The woman of fire stepped forward, her cloak flickering like a banner in the wind. Her eyes burned amber, not with rage—but with purpose.
"I am General Kaelyra," she said, her voice like molten steel. "Commander of the Ember Host. We've awaited your return for nine hundred years."
Kaito studied her.
"Why me?"
She nodded toward the horizon, where black spires tore through the sky like claws. "Because the Void Sovereigns rise again. They sensed the moment you reclaimed your soul. And they fear what you might become."
Isha frowned. "You're saying this was all… predicted?"
"No." Kaelyra's gaze sharpened. "It was destined."
From behind her, the Ember Host knelt in perfect synchronicity—thousands of soldiers clad in obsidian armor, their blades glowing with runes.
Kaelyra unsheathed her twin scimitars and knelt too.
"Blade Emperor Kaito," she said, voice steady. "Swear to lead. And we will follow you into the heart of oblivion."
Kaito hesitated.
He remembered silence.
Exile.
Pain.
And now, loyalty he didn't ask for—but maybe… needed.
He looked to Isha, who gave a nod.
Then he stepped forward.
"I swear," Kaito said, raising Nightcleaver. "Not as a god. Not as a tyrant. But as a blade that protects."
The sky trembled.
The earth pulsed.
And the Ember Host roared their oath back to him.
"For the Flame!"
"For the Blade!"
"For the Realms!"
---
That night, under a moonless sky, Kaelyra brought Kaito maps burned into bone, charts made from phoenix feathers, and war scrolls older than language.
"The Void Sovereigns have already claimed three Realms," she explained. "Dreamshard, Netherglow, and Feralroot."
Kaito traced their borders with a finger. "Which is the weakest?"
Kaelyra's lips curled. "Dreamshard. But beware—it is unstable. The Sovereign there was once a seer."
Kaito leaned back.
"Then we strike Dreamshard first."
Kaelyra raised an eyebrow. "Already planning a war?"
He smirked. "I didn't come back to *watch.* I came back to win."