The wind was cold… yet carried within it a warm ash.
Xiao, newly emerged from _Nidavellir_, felt a shift not in place, but in time. He wasn't standing on familiar ground, but at a point between two timelines — known in legend as _The Bridge of Sighs_.
It was a bridge invisible… except to those who had endured a death that never occurred.
He said to himself:
> "This land… is moving. No — I'm the one moving… without stepping."
Suddenly, all sound ceased.
And the one-eyed priest appeared.
One eye blazed with light, the other extinguished — as if it had swallowed centuries.
The priest said:
> "Xiao… bearer of the seal… the one who spilled chaos-blood… you draw near a truth that does not belong to you."
Xiao replied:
> "I'm not chasing truth… I seek life."
The priest laughed and said:
> "Do you believe life grants truth? No — truth births death… unless you understand it."
Then the priest raised his hand and opened a book bound in leather unlike any human skin.
Its title read:
> _"The Prophecy of the Ninefold Burning."_
---
*The Prophecy's Content*
The book contained nine lines — each one representing one of the Nine Realms. And every prophecy ended with a single word: _burning_.
When the priest reached the fourth realm — _Vanaheim_ — he declared:
> "The bearer of blood shall be born of a fallen god's chaos. He shall break three seals, then burn within Vanaheim, and there… either be reborn a god, or scattered as ash."
Xiao realized this... was his next seal.
Before he could speak, the priest added:
> *"Do you see now? You don't have a choice… only a destiny."*
Xiao firmly replied:
> "No — I don't believe in prophecies. Even if I was born of a curse… I will live by choice."
The priest closed the book — and vanished.
---
*The Gate of Vanaheim*
Before Xiao rose the infernal gate, guarded by statues — half-human, half-stone. They were the "Burning Gods" who fell when Thor betrayed them.
But he stepped forward.
And he wasn't alone.
"Aster" stood there, hesitant eyes upon him.
> "After what happened in Midgard, Xiao… I don't trust you anymore."
He answered:
> "Then don't trust me… but believe in the fire we carry."
Together, they entered the depths of Vanaheim — a realm not inhabited by spirits… but fragments of spirits.
There, the first enemy of the seal appeared: _The Slumbering Volcano Warden_.
---
*The Battle: Light vs. Stone*
The warden was a mass of molten rock, eyes forged of entwined fire, and a voice like volcanic thunder.
He struck the earth and opened a chasm that nearly swallowed Aster — had Xiao not intervened at the last second, using his new ability: _Pierces of Warped Time_.
Every strike he landed… delayed the enemy's attack for mere seconds.
But the enemy adapted.
And for the first time, Xiao saw his body crack with light.
"The light he inherited from shadow… now reacting with Vanaheim's flame?"
He realized this power came not only from his blood… but from becoming a being "between opposites."
---
*The Fall of the Fourth Seal*
In a flash, Xiao dove into the volcano's heart — and delivered a direct stab into the warden's core. The world screamed.
The statue collapsed.
A new mark appeared on Xiao's arm… shaped like a rising flame — with a wing at its center.
*The Fourth Seal — The Seal of Passage.*
---
As he caught his breath, Aster asked him:
> "How long until the fifth seal burns us?"
Xiao, eyes on the sky turning to ash, replied:
> "Long enough… for me to consider who I am."