Vask said. "But so did others. Where are they now?"

"Dead," Rivan replied. "Because they let the Crown use them."

"And you won’t?"

Rivan stepped onto the cracked stone between them. "I’m not asking you to follow. I’m asking you to finish what you started."

[Influence Check Initiated – Flamecaller Tier I]

[Charisma Threshold Met – Guard Interest Level: Moderate]

Vask’s gaze narrowed. "We swore an oath never to kneel again. Not to the Crown. Not to rebels. Not even to the flame."

Selina appeared beside Rivan, silent, but her presence made the ash around them stir.

Rivan didn’t flinch. "Then don’t kneel. Stand. Fight. And walk away when it’s done."

A murmur rippled through the Guard ranks.

Kael stepped out from the edge of the crowd, pulling back his hood.

"You remember me, Vask?"

The commander blinked. "Kael. Still breathing?"

"Barely. But breathing’s optional when the world’s ending."

Vask let out a slow breath. "If I join you, I lose the last of my silence."

"And if you don’t?" Rivan asked.

"You lose the last of your chances."

Another pause.

Then Vask dropped a black sigil onto the ground. The stone beneath it cracked, and the symbol blazed red.

"We fight," he said. "Until the Womb dies. Then you never see us again."

[Obsidian Guard Joined – Faction Count: 4/4 – Strategic Alignment Maxed]

[Flamecaller Tier II Unlocked – Combat Coordination Boost +25% in Multigroup Engagements]

Selina exhaled. "That’s everyone."

Rivan nodded. "Then it’s time."

Rivan stood before the fire.

Not just any fire—but the central forge of the war camp, now lit with the energy of four allied factions. Each flame burned in a different color:

Crimson from the Scarlet Sisters. Bronze from the Flameborne Raiders. Black from the Obsidian Guard. Gold from the Sovereign Core.

He looked out at them all, now gathered in a loose circle around the blaze, the battlefield stretched beyond, and the looming Crown’s Root visible in the distance.

"Two days," he said. "That’s what we have. Two days before the Crown’s Womb wakes, and every horror it’s bred spills into this world."

His voice echoed.

"You’ve all bled. Fought. Lost. Some of you hate each other. Some of you swore never to fight again."

He reached into the flame and pulled out the LustCore shard—still glowing.

"But this isn’t about loyalty. It’s about fire. Either we light the path forward, or we burn in someone else’s story."

[Flamecaller Tier II Activated – Group Resonance Detected: 4 Factions Synced]

[Bonus Unlocked: Morale Surge – Incoming Allied Damage Boost +10% | Resistance +15% During First Wave]

Kael stepped forward. "What’s the plan?"

Rivan turned to him, then to Selina, then to Vask.

"We hold the canyon. Fortify every ridge. Let them come fast and hard. The Crown will test us before it unleashes what it’s truly hiding. That means scouts. Assassins. Flame-drained monsters. We burn them first."

Vask nodded. "Obsidian Guard can set perimeter spikes and anti-flare mines."

Ava, the Scarlet Sister’s leader, added, "We’ll seal the upper pass with flame sigils and illusions. If they breach it, they’ll burn before they blink."

Kael cracked his knuckles. "And I’ll take charge of the vanguard squads. Let’s see how fast they like their slaughter."

Selina raised her gaze. "And I’ll be with Rivan. Where the center falls... we don’t let it."

The forge pulsed.

And from that forge, a signal beacon burst upward—firelight shooting into the clouds.

The war had begun.

The sky turned iron.

Clouds rolled in—thick and unnatural, laced with static and the distant scent of sulfur. Birds fled. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

Then the first arrow fell.

It screamed as it dropped, trailing green fire. It hit a ridge to the north and exploded with unnatural force, flinging stone and molten soil into the air.

[Alert: Crown Forward Unit Detected – Scout Legion Alpha | Modified System Hosts | Estimated Count: 230+]

Kael called the alarm.

Obsidian Guard squads activated perimeter charges, and flame spikes ignited in a circle of defense. Raiders took positions behind jagged walls, and the Scarlet Sisters vanished into the smoke, sigils blooming at their feet.

The battle began.

Rivan stood at the front ridge, Selina beside him. His system flared, scanning every movement.

[Combat Protocol Engaged – Boosts Active: Flamecaller Tier II | Core Sync: 93%]

The Crown’s soldiers emerged from the fog like ghosts.

Twisted. Augmented. Scarred by failed system bonds. Each one a weapon that should’ve never walked again.

Rivan didn’t wait.

He ignited.

Core flare surged around his fists, and he charged into the heart of the line, fists crashing through armor, bodies, and corrupted tech alike. Selina followed, her sigils snapping with kinetic bursts, carving gaps in their flank.

Kael’s raiders collapsed the first forward unit with a trapline of heat-triggered mines. The Guard executed their formations like clockwork — silent, brutal, perfect.

The Sisters chanted.

Flame swallowed a wave of Crown scouts.

But the wave didn’t end.

Rivan struck down another augmented soldier — only for two more to leap over its body.

[System Alert: Pulse Signature Incoming – Crown Commander Unit Detected]

Then it appeared.

A beast of black crystal and synthetic nerves, shaped like a man, but taller. Sharper. And smiling.

"Rivan Cross," it said. "The Crown sends its regards."

Rivan growled.

"Send your corpse back instead."

The creature stepped forward — not man, not machine. A prototype warform of the Crown’s darkest vaults. The very existence of it was supposed to be myth.

Its body was obsidian-core alloy fused with living system circuits, pulsing with dark energy. Horns arched back from its skull, and its eyes burned red with synthetic rage.

Selina whispered, "A Corebreaker. That’s not just a commander... that’s an executioner."

[Warning: Combat Class – Corebreaker Prime | System Dampening Radius: 30m | Core Disruption Hazard Active]

Rivan moved.

Flame erupted from his feet as he charged the monster. The moment he entered range, his system stuttered.

[Core Sync Disrupted – Performance Down 12%... 17%... 23%]

The Corebreaker backhanded him with a force that shattered the ridge stone and flung him back thirty feet. He hit the ground hard, blood in his mouth.

Kael and the raiders charged, but the Corebreaker turned, unleashing a pulse wave that knocked them to the ground. Obsidian Guard squads fired disruptor bolts — most deflected off its armor.

Selina surged forward.

A sigil flared under her boots. Her blades struck true — carving across its side and disrupting a small cluster of circuits.

[Target Defense: Breached 7% | Weakness Exposed: Rear Power Spine]

"Now!" she shouted.

Rivan rose. Hurt. Furious. His body burned with Core flare, but he focused it, shaped it, controlled it.

He blinked forward in flame.

His fist slammed into the Corebreaker’s spine — and kept going.

[Critical Hit – Reactor Breach Triggered]

The creature howled. Systems sparked and failed. It turned, swinging blindly. Rivan jumped high, flipped over, and landed a final strike into its chest.

[Vital Node Destroyed – Corebreaker Offline]

It collapsed.

The battlefield went still.

[Victory Confirmed – First Crown Commander Eliminated]

[New Title Unlocked: Breaker of Bonds – All Enemy Host Sync Attacks Reduced by 10%]

Rivan stood over the husk, breathing hard.

Selina moved beside him, eyes scanning the distant fog.

Kael returned, armor dented but alive. "That was just the first wave."

Rivan wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Then we make sure it’s their last."

---

Coming Next: Chapter 47 – Echoes in the Smoke

The aftermath reveals a spy in the ranks... and the Womb stirs louder.

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