Ares crouched low behind a jagged outcrop of stone, sweat clinging to his skin. The cavern walls pulsed with an unnatural glow, flickering in waves of orange and red. The air was thick—too thick. His lungs burned with every inhale, and a sharp, acrid scent clawed at his throat.

  Then, the system flickered.

  System: [ALERT: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD DETECTED]

  [Elevated carbon monoxide levels]

  [Presence of unidentified gaseous compounds]

  [Ambient temperature rising]

  Ares’ breath hitched. Carbon monoxide? That meant incomplete combustion. Something in this cave was producing it—and that was never a good sign.

  A low, rolling exhale echoed from deeper in the cavern. Not just breath—pressure. A steady, measured release of air, like a blacksmith's bellows feeding a forge.

  Then came the sound of something scraping against stone. Slow. Deliberate. Heavy.

  Ares didn’t move. His instincts screamed at him to run, but his body refused to obey. Every muscle locked in place as if the heat in the air had melted him where he stood.

  Then, it stepped into the light.

  The creature was massive, its body rippling with dense muscle beneath obsidian-black scales. Glowing fissures pulsed along its body, heat radiating from its core in waves that warped the air around it. Each step left behind seared impressions on the cavern floor, cracks forming in the rock from sheer thermal stress.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Its eyes—not just glowing, but burning, twin embers flickering with cold, mechanical focus.

  Its mouth—lined with jagged, blackened teeth, saliva dripping from its maw in thick, viscous strands that sizzled upon contact with the air.

  Its tail—long, sinuous, tipped with ridged spines that smoldered, their edges glowing white-hot.

  The system flickered again, text appearing distorted and incomplete.

  System: [UNKNOWN ORGANISM DETECTED]

  [Internal energy activity: Present]

  [Unidentified gaseous production linked to metabolic function]

  [Possible connection to combustion reaction]

  [Ignition mechanism: UNKNOWN]

  Ares’ mind raced. The system wasn’t sure—it was only guessing. That meant he had to figure it out.

  Ares exhaled slowly, forcing himself to think, not panic. If this thing could produce fire, there had to be a biological process behind it.

  Step 1: Gas Production

  It must be generating flammable gases inside its body. Carbon monoxide was already confirmed. But what else? The air smelled off—not just smoke, but something rotten, sulfuric.

  Methane? Hydrogen sulfide? Those could burn. If its digestive system was breaking down food in a way that produced those gases, it could store them for later use.

  Step 2: Storage & Pressure Control

  If it was exhaling these gases in a controlled manner, it had to have some sort of pressurized organ—like a secondary lung or specialized sac. If it just released them freely, it wouldn’t be much more dangerous than a creature with bad breath.

  Step 3: Ignition?

  This was the biggest question. How did it light the gas? Friction? Sparks? Maybe its teeth were rough enough to create ignition like flint and steel? No, too unreliable.

  What if it had something more advanced? Aetheric energy discharge? If it had a specialized organ that could release a burst of energy at the right moment—**like a built-in spark plug—**it could ignite the expelled gases on demand.

  The system flickered once more.

  System: [WARNING: RAPID TEMPERATURE ESCALATION DETECTED]

  [Increased gas output detected]

  [Air composition destabilizing]

  [Combustion event likely]

  Ares’ pulse hammered in his skull.

  It’s about to breathe fire.

  MOVE.

  The beast’s chest expanded, the glowing fissures along its body pulsing as heat rippled outward. The cavern walls trembled under the sheer force of the energy gathering inside its core.

  Then, with a deafening roar, it exhaled.

  And the world became fire.