The world was fire.
Not metaphorical fire—real, blinding, searing flames. Aira stood in the center of a vast, crimson void. There was no ground beneath her feet, no ceiling above, just flickering embers floating endlessly. Her body should've burned, but instead, she felt… embraced. Surrounded by warmth rather than heat, by breath rather than suffocation.
She blinked. One second ago, she'd been in the heart of the Abyssal Furnace. The flame core had collapsed, and a vortex of spiritual fire had dragged her consciousness away. Now, this place.
A voice like volcanic stone breaking apart thundered through the void.
"Bearer of the SSS Flame. You have been summoned to the Trial of the Blazebound."
Aira turned slowly. The source of the voice came from above—and below. It didn't echo; it resonated, pulsed with the weight of something far more ancient than language. Suddenly, from the formless flames, a figure emerged.
Ten meters tall, wreathed in spiraling tongues of fire, a humanoid silhouette strode toward her. Its body was formed from molten obsidian, veins glowing with living lava. Its eyes were twin suns.
"I am Pyrion, Ancient Fire Spirit and Gatekeeper of the Blazebound Trial."
Aira raised her chin. She could feel the divine pressure radiating from Pyrion—an aura more intense than any beast she had faced in the dungeons. But she stood her ground.
"Why have you brought me here?"
"Because the fire within you is not ordinary. The seal is loosening. The Fire Goddess watches." Pyrion's voice softened. "But to inherit her true legacy… you must prove your flame is worthy."
Aira's fists clenched. "Then I'll face your trial."
The Ancient Fire Spirit raised one hand. The fire around them solidified into four massive doorways, each of them sculpted from different forms of flame—blue, white, black, and gold.
"Four Paths. Four Trials. Pass them all, and the title of Blazebound shall be yours. Fail even one, and you will be consumed."
Aira's pulse quickened.
"Choose."
---
Trial One: The Flame of Endurance
The first door, forged from blue fire, opened with a low rumble.
Aira stepped through—and into torment.
She found herself standing inside a giant crucible. A sun hovered low over her, radiating waves of blue heat that scorched even her SSS-level resistance. Instantly, her skin blistered. Her bones ached. Her blood evaporated into steam.
This wasn't just heat—it was the weight of millennia pressing down on her soul.
"Endure for one hour," came Pyrion's distant voice.
Aira fell to her knees.
Her thoughts fragmented. Her lungs screamed. The edges of her vision frayed. Her flame heart surged in resistance, but even it flickered. She bit her lip until it bled, summoning every scrap of discipline, of grit, of memory.
"You survived the Abyssal Furnace," she whispered to herself. "You will survive this too."
She summoned her Flame Armor—but it melted. She tried Flame Clone—it vaporized.
This was a trial of will, not power.
She began to breathe in rhythm. Each breath drew pain inward, turned it to fuel. She imagined every person she needed to protect—Riven, her squad, the refugees of the ruined city. She imagined her parents, lost long ago to a beast tide. And she imagined the Fire Goddess, waiting at the end of this road.
Time dragged like molten tar.
But then, the sun dimmed.
The blue heat withdrew.
And Pyrion's voice boomed once more:
"Trial One: Passed."
---
Trial Two: The Flame of Sacrifice
The white-flame door opened next.
Aira stepped through and gasped.
She stood in the ruins of her home city, where smoke hung like ghosts. In the distance, she saw her younger self—barely ten years old—cowering beneath collapsed stone, holding her parents' bodies.
This wasn't memory. It was something far crueler. The illusion shimmered as new figures entered: Riven, bound in chains. Kira, bleeding out beside a fallen banner. Her team. Her friends.
"You may save only one," Pyrion said coldly. "Sacrifice the others to advance."
Aira shook her head. "No. This isn't real."
But the screams were. Riven looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "Please…"
Her hands trembled.
Pyrion stepped forward, fire flickering in his obsidian palm. "To command fire is to choose who burns."
Aira closed her eyes. "I won't choose."
"Then they all die."
The illusion began to darken. Shadows crept in. Her friends cried out, caught in collapsing debris.
Then… Aira's flames flared.
Not in destruction—but in rejection.
She formed a sigil in the air: a flame ring, the symbol of unyielding balance. She poured power into it—her true fire, untainted by illusion.
The dreamscape shattered.
White flames receded.
Pyrion's voice was quieter now.
"You saw through it. Trial Two: Passed."
---
Trial Three: The Flame of Control
The black-flame door hissed open.
Inside was a battlefield.
Beasts of fire roamed, corrupted flame elementals with eyes like dying stars. Aira was surrounded. Her talents pulsed with power, but there was no command here—only chaos.
"Suppress the berserker flame within," Pyrion said, standing atop a mountain. "You must burn without losing yourself."
Aira could feel it: the SSS fire boiling to the surface, demanding destruction. This was not the calm mastery of her other abilities. It was raw, volcanic rage.
She let it rise.
For a moment, her eyes turned black and red. Flame wings burst from her back, and the ground turned to slag under her boots. The beasts rushed her—but she didn't attack.
She exhaled. The berserker energy howled for release. Her body shook.
Then… she knelt.
It took all her will to rein it in. Like taming a wild dragon within her chest.
She raised her head slowly. Her aura stabilized—bright, controlled, unwavering.
The black beasts froze. One by one, they bowed.
Even Pyrion took pause. "You mastered rage. Trial Three: Passed."
---
Trial Four: The Flame of Truth
The golden door opened without sound.
Aira entered a chamber of mirrors. In each, a version of herself appeared—some noble, some cruel, some hollow, some tyrannical. One was a queen. One was a god. One burned cities for fun.
Pyrion stood in the center. "Who are you really?"
The reflections laughed. "You think you're a hero?" one spat. "You're addicted to power."
"You burn everything you touch," whispered another.
Aira's hands clenched.
Each mirror flared as her past decisions echoed.
Letting the Flame Serpent die for her team.
Choosing to take the core of the Abyssal Furnace for herself.
Threatening a general to save the refugees.
"Maybe I am all of these," she muttered.
She approached the largest mirror—where her reflection was clad in divine flame, crowned in gold.
"Maybe I could become this. But I won't be defined by potential alone."
She drew her sword.
And shattered the mirror.
The chamber dissolved.
Only Pyrion remained.
He walked toward her slowly, no longer towering but equal in height. His flames dimmed to a warm glow.
"You have passed all trials. And chosen truth over delusion."
He extended his hand, and in his palm appeared a glowing ember—shaped like a sigil. A divine brand.
"Kneel, Aira of the Living Flame."
She did.
"By the ancient pact, and the will of the Fire Goddess herself… I bestow upon you the title of—Blazebound."
The ember seared into her chest—above her heart. Aira screamed—not in pain, but release. Power surged through her body, lighting every cell. She saw flames not as weapons, but as memories, as life.
She opened her eyes—and saw not just Pyrion, but Her.
The Fire Goddess.
Tall, graceful, with eyes like starfire, she smiled down at Aira. No words. Just a nod.
Then the vision faded.
---
Back in the Real World
Aira awoke lying on the scorched ground of the collapsed Abyssal Furnace. Her squad rushed to her side, stunned.
"Aira! Are you okay?" Kira cried.
She slowly rose to her feet. Flames danced harmlessly around her body. Her aura had changed—stronger, deeper. The mark of Blazebound still glowed on her chest.
Riven stepped back, eyes wide. "You… feel divine."
Aira smiled faintly. "I passed the test."
Above them, the sky rumbled
. Far in the distance, the beast tide stirred again—and with it, something darker.
But now Aira was more than a flame wielder.
She was Blazebound—the heir to the Fire Goddess's will.
And the war was just beginning.