The flames would not die.
Even after the Titan's body crumbled to molten shards, its fire lingered, burning without fuel, without air. Sid knelt in the ash, his fractured arm glowing like a forge, every nerve screaming as if he were being flayed alive. His chest rose and fell in short, ragged bursts, his throat raw from screaming.
"Sid!" Lucien rushed to him, dropping to one knee. His runed blade trembled in his hand, flickering with unstable light. "Don't move—you've pushed your body past its limit!"
Sid tried to answer, but his voice broke into a bloody cough. He spat red into the ash, trembling. "I… I can still fight."
"You fool!" Reinhardt roared, limping toward them, his axe dragging behind him. His face was half-burned, one eye bloodshot. "You nearly burned yourself into dust! Look at your arm—it's not even human anymore!"
Sid glanced down. His right arm was no longer flesh. It was fire bound by chains, glowing veins where skin should be. Each twitch sent sparks flying.
For a moment, he wanted to scream. But before he could—
The ground rumbled.
From the smoke, new silhouettes emerged. Tall, hulking, each with furnaces glowing faintly in their chests. Their steps cracked the scorched stone. The air warped with heat.
Lucien's face paled. "No… it wasn't just one. The First Flame had vessels."
Reinhardt tightened his grip on his axe, teeth grinding. "More of those monsters? We're dead."
"No," Sid whispered hoarsely. He pushed himself up, stumbling. His vision blurred, but he stayed on his feet. His flames—gold and black—flickered wildly, threatening to consume him. "We're not done yet."
Varas stepped forward then, his fang-blade dripping with molten residue. The exiled demon's crimson eyes were fixed on Sid, unreadable.
"You've tasted the Titan's death. Now you understand the truth," Varas said coldly. "Power that isn't bound by mortal flesh. Power that tears through you even as it sustains you."
Sid turned his head, glaring. "You're saying I should just give in? Let it consume me?"
"I'm saying," Varas replied, voice low, "you have no choice. If you wish to live, you must stop pretending you can control two flames. Let one devour you—or force them to devour each other."
Reinhardt spat blood, snarling. "Don't listen to him, Sid! That's demon talk!"
"Demon talk?" Varas chuckled, bitter. "Look around you, knight. Do you see gods swooping in to save you? Do you see the Heavens defending their chosen vessel? No. Only fire. Only ruin."
Lucien's hand shook as he raised his blade, pointing it at Varas. "If you push him toward corruption, I'll cut you down where you stand."
"Cut me, then," Varas sneered, spreading his arms. "But know this—the boy will burn either way. The only question is whether he burns as a weapon… or as ash."
Sid clutched his head. The voices were back.
Ravh'Zereth's voice, deep, slithering, coiling in his skull.
"You hear him, don't you? He understands. He knows you cannot survive as you are. Let me in, little flame. Let me burn for you."
"Get out of my head!" Sid screamed, fire bursting around him.
Lucien flinched. "Sid—focus! Don't let it take you!"
Nox, perched above, spread his wings, his voice sharp like a dagger. "He is past the edge. You fools still think he's walking on it."
"Then what do we do?!" Reinhardt bellowed.
Nox's black eyes glowed faintly. "Pray. Or run."
The First Flame vessels advanced, their furnaces glowing brighter. One of them raised a massive, molten weapon, its eyes fixed on Sid.
Sid staggered forward, golden and black flames swirling violently around him. His vision was fractured—every heartbeat showed him flickers of something else. A battlefield in darkness. A throne of chains. A figure in the distance, smiling with his own face.
"Sid," Lucien said softly, stepping closer. "You don't have to do this alone. We'll fight with you. We always will."
For a moment, Sid wanted to believe him. He wanted to fall, to let someone else carry the fire.
But the vessels' furnaces flared, and Ravh'Zereth's whisper became a roar.
"Alone or not, you will burn. Accept me, and we can end them in a single breath."
Sid's knees buckled. His arm throbbed, veins splitting open with sparks. He couldn't hold it anymore.
"…Fine," Sid whispered. His eyes lifted, burning with both divine radiance and demonfire. "But I won't accept you. I'll use you."
The chains around his arm snapped loose. Flames erupted—half golden, half black—spiraling into a storm that engulfed him. His scream was drowned by the roar of fire.
The battlefield froze.
Reinhardt shielded his eyes. "What in the hell—"
Lucien's runes flickered wildly. "This power… it's not mortal. It's not even divine. It's—"
The First Flame vessels hesitated, as if sensing something older, something darker.
When the fire cleared, Sid stood tall, his body wreathed in black-and-gold chains that floated around him like serpents. His eyes glowed, one golden, one black, his voice distorted when he spoke:
"I am Sid. And I am done running."
He raised his burning arm, and the battlefield itself shook.