Somewhere beyond the outskirts of Lestrel City, the empty plains carried the quiet echo of victory.
Absolam had fallen.
The battle had ended far sooner than expected, and with his defeat the balance of the fight shifted dramatically. What had once seemed uncertain now tilted heavily in their favor.
Through the open air, Pwain moved swiftly, his body cutting across the sky as he raced toward the distant clash between Meris Veyna and Corinth.
In any other circumstance, he would never have intervened in a duel already underway. Such interruptions violated the unwritten code of battle that warriors respected.
But this fight had never been honorable to begin with.
There was nothing noble in the way Corinth fought.
So Pwain would grant him the same courtesy.
Besides…
There remained a personal matter yet unsettled between them.
Corinth had taken his eye.
Pwain intended to collect that debt.
---
Far below, Corinth noticed the moment Absolam's presence disappeared from the battlefield.
A faint hiss escaped through his teeth.
So that fool had lost.
After all the boasting, all the confidence about his strength… Absolam had still managed to fall to a half-blind Pwain who had just sacrificed one of his own eyes.
Pathetic.
Still…
Absolam had at least inflicted some damage before dying.
That much, at least, would help level the battlefield.
Even if only slightly.
Corinth's gaze shifted back toward the woman before him.
The Hero Academy instructor, Meris Veyna, had proven far more troublesome than he had expected.
Her skill was undeniable.
Few could stand before him as long as she had.
But skill alone did not make equals.
And Corinth knew, with quiet certainty, that he still held the advantage.
---
Spiritual Energy gathered within his fists.
At first it was subtle—nothing more than a tightening of the air around his hands.
Then the combustion began.
Flames erupted outward, roaring to life as Ransthrol fire ignited along his arms.
This was the pride of his bloodline.
The Ransthrol Family Technique — Emperor Flames.
At its highest expression, the technique possessed the terrifying potential to drown the entire world beneath a sea of living fire.
When Enasto Ransthrol himself wielded those flames, entire realms could be reduced to sulfur and ash.
Of course, such devastation existed only in the hands of the Flame Emperor.
For most descendants of the Ransthrol family, the technique was far less catastrophic.
Across the entire history of their bloodline, only three individuals had ever drawn out the true power hidden within the Emperor Flames.
Enasto Ransthrol — the Flame Emperor.
Korimer Ransthrol — the prodigious Ace of Four Stars Academy.
And finally…
Corinth Ransthrol — the Master Flamesmith.
Yet even among those three, Corinth was different.
Unlike Enasto, he had not been born with overwhelming natural constitution.
And by the time Project Arnachia had begun, he had already grown too old to undergo its enhancements.
Everything he possessed…
Every ounce of mastery he commanded…
Had been forged through relentless effort and unbreakable will.
Through decades of discipline, he had pushed his flames beyond their limits.
And through that obsession, he had reached a revelation.
Among all the children of Enasto Ransthrol…
He alone had unlocked the forbidden Fourth Bout.
---
"All Mighty Emperor's Flame Fist…"
"Fourth Bout!"
Behind Corinth, reality split open.
A colossal gate of fire emerged from the air itself, its towering doors formed from blazing molten metal.
Slowly—painfully slowly—the gates began to open.
With each inch they parted, torrents of magma spilled outward like blood from a wound in the world.
Flames roared from within the opening, violent and endless.
Then—
A sound echoed across the battlefield.
It was deeper than thunder.
Older than storms.
It carried the heavy, dreadful resonance of a dying star collapsing in the void.
Meris felt the change immediately.
Instinct drove her backward as the heat intensified beyond reason.
Even Corinth was forced to retreat as the power he had unleashed grew increasingly unstable.
The earth beneath their feet began to melt.
The air thickened and hardened, the immense heat compressing it until it felt almost solid.
Reality itself seemed to distort around the growing inferno.
At the edges of the flames, causality struggled to assert control, slowing and bending as it attempted to suppress what had been unleashed.
Then at last—
The gates opened completely.
And beyond them lay a world that no mortal was meant to see.
A realm of endless fire.
Sulfur clouds rolled across a burning horizon.
Ash rained endlessly from a sky that never knew darkness.
Flames stretched beyond sight, devouring everything within their reach.
This was Enasto's domain.
Just as Carpathia ruled over a dimension of eternal shadow—
Enasto Ransthrol commanded a realm of living flame.
The Fourth Bout was the key that opened the doorway to that world.
And before its authority…
All other power was meaningless.
---
Magma surged outward, flooding across the battlefield before sinking deep into the earth.
Far away, the oceans stirred violently as great waves rose against distant shores.
Across the planet, tectonic plates groaned as molten heat spread through the crust.
Volcanoes trembled in their sleep.
And though the people of the world did not yet know why…
The planet itself had begun to panic.
Hundreds of lives vanished in an instant.
Collateral damage.
Another sacrifice in the quiet progression of the Ransthrol design.
But whether Corinth realized it or not—
He had committed an unforgivable act.
Something the Five Legends had sworn never to do.
He had allowed another realm to invade Earth.
Long ago, when the world itself was still young, the Five Legends had gathered together and created the Seals of Nen.
Their purpose had been absolute.
No celestial realm.
No divine domain.
No external world.
Would ever again merge with Earth.
The planet—and the fragile lives that had grown upon it—had become something they cherished.
To violate the Seals was to step beyond causality itself.
And any being who committed such an act would face judgment from the universe.
Since the creation of the Seals…
That law had been broken only once.
When Enasto Ransthrol and Uzami Tuo defied it.
Now—
The Seals awakened once more.
---
Golden chains erupted from the depths of the earth.
Each link shimmered with ancient Eleīovēin-ranked runes, glowing with authority older than kingdoms.
They shot upward and wrapped themselves around the flaming gates.
The realm beyond resisted.
Flames surged violently as Enasto's world pushed back against the intrusion.
But the Seals carried the combined authority of four beings equal in power to Enasto himself.
Against that force…
Resistance was meaningless.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
The golden chains tightened.
And the gates began to close.
---
Cold sweat rolled down Corinth's spine.
Even Pwain and Meris stood frozen, witnessing a clash of authorities far beyond their comprehension.
Then the chains shifted.
Like serpents of divine law, they slithered downward.
And coiled around Corinth's feet.
"What—?!"
"What is this?!"
Corinth roared, struggling against them.
But the chains did not yield.
Their authority was absolute.
"Let me go!"
"NO!"
He was dragged toward the epicenter where the forces had collided.
Space twisted violently.
Time fractured.
A massive distortion tore open above the battlefield as a pillar of radiant golden light descended.
Then—
A voice spoke.
It echoed from everywhere at once.
As if the universe itself had chosen to speak.
"Mortals… shield your eyes."
"You are not fit to gaze upon the Infinity To—#!$—!"
The name fractured strangely, reality itself struggling to contain it.
The voice carried a strange harmony—both gentle and terrifying.
Meris obeyed instantly, shutting her eyes.
But Pwain looked.
With his remaining eye, he gazed directly into the impossible.
And what he saw…
Broke the limits of human understanding.
---
Corinth fell endlessly through a vast abyss.
Below him stretched infinite floors.
Infinite timelines.
Infinite realities layered upon one another.
Hands reached from every direction, stretching toward him.
Yet the golden chains dragged him deeper still.
Far beyond those grasping shadows.
Toward a place where nothing existed.
This was not hell.
Hell was insignificant compared to the horrors contained here.
This was the Infinity Tower.
And within it—
No existence stood higher.
---
Pwain's mind shattered.
Endless information flooded into his consciousness.
Knowledge without limit.
Truth without restraint.
His brain tried desperately to process it.
And failed.
Blood burst from every pore in his body as a scream tore from his throat.
He collapsed onto the ground, writhing in agony.
The voice spoke again.
Softly.
Almost with pity.
"Poor child."
"Your curiosity has brought you endless suffering."
"A—Argh—!"
"H—help—!"
"Help him!" Meris cried desperately, kneeling beside him.
The golden light flickered thoughtfully.
"I do not possess the authority to heal mankind."
"To do so would violate the causality he disrupted when he gazed upon the Infinity Tower."
"There must be something you can do!" Meris pleaded.
Silence lingered for a moment.
Then the light spoke again.
"There is one path."
"But he must bear the cost of the causality he has disturbed."
"Are you willing?"
Meris tried to answer—
But suddenly her mouth sealed shut.
"Answer, human."
"I—"
"I will!"
The golden light brightened.
"Very well."
"From this moment forward, you shall serve as my herald."
"You will speak for me."
"You will carry out the duties I assign."
"Welcome…"
"Sylvester Pwain. Herald of the Universe."
Golden light engulfed Pwain's body.
Ancient law burned into his existence.
The earth trembled violently as thunder roared across the sky.
When the light faded—
Pwain remained standing.
His body shone with radiant gold.
To gaze upon him was to gaze upon the universe itself.
Meris slowly reached out toward him.
But Pwain gently stopped her.
And in the next instant—
He vanished.
Gone before the Seals of Nen could claim him.
---
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