The sky above the valley had turned the color of rusted gold. It was dusk, but the hue felt wrong—too dry, too heavy, as if something ancient had exhaled across the sky and left behind a memory that refused to die. The wind carried whispers again, not from the spirits that followed Rei, but from something older that watched beyond the edges of the fragmented leylines.
Rei stood in the central sanctum, gazing down at the glowing sigils that mapped the spirit channels around the world. A web of flickering red lines pulsed beneath his feet, and in the middle, one node pulsed erratically—the next location of a Flame Fragment.
"Western Kyoto," he murmured. "Under a shrine no one remembers."
Karasu spoke from within. "The place bleeds with memory. Many died there, and not all stayed buried."
Mireille entered the chamber, her presence like cool air against fire. She was not wearing her maid attire today, but a combat robe of deep violet laced with silvery script—spiritweave, enchanted to resist soul attacks. Her eyes narrowed at the map.
"Another war site?" she asked.
"Yes," Rei said. "But this one's different. The lines twist here. This wasn't a battle—it was a ritual."
Noira arrived moments later, her usual dark expression unreadable. Her left arm still bore a faint scar from the previous encounter, but she wore it without complaint. Eirenne followed in her wake, her chaos aura restrained, eyes more distant than usual. The bond between them had grown, but something in Eirenne had begun to shift—she had become quieter since the last vision.
"We go tonight?" Noira asked.
Rei nodded. "We can't afford to wait. Others are moving."
---
They departed as the first stars broke through the clouds. The dimensional gate shimmered open from within the valley, carved through the sky with Rei's own spiritual energy. Traveling through spiritway was never easy—there were things between the lines that whispered and watched—but Rei was stronger now, and the path held steady.
They arrived within the outskirts of Kyoto. Not the bustling modern center, but the older wards—where temples stood abandoned, and the air still remembered gods that were forgotten.
The shrine stood atop a crooked hill, overgrown and silent. The torii gate had collapsed long ago, and vines had eaten away the carved names on the shrine stones. Yet power lingered.
Rei could feel it.
"The Flame is here," he said. "But it's buried."
Mireille summoned a detection sigil. "No guardians," she said, surprised.
"They're here," Rei replied. "But not alive."
He stepped forward, and the earth trembled.
A low groan echoed from beneath the shrine floor. Wood cracked, then shattered, revealing a dark stairwell spiraling down into shadow. Eirenne shivered.
"Something is breathing down there."
They descended slowly. The stairs led to a subterranean temple, covered in faded murals of winged serpents and horned gods. Bones littered the corners—monks and maidens alike, long dead.
At the center stood an altar.
On it: a crystal flame. Smaller than the first, but pulsing more violently, its core unstable.
> [System Notice: Flame Fragment — Second Form Identified. Compatibility Index: 62%]
As Rei stepped forward, a seal activated. A circle of fire roared to life around the altar.
And from the shadows stepped a figure.
An old man—or something that wore the shape of one. His eyes were black pits, and his body flickered with unstable spirit matter.
"I thought you'd come," he rasped. "Kazenari Rei, harbinger of the old flame."
"Who are you?"
"Once, I was its guardian," the entity said. "Now, I am its echo."
He raised his hand—and the shrine shook as spiritual pressure surged. Noira and Eirenne stepped forward, weapons drawn. But Rei held up a hand.
"No. He's mine."
The battle was short, but it was not simple.
The old man wielded time-worn techniques—ones that bent light, twisted space, summoned spirits of fire long forgotten. But Rei was no longer the boy who stumbled into this world. He danced through the flames, his spirit blade slicing through illusions and curses.
Each strike forced a memory into Rei's mind—visions of the shrine during its prime, of sacrifices made willingly, of the flame burning away the boundary between god and man.
Finally, Rei drove his blade through the echo's chest.
"You deserve to rest," Rei said.
The echo smiled. "You'll burn, boy. The more you gather, the more they awaken."
And then he faded into ash.
Rei stepped into the circle. The flame surged.
He reached out, and as his fingers touched it, pain stabbed through his soul. Visions again—of a winged woman screaming as her wings were torn away, of a dragon dying beneath stars that bled.
He endured.
And the flame became part of him.
> [System Update: Second Flame Acquired. Internal Synchronization: 56%]
---
They returned to the valley before dawn. The sky was beginning to clear, and for a moment, peace settled over the sanctuary.
But Rei could feel the shift.
Two fragments.
And something had noticed.
In the east, near Kuoh—an alarm pulsed in the spirit network.
> [System Alert: High-Density Dimensional Signature Detected — Origin: Underworld Borderline]
Mireille stepped beside him. "This is it, isn't it? The moment we stop watching, and start being watched."
Rei nodded.
Karasu whispered, "The factions stir. The dragons remember. And the gods wake from sleep."
Rei looked at the horizon. His eyes glowed faintly with spirit flame.
"Then let them come."