"I didn't want you to see that, Jae..."
The void still trembled.
Fragments of broken reality flickered like shattered glass suspended in nothingness. Red electricity—Jae's electricity—snapped and crawled through the empty space, tearing through the darkness in jagged, unstable pulses.
Jae stood there.
Breathing heavily.
His chest rose and fell violently, like he had just fought a war himself.
"…How could you."
His voice wasn't loud.
But it carried.
It echoed unnaturally through the void, bouncing against nothing—yet somehow reaching everything.
The Divine Flame of Curses stood across from him.
Silent.
Its form flickered.
Unstable.
Like it was struggling to maintain itself under the weight of what Jae had just seen.
"I—I had no choi—"
"HOW COULD YOU?!"
Jae's voice exploded.
The void itself cracked.
Red lightning surged violently around him, striking the ground—if there even was a ground—splitting the darkness apart in jagged lines.
"HOW COULD YOU AFTER EVERYTHING YOU TWO WENT THROUGH?!"
His fists clenched so tight his knuckles trembled.
"ALL THE TRAINING—"
"ALL THE TIMES YOU FOUGHT TOGETHER—"
"THE TIMES YOU LAUGHED—THE ADVENTURES—EVERYTHING—HOW COULD YOU?!"
Each word hit harder than the last.
The Divine Flame didn't respond.
It couldn't.
Because Jae wasn't done.
"HE SAVED YOU."
Jae took a step forward.
His voice dropped—but it became heavier.
More dangerous.
"He saved your life… in that forest."
Images flashed in his mind—
A fading flame.
A dying entity.
A boy accepting a flame he did not know.
"He didn't treat you like a weapon."
"He didn't treat you like some tool."
"He treated you like FAMILY!"
The word echoed.
Distorted.
Broken.
Jae's eyes shook.
"And THAT'S how you repay him?!"
His voice cracked.
"By leaving him?"
"By BETRAYING him?!"
The red lightning around him surged harder.
Wild.
Uncontrolled.
"Do you even understand what you did…?"
The Divine Flame of Curses lowered its head.
Still silent.
Jae laughed.
But there was no humor in it.
"…You say you're from God."
His voice became quieter.
Colder.
"You talk about your Father… your beliefs…"
"…and you betrayed everything He stood for."
The void dimmed.
Even the lightning seemed to hesitate.
"You betrayed someone who trusted you."
"You chose your own survival over loyalty."
Jae's eyes narrowed.
"…You're worse than them."
Silence.
Heavy.
Crushing.
The Divine Flame of Curses trembled.
For the first time—
It looked… small.
"…I…"
Its voice cracked.
"…You think I don't know that?"
Jae froze.
The flame flickered violently.
"…You think I don't relive that moment… over and over again?"
Its form distorted.
"…You think I don't hear his voice?"
"…His trust?"
"…His faith in me?"
The void pulsed.
"…I didn't want to leave him."
Jae clenched his jaw.
"Then why did you?!"
The question cut deeper than everything else.
Because it demanded truth.
The Divine Flame slowly lifted its head.
And for the first time—
Jae saw it.
Fear.
"…Because I was afraid."
Silence.
Jae's breath slowed.
"…Afraid?"
The flame flickered.
"We are not immortal, Jae."
Its voice steadied.
But barely.
"We are bound by laws… by oaths… by forces even we cannot defy."
The void trembled faintly.
"When the Divine Flame of Shadows made that offer…"
Its voice dropped.
"It wasn't a bluff."
Jae's eyes narrowed.
"…What do you mean?"
The flame's glow dimmed.
"Once the other divine flames broke god trusth we became lost."
"We lost our full divinity which scattered in different worlds."
"So there are others like me."
"Fragments of our existence."
"Echoes of what we once were."
"They are… all that remains of our origin."
A pause.
"…Our family."
Jae felt something shift.
"And he threatened them?"
The flame nodded slowly.
"He knew."
"He knew what I valued."
"He knew what I would choose."
Its voice cracked again.
"And I chose… wrong."
Jae said nothing.
The silence between them stretched.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Real.
"Wait..."
"…If Eryndor died…"
Jae finally spoke again.
His voice calmer now.
But sharper.
"…then how did he kill my father?"
The question lingered.
The Divine Flame of Curses looked at him.
For a long moment—
It didn't answer.
Then—
It snapped its fingers.
Reality shattered.
The void collapsed inward.
The red lightning disappeared.
The darkness twisted—
And then—
It changed.
Jae staggered.
"…What the—"
The ground beneath him was no longer empty.
It was… red.
Wet.
Thick.
Blood.
An endless ocean of blood stretched in every direction.
The sky—
Didn't exist.
Instead, massive skeletal structures arched overhead like broken ribs of some ancient, dead god.
Flames burned everywhere.
Not warm flames.
Not natural flames.
These flames screamed.
They whispered.
They hungered.
Snakes slithered across the ground.
Thousands.
No—
Millions.
Black scales.
Glowing red eyes.
Watching.
Waiting.
Jae's breath caught in his throat.
"…Where the hell am I…?"
The Divine Flame of Curses stood beside him.
"…Hell."
Jae's heart dropped.
And then—
He saw him.
Eryndor.
Kneeling.
His body was broken.
Pale.
Lifeless.
Blood pooled beneath him.
His head hung low.
His arms limp.
But his eyes—
Were open.
Empty.
Dead.
Yet still burning with something…
Dark.
In front of him—
A massive serpent towered.
Its body coiled endlessly into the distance.
Its horns curved like crowns of damnation.
Its eyes glowed with ancient intelligence.
With malice.
With amusement.
"Boy…"
Its voice echoed directly into existence.
Not sound.
Not speech.
Something deeper.
Eryndor slowly lifted his head.
His expression—
Was gone.
No pain.
No grief.
Just…
Nothing.
"Tell me…"
The serpent leaned closer.
"…do you want revenge?"
Silence.
Eryndor spoke.
Flat.
Cold.
"…Don't waste my time."
Jae's eyes widened.
"…What…?"
"I know how these situations work, you ask me if I want revenge then take a long time introducing yourself and I really don't care who you are."
Eryndor's voice didn't shake.
"I don't care if you're a god… a demon… or the devil himself."
His eyes glowed faintly red.
"I just want them dead. So don't ask me if I want revenge or don't do a long introduction, my awnser is yes."
The serpent smiled.
A horrifying, stretching grin.
"Interesting…"
It circled him slowly.
"You hate the Divine Flames."
A pause.
"…So do I."
Jae's heart pounded.
"…What is this…?"
The Divine Flame of Curses spoke quietly.
"…That is one of Satan's heralds."
"In ancient stories… a serpent brought temptation to humanity… to Adam and Eve…"
Jae's mind flashed.
"…The fall of man…"
The flame continued.
"These serpents… are remnants of that same will."
"Corruption."
"Temptation."
"Revenge."
Jae swallowed.
"…So this thing is—"
"A servant of something far worse."
The serpent leaned closer to Eryndor.
"Are you sure you want revenge though?"
Its voice softened.
"Once you accept…"
"…there is no going back."
Eryndor didn't hesitate.
"…I already lost everything."
A pause.
"…all I want is to kill the divine flames and get my sister."
The serpent's grin widened.
"…Alright then."
And then—
It struck.
Its jaws opened wide—
And swallowed Eryndor whole.
Jae flinched.
"…What the hell?!"
The serpent's body pulsed.
Its eyes glowed brighter.
"…Such delicious darkness…"
It laughed.
"I look forward to what you become… Eryndor."
The world shattered again.
The blood.
The snakes.
The flames.
All of it—
Gone.
Now—
A forest.
Quiet.
Still.
A grave.
Dirt shifted.
Slowly.
Then—
A hand burst from the ground.
Pale.
Covered in dirt.
Shaking.
Jae's breath stopped.
"…No way…"
The hand gripped the soil.
Pulled.
Struggled.
And then—
Eryndor crawled out.
Alive.
But not the same.
His eyes opened.
Glowing red.
Not with rage.
Not with pain.
But something far worse.
Something empty.
Something…
Corrupted.
Jae took a step back.
"…What did he turn into…?"
The Divine Flame of Curses didn't answer.
Because even it—
Didn't know anymore.
The vision flickered.
Glitched.