The scythe of flame carved through the sky, roaring like a comet born from hell.
Rin didn't move.
Qing'er remained sealed in her cocoon, glowing brighter by the second.
I had seconds to act.
No plan.
Just instinct.
I lunged forward, arms outstretched—
And caught the scythe.
---
Pain.
More pain than I've ever felt.
My bones cracked. My skin burned.
My Void Flame struggled to contain the attack.
But I held on.
Roaring, I bent the scythe's path—and hurled it into the obsidian ground.
It exploded.
The world shook.
Flames surged outward in every direction, but I shielded the cocoon with every ounce of my power.
---
[System Alert]
> Flame Overload Detected
Unity-Void Conflict: 83%
Core Strain: Critical
Host Collapse Imminent
---
The Flame Collector descended, slow and inevitable.
His voice was calm.
> "You're no threat."
> "You're just a vessel that forgot its place."
I coughed blood and stood again.
Zhao Feng's voice screamed in my mind.
> "Stall him! I've got... I've got something cooking! I don't know what it is yet but I'm yelling dramatically anyway!"
---
The Flame Collector raised both hands.
Two more scythes formed.
He launched them.
Rin moved first.
She stepped in front of me and the cocoon, palms open.
And then—she tore her own flame orb in half.
> "You always gave me choices," she said softly.
> "This time, I make my own."
The silver-blue shards flared into the air.
And detonated.
---
Time stopped.
The explosion wasn't heat.
It was memory.
Reality blinked.
The obsidian platform shattered.
Flame symbols rewrote themselves midair.
The scythes vanished.
The Flame Collector reeled back, arms shielding his face.
> "No," he growled. "The Anchor is unbinding…"
---
From the cocoon, a high-pitched resonance began to rise.
Like a song.
Cracking.
Splintering.
Breaking free.
I turned just in time to see—
The cocoon burst.
---
White and silver flame surged outward.
The runes in the air bowed. The wind knelt. Time stuttered.
And then—
She stood there.
Naked, save for streams of burning symbols across her body.
Hair glowing.
Eyes white.
But not blank.
Qing'er.
Whole.
Awake.
Burning.
---
She looked at me.
And smiled.
> "You didn't give up."
I almost collapsed. "Never."
---
The Flame Collector steadied himself.
His voice thundered:
> "This changes nothing."
> "I will correct the flame cycle."
He raised a burning symbol—
And the sky split open again.
But this time… not by him.
---
A tear in the timeline appeared—thin, sharp, unstable.
Qing'er blinked.
"I… I didn't do that."
I stepped back.
The tear expanded.
A hand reached through.
Then a figure stepped out—wearing black robes, half his face burned.
He looked at me and Qing'er.
And said one word:
> "Run."
---
The Flame Collector snarled.
> "You."
> "You were erased."
The man laughed bitterly.
> "Guess I forgot to stay dead."
He turned to us again.
> "I'm you," he said to me.
> "From a timeline where you failed."
> "And I'm here to stop you… before you become me."
---
To be continued...
---
✍️ Author's Note – by [Your Pen Name]
🔥 Chapter 35 brought it all:
A brutal clash with the Flame Collector
Rin's self-sacrifice rewrote flame resonance and protected Qing'er's soul
Qing'er finally awakened—fully merged with the Unity Flame, but still herself
A mysterious timeline fracture brought in a new Kael—one that already lost everything