Kai's body shook.
The final seal deep within him—one placed by the first cultivators to hold back his true strength—cracked. The pulse of the Rootheart orb thundered in his soul.
> "If you break it, there's no going back.
> "Good," Kai whispered.
---
Above, the Sovereign descended like night incarnate, his twin faces—one smiling, one blank—watching Kai with eerie calm.
"You're still holding back," he said. "Even now."
Kai looked up, flames crawling through his veins, roots wrapping his arms, eyes glowing brighter than stars.
"No. I was holding in."
He slammed his palm to his chest—
And the seal broke.
---
The blast of light tore through the sky.
Not golden. Not crimson.
White. Pure. Unchained.
A third flame emerged—neither the fire of destruction nor the root of balance.
It was the Forgotten Flame—the lost power of Origin itself.
Time halted. Wind reversed. Even the Sovereign stepped back.
> "Impossible," he hissed. "That flame was erased."
Kai floated upward, burning with radiant fire and blooming roots.
"No. It was buried in me."
---
Far away…
In every hidden corner of the realms, cultivators felt it.
In temples. In forbidden valleys. In places where time had stopped.
They looked to the sky in awe.
> "The Rootfire returns..."
"The Flame of Origin... has chosen again."
---
Back on the battlefield, Kai looked the Sovereign dead in the eye.
"This ends now."
The Sovereign's smile twisted.
"Yes. Yes it does."
He unleashed a sphere of collapsing starlight—Voidfire.
Kai raised both hands.
And everything bloomed.
---
The flames met in the sky.
Color died.
Sound exploded.
Light drowned the horizon.
And then—
Silence.