"The dead do not speak with words—but they remember."
---
The morning fog that drifted across the valley was thick with ash and memory. The ground beneath their feet had once been crimson with the blood of kings, beastmen, and demons alike. But now, it whispered of something deeper—something watching.
Jiang rubbed his arms as he walked. "I feel like we're being watched."
"You are," Moria said. "But not by the living."
Li Yuan, unusually quiet, scanned the horizon. "We're close to the Dragon Bone Graveyard."
It was a forbidden land—where the remains of ancient dragons, killed during the War of Ascension, were said to rest. No one who had entered the valley returned sane. Or whole.
Moria's system chimed.
[Side Quest Activated: "The Heart of the Sleeping Flame"]
[Objective: Locate the sleeping core buried in the dragon bones. Warning: Extreme psychic backlash possible.]
She sighed. "Of course."
---
They reached the edge of the graveyard by twilight.
Mountains of bleached, massive bones jutted out from the black soil. Some curled like claws. Others, like twisted ribs. Strange violet light pulsed from beneath the earth.
"Are you sure about this?" Li Yuan asked.
"No," Moria replied honestly. "But it's necessary."
Jiang whistled. "Looks like death's playground."
---
As they walked deeper into the graveyard, the air grew colder. Whispers filled the wind. Bones shifted—some crumbled under the weight of their footsteps.
Then—
They saw it.
A massive dragon skull, half-buried, with horns like crescent moons. In its empty eye socket, a blue flame flickered softly.
"The Heart of the Sleeping Flame," Moria whispered.
Jiang moved forward first.
"Wait—" Moria said too late.
The moment Jiang's foot touched the blackened earth near the skull, the ground shook. A roar, ancient and mournful, rippled through the valley.
The dragon skull glowed.
And the world shattered.
---
Each of them found themselves alone.
Jiang stood before a mirror, but the reflection showed a version of him consumed by flames, screaming.
Li Yuan faced a battlefield—his own self lying dead, surrounded by friends who had turned into enemies.
Moria… stood in a dark corridor. At the end stood a throne, and on it—
Her.
But twisted.
Skin like cracked porcelain. Eyes hollow. Her smile was madness incarnate.
The false Moria spoke:
"You will become me. You already have."
"No," Moria growled.
"You like the power. The pain. The way they look at you—afraid, in awe. You say you fight for justice. But all you want is to be worshipped."
Moria's fists clenched.
Her power surged. Golden symbols ran up her arms.
"I may become many things," she said, "but I will never become you."
She raised her hand—and shattered the illusion.
---
They all woke, gasping, beside the dragon skull. Time had not passed.
Jiang was pale. "I saw… things I never wanted to see."
Li Yuan didn't speak. He simply looked at Moria, as if seeing her differently.
The flame in the skull danced higher.
Then, without warning, it surged into the air and struck Moria in the chest.
[Quest Complete. New Ability Acquired: "Soulfire Veil."]
[Warning: Power is unstable.]
Moria staggered back, coughing. Her eyes burned with bright flame.
Li Yuan caught her. "Are you alright?"
She gave a shaky smile. "Ask me tomorrow."
---
That night, they camped beside the bones. The stars were dim, veiled by the ancient energy lingering in the valley.
Moria lay awake, thinking.
Her power was growing too fast. Her control slipping.
She remembered the look on the illusion's face—her face.
It hadn't been just a fear.
It had been a possibility.
"I'm not a god," she whispered to herself. "I'm just trying to survive."
From behind a rib bone, someone watched.
A man with silver hair and golden eyes.
The fox demon.
He smiled slightly.
"She's still fighting," he whispered to the wind. "Good."
And he vanished into the mist.
---
End of Chapter 25