That night, Cael couldn't sleep.
In his dream, he stood before a giant gate made of black stone and fire. Carved on the gate was his name.
A voice echoed behind it — calm and deep.
"You sealed me in fire to protect the world… But the world has changed."
A hand of flame reached through the gate. Cael's arm burned — but he didn't pull back.
Instead, his fifth Godbrand lit up on his shoulder, glowing crimson-orange, shaped like a crown of flames.
The gate cracked open.
The next morning, Cael led the group east, toward the mountains.
Selara carried the small girl, who still wouldn't give her name. She stayed close to Cael, holding his cloak.
They reached the edge of a cliff. Below it, hidden in the volcanic fog, was a ruined city.
Vel Ardentis.
The lost city of fire.
Veida, walking behind them, whispered:
"The Fire City fell when the cursed kings turned on each other. No one has stepped inside it in over a hundred years."
"Except me," Cael said.
"In another life."
They descended.
In the center of Vel Ardentis stood a black palace melted from stone and ash.
Inside, they found a throne made of bones fused with fire.
Cael walked straight to it. The others stayed back, afraid.
He placed his hand on the throne — and it lit with red fire, revealing ancient carvings under the ash.
"This throne once belonged to me," he said.
"I ruled from here. I sealed the gods beneath it. And I lost everything to keep them down."
He turned to the others.
"And now I have to break it all open again."
Suddenly, the fire died.
A dark mist rose around them. Time stopped.
In the center of the throne room, a man stepped from the shadow — tall, dressed in gray, face hidden behind a porcelain mask with no eyes or mouth.
"Cael Rothveil," the figure said.
"I am the Architect. I wrote the laws you're breaking."
"Then you know I'll break you too," Cael replied.
The Architect didn't move.
"You are a flaw that keeps repeating. Every age, you return — stronger, louder, harder to contain."
He raised a hand. A glowing cube appeared — time magic.
Inside it was Cael as a child, locked in a memory.
"You think you're free," the Architect said.
"But you're still following the path I gave you."
Cael's eyes flared.
"Then I'll burn your path too."
He raised his hand — and the throne behind him erupted in fire. The cube cracked. The Architect stepped back.
"So it begins again," he said.
"The Seventh Brand will destroy you."
And then — he vanished.
Later that night, while resting in the city ruins, the little girl sat beside Cael.
She stared into the embers. Finally, she whispered:
"My name is Ashen."
Cael turned to her, surprised.
"Ashen? That's a war name."
"You gave it to me," she said.
"Before you vanished. Before the Chains came."
"Why are you here?" Cael asked.
She looked up at him, her golden eyes glowing softly.
"To remind you who you are. And to stop you from becoming the Hollow King."
At the top of the Fire City's tower, Cael stood alone.
The flame on his Godbrands burned hot — five of them now fully awakened.
And then — pain.
His chest seared as a new mark began to carve itself in.
The Sixth Brand.
But it wasn't fire.
It was void — black and cold. The shape of a broken crown.
Cael fell to one knee.
In his mind, a voice whispered:
"One more... and you will lose yourself."
"Let me lose myself," Cael growled.
"If it means I can burn everything they built."
Lightning cracked across the sky.
The Chains felt it. The gods stirred.
The Seventh Brand was coming.