The fires of Niflheim, unquenched since time immemorial, bowed before the oncoming catastrophe.
When the Devourer Between Worlds tore open the celestial gate, the winds ceased, the flames died down—
as though even Hell itself had felt fear.
Xiao stepped forward toward the dark rift, his eyes glowing with a crimson glint,
as if the curse within his blood had stirred in response to the entity…
as if there was an ancient familiarity between them.
---
*The Moment of Drowning in Shadow*
The sky split apart, the ground shattered, and with every step the entity took, the very shape of Niflheim faded.
It was not a body, but a dark idea, a shadow cast out by nine realms—
as though the gods had tried to erase it… and failed.
Heim raised his spear and shouted:
> "We cannot fight this! This isn't a creature… it's a fracture in the laws of creation!"
But Aster didn't back down. She sharpened her electric spear and said:
> "Even fractures can be mended… or broken again."
---
*A Curse Awakens*
As Xiao tried to approach, his body convulsed suddenly.
His blood boiled, his hair stood on end, as if an unseen call emanated from the entity.
In that moment, he heard a voice echo deep inside his mind:
> "Come closer… bearer of the blood… return to us."
A voice he recognized—or perhaps… remembered from a former life.
Then, a vision appeared—
the same woman he saw in the Flame Ritual, screaming, her hands binding him, pleading:
> "Xiao… don't open the seal!"
---
*The Breaking of the Sword*
Xiao attempted to strike the entity with his sword,
but the blade disintegrated midair, as though the shadows of the being devoured the metal itself.
There and then, Xiao understood: _"The battle is not physical… but internal."_
He entered the state of _Full Blood_ —
a power he had only used once before… when he lost control.
His skin turned the color of ash, veins pulsing with red light,
his eyes glowing like twin embers in the dark.
---
*The Fusion of Powers*
The Prince of Ash cried out:
> "We won't last long! We must unite our power—or perish!"
Xiao unleashed his energy—and in an instant,
the fire of Niflheim merged with his blood, and with the strength of Aster and Heim.
A vortex of energy formed, reshaping time and space around them.
They became one… _the Final Flameborn Shield_.
---
*Temporary Banishment*
With a focused strike, Xiao and his allies cleaved into the entity, tearing open a rift that forced it to retreat…
but did not destroy it.
The creature's voice lingered in the air:
> "We do not die… we return… with every new sin."
---
*Aftermath*
Their bodies collapsed in exhaustion.
The fires of Niflheim returned, but weaker than before.
The Prince of Ash, half his face now gone, approached Xiao and said:
> "You've opened a gate that cannot be easily sealed… and the blood within you is not of this world."
Xiao whispered, barely audible:
> "I… am not of it either."
---
And so, though the Devourer had retreated,
the three knew the true war had yet to begin—
and that the real world… still awaited them beyond the final seal.