THE UNFORGIVING ROAD
Two days.
Two days without real sleep.
No rest.
No quiet in their thoughts.
The column passed through gorges, burned villages and old trade routes that once led to life, and now to war. The rain fell the first night, cold and persistent. On the second day the sun burned as if it wanted to burn away all traces of weakness.
Arden did not dismount.
Not when the others stopped.
Not when his wounds burned.
Not when the images of Minato returned to him without question.
Lyra watched him surreptitiously.
Rin kept watch day and night.
No one spoke of an ambush.
There was no need.
The road to Solinaris was a road of no return.
________________________________________
THE CAPITAL OF THE PYRA EMPIRE—SOLINARIS
On the third day, at dawn, the city appeared.
Solinaris.
Red walls of stone and metal rose like a mountain of fire. Towers glistened in the sun, and chimneys and flaming obelisks rose from the depths of the city—the heart of the Pyr Empire still beat.
As they approached the gates, something was different.
People.
A lot of people.People filled the streets, walls, balconies. The voices turned first to whispers—and then to roars.
"That's him..."
"He's back..."
"VEX."
The gates open.
When Arden rode in, there was a brief moment of silence.
And then—
an explosion of exclamations.
"HEARTLESS BLADE!"
"VEX!"
"HERO OF THE EMPIRE!"
Flowers were falling from the balcony. Children ran along the column. The old warriors bowed their heads in respect.
Someone kneels.
Arden was looking straight ahead.
No smile.
No answer.
The fox mask was clipped to the saddle, but the name Vex rang louder than any armor.
Lyra whispers.
"I've never seen this…"
Rin added quietly.
"The people need a symbol."
Arden's jaw clenched.
"And the symbol has no right to peace."
The column made its way through the sea of people all the way to the inner walls.
Above them — a palace.In her shadow awaited the emperor, wise men... and the truth that could no longer be hidden.
The people celebrated.
But the fire in Arden's eyes didn't burn for glory.
She was burning for what was to come.
SOLINARIS — CITY OF SILENCE
Before the palace.
Before the emperor.
First of all.
Arden dismounted and started on his own.
The cemetery of Solinaris lay above the city, on a slope of red stone. The flaming lanterns burned quietly, without smoke—a fire that does not hurt, a fire of memory.
He wasn't wearing a mask.
He left the katana strapped to his back.
He stopped in front of a modest stone.
Name engraved simply.
No titles.
No glory.
His mother.
Arden knelt down.
For a moment, the whole war stops.
Place your palm on the cold stone.
"I'm back," he says quietly.
"Late."
The wind moved the grass. The lanterns flickered.
"Minato's gone," he continued. His voice doesn't crack — but something in his chest wants to.
"I'd tell you I'm strong… but I don't know what I am anymore."
Close your eyes.For the first time in a long time — he prays.
Not to the gods.
No fire.
To her.
Footsteps behind him.
Arden doesn't ignore them—but he doesn't turn around.
The voice was calm, old, learned to respect:
"Lord Arden."
Arden slowly stood up.
Behind him stands a servant of House Dalis — in dark Imperial robes, arms folded.
"Master Eugen…" the servant paused for a moment, almost with a reverence rarely heard,
"he wants to see you."
Arden took another look at the tombstone.
"I know," he says quietly.
He turns around.
The scar over his left eye caught the lantern light.
"Let's go."
The cemetery remains behind it.
Silence remains.
But in Solinaris — the fire is just beginning to wonder who it gave birth to.
PALACE OF SOLINARIS — CHAMBER OF FIRE
The hall was vast, but cold.
Columns of red stone rose to the ceiling where the eternal fire of the Pyra Empire burned. It did not crackle. It just watched.
In the middle of the hall stood Eugen Dalis.Upright.
Broad shoulders.
His armor was simple, but worn with the authority of a man who had survived two elemental wars.
As Arden entered, the door closed behind him.
The weight dropped.
Eugene didn't move. He just watched him.
For a long time.
His gaze rested on the scar over his left eye.
"Look at you," he said coldly.
"You came back disfigured."
Arden didn't answer.
Eugen took a step closer.
"The people praise you. They sing your name. Heartless Blade."
A short, bitter laugh.
"And all I see is—shame."
Arden's hands tighten slightly, but he remains calm.
"Despite all that power," Eugene continued,
"you still stand like a child who doesn't understand the fire you carry."
She looked him straight in the eye.
"Show me."
Arden looked up.
"I can't."
Silence.
"I can't summon her," Arden says quietly.
"The black fire comes alone. I don't know when. I don't know why."
Eugene's eyes narrowed.
"So," he said slowly,
"you are not in control of your power."
She turned away from him.
"Minato died…"
pause for a moment,
"in vain."
Arden felt something in his chest shatter.
"He fell protecting this war," Arden says, his voice calm but empty.
"He wasn't weak."
Eugene turned sharply.
"He left the weakling behind."
Those words fell like a blow.
Eugene's gaze wanders, as if looking through Arden — thirty years back.
"Once," he said more quietly, but more dangerously,
"I had a brother too."
The fire on the ceiling flickers.
"He was strong. Loved. Celebrated."
Short break.
"But he didn't have what it took."
He looked at Arden.
"I killed him."
No emotion.
No regrets.
"Because I was stronger."
The silence became unbearable.
"I'm looking at you," Eugene continued,
"and I see the same wavering. The same weakness."
He came quite close to him.
"Even if the whole Empire calls you a hero…"
"you'll never be as strong as me."Then, quieter, but harder:
"Not even like Minato."
Eugene turned his back.
"Get out."
Arden stands still for a moment.
It doesn't shoot.
Don't shout.
Don't beg.
He just turns and walks away.
The door closes.
And the fire above — for the first time — casts a dark shadow across the hall.