When Ilea opened her eyes again, a flame-like crimson glow swirled in the depths of her pupils, as if some ancient curse had finally awakened. She lay in an unfamiliar yet eerily familiar palace, its walls flowing slowly like magma, the air thick with a scorching, pungent scent intertwined with desire.
She tried to sit up instinctively, only to find her limbs bound by soft yet searing silk. The fabric seemed alive, slithering silently over her skin, stirring a mixture of shame and trembling pleasure.
"You're awake."
A low, husky male voice echoed from the shadows. Cardinal Kador, Apostle of the Moon-Sunderer King, stepped forth from the darkness. His bare upper body was covered in blazing runes, each glowing faintly with an unholy light. His gaze fixed on Ilea, eyes burning with a hunger that devoured all.
"Your mastery over flame is no longer complete, Queen Ilea," he said, advancing slowly. "Your body now is but a fragment of the 'Fallen Star Egg.' And this palace—this is the source of your blazing lust."
Ilea closed her eyes, trying to suppress the scorching instincts surging within. But as Kador's brushed the burning rune on her abdomen, the confined flames finally erupted uncontrollably.
She gasped, her back arching, a shameful moan escaping her lips. Her body surrendered before her will could resist. Kador leaned close to her ear, murmuring ancient riftsplitting prayers—whispers like tongues of fire, licking at her consciousness.
"Before you become a true phoenix, you must first fall into the abyss of blazing lust."
The moment the silk bindings fell away, her hands ignited with urgency, wrapping around Kador's neck. Not out of love, but a primal, starving, inescapable instinctual call.
They collapsed onto the flame-wreathed bed. Ilea's nails dug into his shoulders, while Kador's searing body pierced her world like a soul-scorching blade of fire. The entire palace trembled with their union, flames erupting as if witnessing an irreversible ritual of corruption.
She cried out, moaned, as the fire of lust and the burn of soul merged with each thrust—until she sank completely, the rune flaring, her phoenix heart struggling to reshape itself amid desire.
Their union was more than physical conquest; it was a ritual passing down ancient will. The Moon-Sunderer's apostle had successfully etched the "Fallen Star Blaze Rune" into the very depths of Ilea's soul. She was no longer purely a phoenix heir, but a being teetering between deity and calamity.
Yet, as pleasure faded and her soul hovered in half-formed limbo, a familiar figure silently appeared at the palace's edge. Lucian—clutching an ice-blue longsword, his face cold as frost. His gaze pierced the flames, seeing through Ilea's shame.
"Did you fall for power, or have you long craved ruin?"
His question carried no accusation, yet cut like a cold blade into her chest. Ilea's eyes widened, lips trembling, her body still lingering with Kador's scorching warmth.
"I... can't go back," she whispered, voice shaking.
Lucian lowered his gaze, stepping into the burning "Nest of Blazing Lust," his sword tip scraping the magma floor. Each word fell like judgment: "Then—I will drag you out of the abyss."