---
Smoke lingered in the air, curling like fingers around the shattered stones. The once-majestic chamber was now a blackened ruin. Charred runes sparked on the floor. The walls were cracked and weeping molten tears from the unleashed firestorm. My breath was shallow. Every limb felt heavy. And the silence? It was deafening.
I stood amid the destruction — the sole figure upright.
> [Health: 19%]
[Mana: 3%]
[Ashborn Core: Dormant - Overload Cooldown: 2 Hours]
[Emotion Resonance: Unstable]
My legs buckled and I leaned against a broken pillar. The fight had pushed me further than ever before. Not just physically — something deeper had been scorched.
Nestra's bow lay snapped nearby. Her armor — cracked, still glowing faintly — was all that remained of her. I didn't know if she escaped or died in the blaze. I didn't even know if I cared.
> You didn't hesitate, Ashborn's voice whispered in my mind.
Good.
But it wasn't just Ashborn anymore. Something had changed during the battle — a new resonance layered beneath the Core's voice.
> Why are you afraid of what you are becoming?
I staggered toward the wreckage. Among the fallen, one item glowed faintly — a fractured prism, shimmering with aurora-like light. It wasn't theirs. It didn't belong to the dungeon, either.
> [New Item Acquired: Echo Prism (Mythic)]
> [Effect: Records and amplifies powerful emotional imprints. Usage unknown.]
As soon as my hand touched it, visions assaulted me — flames, ancient wars, a figure in black armor laughing amidst a sea of corpses. The vision ended as fast as it came.
And I heard it.
> We were more than weapons once. You could be again.
Suddenly, a dungeon alert rang:
> [System Broadcast: Tier-6 Raid "Ashen Sovereign" prematurely awakened.]
[World Event: Eclipse of Embers - Begins in 6 hours.]
No… that wasn't supposed to happen yet. The raid boss — the one slumbering beneath the continent — had been triggered. By me.
Or maybe… by Ashborn.
And just like that, my journey was no longer personal. I'd just shifted the balance of the entire world.
I turned toward the tunnel. Shadows were moving again.
They were coming — not just for me. For it. For the flame. And maybe, for what I represented now.
Not a player. Not a hero.
Something else entirely.
---