Irin held Noona tightly in his arms, feeling her warmth amidst the searing heat of the blazing gate, which seemed to scorch his skin.
His eyes caught sight of a figure hovering above the flames—the Phoenix heir.
The fire surrounding him seemed alive, moving as if responding to the yearning and pain contained within.
A voice echoed in Irin's heart, as if the entire past were shouting at him to act.
"I have to do something… I have to save him," he whispered, his voice trembling, his heart hammering as though it might burst.
Noona's breath still quivered, as if waiting for something that could alter the course of their fate forever.
Thunder roared like the sky itself was breaking apart, wolves howled mournfully in the distance, and the trees shuddered violently under the fierce wind.
Irin looked toward the flames, the copper-gold light reflecting on his face, feeling a pull he could not resist.
"I won't let anyone take you… not today, not now," he murmured to himself, his voice trembling with a mixture of fear and hope.
Deep in his heart, he knew… the fate of all lives had begun, and there was no turning back.
Noona's breath still quivered, as if waiting for something that could alter the course of their fate forever.
Thunder roared as if the heavens themselves were shattering; wolves howled mournfully in the distance, and trees swayed violently under the fierce wind.
Irin gazed into the flames, the copper-gold light reflecting on his face, feeling a pull he could not resist.
"I won't let anyone take you… not today, not now," he murmured, his voice trembling with a mixture of fear and hope.
And then he realized the truth… the Phoenix heir was not born into a simple fate. Every life cursed by the ancestors bore consequences for their heirs.
If any generation had broken the rules, the burden of atonement would fall upon their descendants—the heirs.
His destiny was no longer only his own. It was a reckoning, a repayment of sins that bound every life around him.