At midnight, the first flame bell tolled softly in the Tower of Soul Worship, deep within the heart of the Flame Capital.
Only the sacrificial could hear the bell—a sign that some soul slumbering in the spirit realm was breaking free from the bounds of life and death, drawn back to the mortal world by the Flame Lord.
That night, Evelynn ventured alone to the Flame Soul Mirror Platform. Lucian objected fiercely, but in the end, she barred him from the tower with the words, "A royal command cannot be defied." Elea said little, leaving only the Silver Oath Sword of Flame at the mirror platform's door.
She murmured, "If you do not return, I will burn this soul tower to ashes."
Evelynn looked at her, then smiled softly: "If I come back… will you return your heart to me as well?"
Elea did not answer, only knelt, her flame-shadow fading into darkness.
Mirror Platform: Flame Dream
Evelynn stepped barefoot into the mirror platform. At the center of the flame pool floated a crystalline mirror, on which her sixteen-year-old face shimmered.
In the flickering firelight, she chanted the Flame Lord's forbidden incantation once more:
"Soul fire as lamp, mirror dream as gate, old flames reborn, royal blood lures the dream."
The surrounding flame light converged rapidly, and another figure suddenly emerged from the mirror.
Tall and ,with red eyes and silver hair, yet his brows held a familiar tenderness—
Kazas.
But behind him, instead of the royal flame, a jet-black chain coiled around a cracked moon seal, and a blue flame burned on his chest—the residual mark of the Cracked Moon King's soul fire.
"You are not him," Evelynn whispered.
Kazas spoke slowly, his voice unnervingly real: "But I am him in your dreams."
"I am your unfulfilled desire, the spark your flame soul cannot extinguish."
He stepped closer, a near-pitying smile on his lips: "You've always wondered how he died, haven't you?"
He brushed her forehead lightly, and a memory erupted like kindling.
She saw him before the Flame Throne, his body tearing apart in the flame pool, while she held a sword, hesitating to strike.
She heard him murmur, "The day you become queen is the day my soul fades. Yet I do not you."
A memory she'd never retained in waking life—and now, the mirror-Kazas traced her neck, whispering:
"You forgot. You were the one who sent me to the Well of Soul Flame."
Tears fell, but Evelynn stood firm.
"I offered you the throne. Your greed reached beyond me."
Kazas closed in again: "Yet I still crave to possess you, one last time."
He waved a hand, and the mirror world . Flames became a bed, and she was pressed into softness once more.
He stripped her, kissing her breasts and ,while Evelynn gasped, her fingers digging into his shoulders.
"You are false."
He buried himself in her slowly, but she whispered:
"The real him… never forced me."
Her eyes snapped open, flame-pupils blazing. The fire patterns in her veins erupted, and royal blood flame surged backward into Kazas's phantom.
The mirror-Kazas howled, his form shattering!
Amidst flying shards, a true shadow emerged—silver bones and black armor, a crescent-moon mask, stepping from the mirror.
He murmured, "As I thought… you are 'her'."
The Cracked Moon Apostle Arrives
The figure bowed:
"To my liege, the Bone King above, I am 'First Apostle of the Cracked Moon', named 'Isael'."
"Commanded to fetch you—return to the Bone of Royal Flame, and resurrect the old god's soul."
Evelynn stood naked on the fire altar of the mirror illusion, her expression cold and unyielding.
"You've wasted years, all to force me into becoming his new vessel?"
"You are mistaken. I will send him back to ashes."
Isael slowly, his black armor transforming into chains to bind her limbs—only to be driven back by an explosion of flame at her feet.
"This is not a dream. This is my spirit realm," Evelynn shouted. "If you want to take me, first ask my body if it consents!"
She knelt, plunging her hands into flame-soaked earth, incantations bursting forth—
"Flame Lord returns to soul, blood fire as covenant, princess's oath burns against fate!"
Flame erupted from her, consuming the mirror world.
Elea's Oath of Flame
In the waking world, Elea felt the tower shake violently. Lucian rushed to her side.
"She hasn't returned," Elea said, her voice tight.
"Then what are you waiting for?!" Lucian roared. "Go bring her back!"
Elea seized the Silver Oath Sword, slashing her palm without hesitation, letting blood spill into the mirror door's fire vent.
"The flame oath holds; the oath-bearer shall not perish."
She closed her eyes, chanting the flame oath a second time.
Her body dissolved into silver flame, surging into the mirror.
Lucian froze, watching as her fading flame-shadow seemed to mouth:
"Now it is my turn to guard her."