After dawn, Aveline returned to camp from the temple, cloaked in a long robe, the fire in her eyes undimmed.
She entered the main tent and ordered Kalia, Renault, the True Fire Priest, and the chief mage to assemble.
"The enemy knows I've awakened," she said bluntly. "They'll accelerate their rituals to summon the deity's incarnation ahead of time."
"What does that mean?" Renault asked gravely.
"It means we have only one chance," Aveline scanned the group. "Either destroy the entire Ice Cult, or wait for their so-called 'god' to arrive."
Kalia spoke calmly: "How do you intend to strike?"
Aveline stepped to the map and pointed to the peak of the Far North Wasteland—the perpetually frozen valley called "Icebreath Rift," the original sacrificial site of the Ice Cult.
"We won't attack their camps. We'll strike at the root," her gaze burned. "I will lure flames to form a prison at Icebreath Rift and burn the old gods in sacrifice."
"The flame-luring ritual has never succeeded," the chief mage worried. "It requires an extremely pure fire source, and even the Royal Flame... may not sustain a heavenly fire curtain."
"Unless she offers herself as the core of the sacrificial fire," the True Fire Priest said slowly.
The tent fell silent.
Aveline only smiled faintly: "Since this is the fire of royal blood, it should burn for the kingdom."
Days later, the army bypassed the enemy's main force, sneaking 30 li beneath the glacier to approach Icebreath Rift. Aveline donned her fire-sacrificial armor and climbed the mountain alone, surrounded by biting snow winds and ancient god-inscribed stone pillars.
The Ice Cult had already sensed her arrival.
The White-Robed Priestess led 46 divine envoys to form a battle array across the rift, their sacred staves glowing with icy blue light: "You are no god."
"I am no mortal either," Aveline stepped forward, fire patterns igniting in her palms. "I am the fire that ends you."
She spread her arms, fire patterns spreading from her body to the ground as six fire rings rose slowly, embedding into the earth's veins to form a Royal Flame magic array.
The White-Robed Priestess's expression shifted: "She isn't casting a spell—she's leading a sacrifice."
The valley trembled as a fire curtain pierced the sky, heavenly fire pouring from the clouds to form a giant barrier covering the entire rift.
The cult members panicked but could not escape.
Aveline closed her eyes and whispered: "Using royal blood as the guide, the old gods as fuel—burn the gods."
The six fire rings suddenly closed, thunderous flames exploded, and the entire rift became a purgatory.
Watching from a distance, Lucian gripped his sword, staring at the sea of red fire, murmuring: "She must not die."
From within the fire, a figure walked forth slowly, clad in armor of broken flames, eyes like golden suns.
Aveline had not perished.
She had incarnated as Royal Flame, extinguishing the afterimage of the Ice Cult deity.
Standing at the fire curtain's end, she proclaimed loudly: "From this day forward, Snowrest has no gods—only the fire of the crown."