Rin stood between me and Qing'er's cocoon.
Her silver eyes shimmered like the Unity Flame itself.
Same calm posture. Same soft voice.
But something was off.
This wasn't the wide-eyed, giggling little sister who used to follow me through the fields of my old world.
This Rin felt... reconstructed.
> "You've grown," she said.
> "But not enough."
---
I swallowed hard.
"I watched you die."
> "You watched me burn."
> "You just didn't realize it was part of something bigger."
---
She stepped aside slightly, letting me glimpse the cocoon again. The flame around Qing'er now pulsed with new symbols, bending time and space like broken glass.
> [System Alert: Cocoon Phase – 94% Complete]
Remaining Time: 4 hours
Memory Core: Unstable
---
"What happened to you?" I asked.
> "Ashen Fang found me after I died."
> "He needed a soul that had experienced true loss... to test the Unity Flame's emotional resilience."
My heart dropped.
"You were one of the original test subjects...?"
She nodded.
> "I was the First Anchor."
> "The Unity Flame burned through me. Erased most of me."
> "What's left is here. Bound to Qing'er's evolution path."
---
Zhao Feng's voice rang in my head through the link.
> "Yo, bad time to interrupt your tragic family reunion, but the Flame Collector just erased a village. And he's walking faster now."
Great.
Just great.
---
I turned to Rin again.
"Why guard the cocoon? She's not your enemy."
> "She is... my replacement."
That stopped me cold.
> "If she completes the fusion, she becomes what I was meant to be. The perfect flame balance."
> "But I'm still here. Fragmented. Fading."
> "And so I offer you a choice."
She stepped forward.
A tiny, flickering orb appeared in her hand—pale blue flame, trembling.
> "My last piece."
> "Burn this into the cocoon… and she becomes me."
> "I live. She forgets you. Forgets herself."
My jaw clenched.
> "Or let her finish the fusion naturally."
> "She becomes the Flameborn Empress. A being who may never remember love... or you."
> "And I vanish. Forever."
---
The world went silent.
Qing'er floated inside that silver shell, face serene, body glowing.
Her breathing slow.
The symbols around her pulsed—like they were waiting.
---
I fell to my knees.
Two paths.
Neither right.
Neither wrong.
Just painful.
---
I looked at Rin.
"Why would you give me that choice?"
She smiled sadly.
> "Because it's the last human thing I remember."
> "Letting someone else choose… means I trust them."
> "And I still trust you, brother."
---
Before I could answer—the sky cracked.
A massive fissure split the air, flame raining down like meteors.
A giant footstep echoed across dimensions.
And from the breach—
He appeared.
---
The Flame Collector.
No longer distant.
No longer hunting.
He had arrived.
Cloaked in robes of devoured flame, he hovered above the temple, eyes fixed on me and the cocoon.
He spoke, voice booming like thunder and sorrow.
> "The timeline diverged too far."
> "The Unity Flame was never meant to split."
> "Correct it."
He raised a hand.
Flame shaped like a scythe coalesced.
He aimed it at both Qing'er… and Rin.
---
I stood.
Voidfire surged from my palms.
"You'll burn me before you touch either of them."
The Flame Collector smiled—
And threw the scythe.
---
To be continued...
---
✍️ Author's Note – by [Your Pen Name]
🔥 Chapter 34 was intense:
Rin was revealed to be the original Anchor for the Unity Flame, kept alive in fragments
She offers Kael a brutal choice: bring her back… or let Qing'er evolve
The cocoon is almost complete—but unstable
And then… the Flame Collector arrives, ending all delay