The sky was fire.
Every cloud burned gold. Every breath of air trembled with divine fury.And through that chaos, the Hunter descended — wings of silver light slicing through the storm.
Aarohi stood beside Arin on the shattered stone floor of the church, her heart pounding like thunder in her chest.This wasn't fear.It was recognition.
The Hunter's aura was familiar.Not from this life — but from another.A memory buried under a thousand deaths.
"You once called me brother."
The words echoed through her head before the Hunter even spoke them.
The Fallen Brother
The figure landed — divine, terrible, beautiful.Silver armor cracked with ancient runes, and behind his mask, light burned like a second sun.
"Flame of Creation," the Hunter's voice resounded, distorted by echoing power. "You were meant to bring life. You brought ruin instead."
Aarohi took a step forward. "And you were meant to protect me."
He hesitated — a fraction, a flicker.
"That was before you chose him."
Arin smirked faintly beside her, his eyes glinting red.
"You really hold a grudge, don't you?"
The Hunter raised his blade — forged from the essence of starlight. "You were a shadow, Arin. A guardian of her fire. You turned your purpose into sin."
"Funny," Arin murmured, summoning his obsidian sword from the darkness. "I thought loving her was my purpose."
The Hunter lunged — and the world exploded.
Heaven vs Shadow
The clash was cataclysmic.Light met darkness, divine fire collided with cursed shadow.The ground split open beneath their feet; reality itself shuddered under the impact.
Aarohi moved with instinct — not memory, not thought.Flame danced from her fingertips, weaving through Arin's shadows like living silk.Together, they weren't two forces — they were balance.
"Left!" Arin shouted.
She spun — her fire shield blooming just as the Hunter's blade descended. The impact sent sparks through her veins, but Arin was already behind him, striking low.
The Hunter countered with a pulse of blinding light that threw them both back.
"You cannot win," he thundered. "You defy the order that binds worlds!"
Aarohi's voice rang clear through the chaos.
"Then let the worlds burn!"
She threw her arms forward — fire erupting into wings. Flames so bright they pierced the heavens themselves.
The Mark of Fusion
The Hunter hesitated — only for a breath.That was all they needed.
Arin moved first — his shadow wrapping around Aarohi like armor, his energy fusing with hers. Their marks blazed, black and crimson intertwining into a sigil that burned the air itself.
A single heartbeat — and everything stopped.
The Hunter froze mid-strike.The light around him flickered.
"What have you done—"
Aarohi's voice was calm, almost tender.
"What we were always meant to do."
Her fire pulsed once — and the world inverted.
Every ounce of divine power in the Hunter's body turned against him, his light cracking like glass under too much heat. His scream was not human — not even celestial — it was the sound of a god breaking.
Arin pulled Aarohi close as the explosion consumed the church, shadows wrapping around them both.
When the fire died, only ash remained.And in the center of it, the Hunter's broken mask.
Aftermath
Silence.Only the faint whisper of the wind through the ruins.
Aarohi stared at the ground, shaking. "He called me sister…"
Arin nodded. "In your first life, he was."
Her breath caught. "And I killed him?"
"You didn't choose it. The gods made him your executioner. He chose mercy — and paid for it."
Tears welled in her eyes, mixing with soot.
"And now… I've done it again."
Arin touched her face gently, his thumb tracing the burning mark at her throat.
"Then let this time be different."
She looked up at him — exhausted, broken, burning. "Different how?"
"This time, we win."
He kissed her forehead softly — not desire, but a promise.
Above them, the night split open once more — but not with light.With whispers.Thousands of divine voices stirring, watching, waiting.
The gods now knew:The Flame and the Shadow had become one.And heaven's greatest mistake was alive again.