"Fire burns. But the fire of memory consumes."
---
📍 Outskirts of Juren – Mana Rift Zone, 03h17
The Rift pulsed like a wound in the world.
Kael stood at its edge, summoned by the system itself — or something deeper.
> [Arconte Presence Detected]
Class: Unknown / System-Corruptive
Identity Confirmed: Ignovar, Pyrelord of the Forgotten Flame
Caution: His fire does not destroy… it reveals.
Kael stepped forward.
From the rift rose a figure.
Towering, shrouded in embers and molten bone. His eyes were like black stars — voids surrounded by dancing flames.
"Ignovar," Kael said.
The Arconte didn't respond with words.
He opened Kael's memories.
---
📍 System Breach – Memory Loop Detected
Warning: Temporal Memory Regression in Progress
Effect: Past and Present Merging
Kael collapsed.
He saw himself — younger, weaker, abandoned after his first failed awakening test.
He saw his sister crying.
He saw the first time he touched death in a collapsing dungeon.
He saw his own grave being marked by guild officials.
> "You are a shadow, Kael. But you forgot whose fire made that shadow."
Ignovar raised his hand.
And the world around them burned.
---
📍 Back in the Real World – Myrla & Nara's Perspective
Myrla gasped.
The mana around the city warped violently.
"Something is rewriting reality—!"
Nara stared into the sky. A massive burning ring hovered above Juren.
"He's already here. Kael is alone."
They jumped into action — activating their Shadow Seals and calling for underground resistance units.
---
📍 Within the Flame Memory
Kael stood inside his own past.
But he wasn't the same.
The shadows twisted, trying to bind him.
But Kael reached into himself — into the part that chose to fight back.
> [Executor Instinct Unlocked]
Your memories are yours. You are not a puppet of time.
He screamed — and cut through the illusion.
Ignovar staggered.
Kael's blade, forged from pure dusk memory, now glowed with fire of its own.
> [New Skill Acquired: Embercut – Flame-Piercing Slash]
[System Resistance Enhanced: Temporal Corruption -50%]
---
📍 Battle Initiated: Kael vs Arconte Ignovar
The rift cracked.
Fire and shadow collided.
Kael moved faster than before — even as the environment distorted with every swing of Ignovar's blade-like arms.
Each strike burned part of Kael's gear. His blood hissed on the ground. Still, he pushed forward.
> [Shadow Servant: Nullfang – Sync Active]
[Combined Ability Triggered: Binding Flame Vortex]
Kael and Nullfang moved as one.
They dragged Ignovar into a prison of molten dusk — locking the Arconte mid-attack.
Kael channeled everything.
And whispered: "You don't get to decide who I am."
Strike.
Light.
Silence.
---
📍 System Alert – Arconte Ignovar Status: Unstable / Retreating
The Arconte's body collapsed into sparks.
But before disappearing, he looked at Kael and smiled.
"You are not ready for the Fourth."
Gone.
---
📍 Aftermath – Ember Citadel, War Council Room
Kael returned, bleeding and burning, but walking.
Everyone stood silent.
Even Rhaz.
He looked at them and said:
"This war won't be won by surviving. It will be won by remembering who we are — and choosing to be more."
---