> "The flame is not your weapon. It is your reckoning."
— Seraphim Alpha: Elyx
---
Dominion Alert: Level Crimson
The sirens blared throughout the Ignis Dominion mountain base, piercing through steel, shadows, and sleep. It was 3:47 a.m.
Renzo sat upright in bed, chest heaving. The air had changed.
Thinner. Colder. Quieter.
His communicator crackled to life.
> "Emergency protocol active. Unregistered celestial flame breach detected. All combat-class users report to the Inner Yard. Now."
He glanced at his forearm. His flame ring pulsed yellow—but unsteady.
Something unnatural had entered the field.
---
A Rift in the Sky
The Inner Yard was a chaos of boots, gear, and panicked sparks. Instructors barked orders. Students gathered in partial armor, still half-asleep.
Then came silence.
Above the sky dome, a ripple of blinding white-gold cracked the clouds open—like a glass ceiling being shattered.
From that rupture descended a figure, cloaked in radiant light, six wings fluttering in erratic geometry. Not flapping—just hovering, fractured, alien.
The Seraphim Hunter: Myrael.
Its body glowed, but its eyes were hollow. No soul. No wrath. Just command.
> "One among you approaches the Void."
"They must be extinguished."
Everyone looked at Renzo.
Even Drei.
---
The Dominion Unleashed
Instructor Dal stepped forward in full Shadowsidian form—shaped like volcanic glass lined with lava veins.
"You violate sacred flame accords, Seraphim. This is mortal soil."
But Myrael ignored him. It raised its hands.
A massive Flame Null Zone ignited—sucking the color from every aura in the vicinity. Red, blue, yellow—they flickered and shrank. Renzo fell to one knee.
> "What… is this pressure?!"
Kael screamed, clutching his forearm. Even Drei winced.
Only Myrael remained stable—untouchable.
Yna screamed through the comm-link.
> "The Seraphim is emitting a celestial compression field. It's squeezing our flame resonance. Even Shadowsidian won't hold for long."
---
Renzo Breaks the Limit
Renzo's flame flickered erratically—yellow to white to blue, then back. His emotions were spiraling.
He remembered his father's burned hands, his mother's soft voice, the pain of knowing he was different, and now—being hunted not for what he'd done, but for what he might become.
"ENOUGH!!"
He punched the ground.
The compression field shattered near him. Just for a moment.
A flicker of flame—not yellow. Not blue. Not purple.
A black edge.
Void?
Myrael's hollow voice broke the silence.
> "You are the target."
It moved in—fast. Blades of light rained from above.
Renzo raised his arms—
And something caught the strike.
---
Drei Intervenes
Drei stood between them, one hand glowing with crystallized blue flame. It froze the blade mid-air.
"I don't care about flame ranks," he said, eyes never blinking. "But I do know when someone's being hunted unfairly."
Renzo gasped. "You're helping me?"
Drei didn't turn. "I'm not helping you. I'm stopping that."
---
Shadowsidian: First Awakening
Renzo's back arched.
The flame inside him responded.
This time not out of rage—but will.
From his spine upward, black-glass tendrils sprouted, glowing with violet-red cracks. A partial Shadowsidian formed around his torso and arms.
Yna screamed into the comms. "Renzo's activating proto-armor! It's raw, but it's adapting fast!"
He roared.
And leapt.
---
Combat: Renzo + Drei vs. Seraphim Myrael
Renzo's partial Shadowsidian allows him to tank flame-null zones momentarily.
Drei uses cold-burning trails to trap Myrael's movement in a mirror field.
They don't win—but they survive.
In a blinding clash, Myrael is damaged, recalculates, then retreats into the sky rift, stating:
> "He is not ready. I will return."
As light fades, Renzo collapses. His armor shatters like glass. His chest heaves.
---
AFTERMATH
Renzo wakes in the infirmary.
Yna is there, holding his chart.
"You manifested armor," she said quietly. "You broke a Dominion law."
Renzo looked at his trembling hands.
"Did I… go Void?"
Yna shook her head. "No. Not yet. But whatever that was, Verus felt it."
---
> Above the earth, in the hollow kingdom of Solis Arcadia, Verus closes his eyes and whispers:
"The boy has begun to burn."