The portal opened not with light, but ash.
Jiang Han stepped out first, Emberfang humming faintly. Behind him followed Zhao Kai, Lin Yao, Yue, Bo Ren, and Tian Xue. Their feet crunched down on a surface of cracked obsidian dust—where once there may have been stars.
The sky above was a swirl of black flame and frozen starlight, like the universe itself had been shattered and then glued back together with grief.
Lin Yao wrapped a shield of qi around Tian Xue immediately. "The spirit energy here is warped."
Bo Ren knelt and touched the dust. His hand trembled.
> "This world... it was burned still."
Zhao Kai blinked. "I've never heard of that."
Bo shook his head. "Because no one's done it in thousands of eras. Someone didn't destroy this realm—they froze it in time using Sovereign Flame. It can't grow, can't heal. Can't die."
> "And someone's still maintaining the seal."
Yue suddenly pointed toward the horizon.
"Someone's watching us."
---
The Flamekeeper
A figure stood atop a jagged hill of white ash. Clad in layered black and crimson robes. A cloak of scorched banners drifted behind him like smoke made silk. His face was hidden behind a metal mask shaped like a sorrowful flame.
He didn't draw a weapon.
He didn't move.
But his presence pressed on them like gravity.
Bo Ren inhaled sharply.
> "Flamekeeper…"
Jiang Han narrowed his eyes.
> "You know him?"
Bo nodded. "There were once twelve realms watched by twelve Keepers. Each swore never to speak, never to kneel, and never to let the last flame die."
> "But they were said to have perished when the Flamewheel broke."
Zhao Kai looked at the Keeper. "Well… he doesn't look very perished to me."
The masked man finally spoke—his voice like flint striking ember.
> "Jiang Han."
> "You wear a blade not yet forged."
"You speak with a soul not yet tempered."
"And you come to a world not yet finished burning."
Jiang Han stepped forward, slowly.
> "I came for the Twelfth Flame."
The Keeper lifted one hand.
In it burned a single ember, hovering above his palm. It flickered with all the colors of creation—red, gold, white, even void black.
> "Then you must take it," he said.
"But not from me."
"From yourself."
---
Trial of Echoes
The world twisted.
One blink—and Jiang stood alone in a reflection of Vel'Tharuun. But this version was alive, whole, untouched by ruin.
And ahead of him stood twelve thrones, each carved from different materials—one of stone, one of wind, one of shadow, and one still aflame.
Eleven were broken.
Only one burned.
> "Trial of Echoes," a voice whispered.
Then Jiang saw them—twelve silhouettes rising from the dust, each wearing a fragment of flame crown.
One by one they spoke:
> "What gives you the right?"
"What makes you worthy?"
"We carried flame before memory."
"We died holding the gate shut."
> "You failed once, Jiang Han.
You will fail again."
Jiang clenched his fists.
> "I failed, yes. But I came back."
"Not for power. Not for vengeance. But to finish what you couldn't."
The thrones shook.
The flames surged.
But he did not bow.
He stepped forward and shouted:
> "I burn not to lead.
I burn to protect.
If that's not Sovereign enough—then burn me down!"
---
Acceptance
The embers from the eleven shattered thrones rose into the air—each spinning into a spiral of color and heat.
Then, slowly, they drifted toward him.
Not as fire.
As keys.
Each one sank into his chest—fusing with the Soul Furnace, expanding his core.
The last ember—brightest, hottest, hung before him.
> The Twelfth Flame.
Jiang reached forward.
And took it.
---
> Sovereign Flame Integration: 1 of 12 Flames Rekindled
Unique Trait Gained: Eternal Kindling
• Your flame can never be fully extinguished, even in void, memory erasure, or anti-spirit fields.
• Passive flame regeneration doubled.
• Soul attacks now ignite Sovereign Burn stacks.
Passive Unlocked: Flame Throne Mark (1/12)
---
Return
He awoke standing—no longer on ash, but surrounded by his companions.
The Keeper was gone.
Only the ember grove behind him remained, and the scent of soulfire lingered in the air.
Zhao Kai stepped forward. "You… you're glowing, bro."
Tian Xue stepped beside him, reaching out and touching his hand.
She didn't flinch.
"Your flame," she whispered, "it's steady now."
Bo Ren placed a hand over his heart and bowed.
> "Flame King… has taken the first step."
Jiang Han looked to the sky, then to the stars beyond it.
And said only:
> "Eleven left."