The winds around the Hollow Veins howled like wounded beasts.
Kaizen stood with his hand still raised, flame spiraling up his wrist like a serpent of destiny.
Opposite him, floating effortlessly, was Nerovar—a being of corrupted grace, his cloak woven from shadows, his eyes two suns dying in reverse.
"Do you think your blood makes you worthy?" Nerovar spoke, his voice echoing through multiple planes at once. "You accepted the title. Now accept the burden."
Kaizen didn't flinch. "I didn't choose this war, Nerovar."
"But you inherited it," Nerovar sneered.
In an instant, his hand sliced through the air—and a beam of darkness surged toward Kaizen.
Before it could land—
The Ashen Fang roared.
Its colossal body slammed into the path of the attack, taking the blow full-force. Molten glyphs on its body flickered erratically. But it didn't fall.
It growled one word:
"Sovereign."
Kaizen's breath hitched.
Ayaka stepped beside him, daggers drawn. "We have to protect the Vein Line. If it breaks—Nerovar wins."
Kaizen nodded. His eyes narrowed. "I'm not running anymore."
He turned to the Bist hordes now kneeling around the battlefield. Hundreds of creatures, each with glowing veins—obedient, waiting.
For the first time in history, humans and Bists stood on the same side of a battlefield.
And Kaizen gave his first command:
"Defend the Hollow Veins."
"Do not let Nerovar reach the Gate."
"For every drop of human blood spilled, burn their sky."
"And for every soul lost—ignite the world."
Tsura's voice cracked in his earpiece. "Kaizen, I'm bringing in Frost Division. We'll hold the outer rim. You focus on keeping the Vein Pulse stable."
Kaizen: "Understood. We're not fighting alone anymore."
Ayaka touched his shoulder. "They trust you now. Don't break that."
Kaizen looked at her, eyes burning, but calm. "I won't."
He leapt forward, landing on the crest of the battlefield.
Nerovar hovered above him, unshaken.
"You dare unite what was meant to stay divided?" he mocked. "You're just like them—naïve, idealistic. But you'll fall like they did."
Kaizen's voice cut back like steel:
"They fell so I could rise."
The battlefield erupted.
Nerovar snapped his fingers—dozens of Shadow Heralds tore through the rift behind him, black flame in their mouths and voidsteel scythes in their hands.
But Kaizen's Bist legions charged as one—a thunderous wave of claws, flame, and fury.
Ayaka vanished in a flash, reappearing behind one of the Heralds and driving both daggers into its spine.
Sora flew overhead, launching crystalline blasts from her staff.
Rei and Yurei dropped in with precision strikes, carving down shadowspawn with brutal elegance.
Kaizen moved like a living flame—his fists lighting the ground, his steps echoing thunder.
With each movement, his control grew sharper.
He wasn't burning out—
He was burning with purpose.
Then… the sky cracked again.
Not from a rift—
But from Kaizen's own Veinborn pulse.
For the first time, he spoke an ancient command in the language of the Flame Pact:
"Tor'Val Ythak. Shadra Mordae."
The Ashen Fang screamed in acknowledgment.
From the depths of the battlefield, two more Herald Bists rose, bound to Kaizen's blood.
Creatures of scale, stone, and storm.
His Sovereign Guard.
Nerovar's smirk finally dropped.
"You've awakened the pact's second tier... That shouldn't be possible. Not without—"
Kaizen: "Not without dying first, right?"
He took another step forward.
"I did die. You just weren't there to see it."
A sudden screech split the air.
One of Nerovar's elites dropped from the sky, slamming into the ground behind Ayaka. Its body twisted unnaturally, its teeth coated in soulvenom.
Ayaka turned just in time to block—
But the Herald's tail shot through her side.
Blood sprayed.
"Ayaka!!" Kaizen's scream shattered the clouds.
Ayaka stumbled, eyes wide, but she remained standing. "I'm… fine—just kill the bastard—"
Kaizen's vision blurred red.
But it wasn't rage.
It was something older. Deeper.
Something… primal.
His flame pulsed once—
And then every Bist on the field howled in unison.
Nerovar's voice cracked. "No. No, that's not—!"
Kaizen's flame turned white.
His hair lifted.
His veins glowed like constellations written in fire.
He whispered…
"In the name of the first flame…"
"…I break the seal."
The sky tore in half.
A colossal ring of fire surrounded Kaizen and Nerovar.
And time itself began to slow.
Nerovar hovered at the edge of the flame ring, teeth gritted. "What are you doing?"
Kaizen looked at him…
…as if he were already dead.
"I'm giving you the throne you deserve."
He raised both hands.
And unleashed the Sovereign Flame.
The blast didn't just burn.
It rewrote the battlefield.
Shadow creatures melted mid-scream.
The rift above the Hollow Veins began to close.
Even the land trembled, unsure if it was allowed to exist anymore.
Nerovar screamed in pain as the light consumed him.
Then silence.
Ash rained.
Ayaka collapsed into Kaizen's arms, breathing shallow, but alive.
The battlefield was littered with charred corpses—human, Bist, and shadow alike.
Kaizen stood in the center, steam rising from his skin.
But the war… was far from over.
Because from the closed rift above…
a laugh escaped.
Low. Cold.
And terrifyingly familiar.
"So he awakens…"
"Then it is time."
Far away… across the continent…
A throne of glass and bone cracked open.
And a figure… older than Nerovar…
…opened its eyes.