The red warning lights flashed across the entire Headquarter facility. Soldiers scrambled to arm themselves, children were moved to bunkers, and sirens wailed across the valley.
Kaizen sat in his containment cell, the veinstone chains glowing with a sickly green pulse, suppressing the violent storm boiling within him. His head throbbed, his breath shallow.
The voice returned.
> "He is coming. The one they fear. The one who remembers the First Flame."
Kaizen's body tensed. The stone beneath him trembled faintly.
Far across the horizon, outside the main perimeter walls, the air turned cold. Shadows stretched unnaturally, and the clouds gathered like a vortex.
Commander Vale, the stern leader of HQ defense, stood atop the watchtower. His monocular trembled in his hands.
"Impossible…" he whispered.
A beast stood at the edge of the forest.
Colossal. Towering. A monstrous abomination, yet with a humanoid shape. His skin looked like blackened magma—cracked and leaking glowing blue flame. Horns spiraled upward like twisted obsidian. His eyes, however, were what silenced everyone: burning with intelligence. Cold. Ancient.
The name passed through every veteran's lips in dread.
"Zar'Vok… The Devourer."
---
Inside the base, panic erupted.
"He's leading them! Thousands—no, tens of thousands!"
"They're not mindless! They're marching like an army!"
Commander Vale roared, "Mages to the front line! Focused flame units to Sector 3! Shield carriers prepare for wall breach!"
---
Ayaka, bruised and breathless, burst out of an underground drain tunnel along with Nael.
"We're too late…" she said, staring at the black horizon.
"Not yet," Nael said. "If we can get to Kaizen—"
Ayaka didn't let him finish. She took off toward the center facility.
---
Inside the containment chamber, Kaizen felt the chains weaken. The veinstone cracked slightly as his aura pulsed outward with irregular bursts.
Zar'Vok's voice echoed into the cell — not with sound, but like a psychic quake.
> "You are the last spark. Born from ash and flame. Surrender… and burn."
Kaizen clenched his fists. His blood boiled. Images flashed—his parents screaming, his village in flames, Ayaka weeping over his body.
> "No…" he whispered. "I won't let you take this from me."
The chains broke. The room erupted in a blast of molten energy.
Kaizen stood—eyes glowing ember-red, flames curling off his shoulders.
He had awakened again.
---
Ayaka reached the chamber just as the blast door collapsed outward. The heat wave knocked her back, and from the smoke… Kaizen walked out.
"Kaizen…?" she breathed.
He looked at her—and for a second, the fire dimmed.
"I remember now… everything."
---
Outside the walls, Squad Umbra and all available forces engaged in the most brutal battle they had ever faced. The Bists moved in formations, executing strategy. For every one slain, five more emerged.
Soldiers screamed. Mages were overrun. Vein-armored defenders crumbled.
Three members of Squad Umbra died within minutes, their cries echoing through the stone halls:
"THEY'RE INSIDE!"
"NO—NO PLEASE—"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD—AGHHHH!"
---
From above, Zar'Vok observed, unmoving. Like a god among mortals.
But then, a flame rose in the distance.
Kaizen stepped into the open field.
Zar'Vok narrowed his eyes.
> "So… the heir has awakened."
Kaizen raised his hand, flame whirling into a massive sigil behind him.
> "Come, monster. Let's see who burns brighter."
The battle paused.
And then began again.