The blood moon lingered, and the royal capital slept not.
High above, stars and dream flames intertwined into a colossal rift, as if the entire world had been torn open with an unhealable wound. From within that wound emanated a breath mingling scorching heat and icy cold, carrying a summons from another era.
Elea stood on the highest floating altar of the royal capital, her cold flame cloak snapping in the wind. Her silver battle robe had been cast aside, replaced by a ritual gown of black and gold. Its hem was woven from starlight and bone fire, and beneath her feet lay a platform of embers returned from the dream realm.
Her eyes were no longer clear blue, but burned with a glazed flame color defying destiny. This was no mortal fire, but the "Soul Flame Perception Realm" unique to those who had.
"Since the phoenix has been reborn, she shall never bow to fate again."
She slowly raised her hands, and streams of flame pouring from her fingertips traced a moon-shaped curse wheel in the air. This was a forbidden spell known only to the oldest corrupted bloodlines—the Phoenix Realm-Severing Seal.
At the same moment, deep underground, the long-silent Shattered Moon Altar trembled violently.
Before an abyss gate unopened for countless years, a figure stepped forth, silver-white hair billowing behind her like a tide. This was Oliphia—once the most loyal apostle of the Shattered Moon Throne, now her soul recast by invisible dream realm flames, become enforcer of the boundary between reality and illusion.
Clad in ashen armor, a crescent-shaped residual seal glowed in her palm—the core of the [Shattered Moon Blood Pact]. Standing between abyss and sky, she gazed toward the royal capital and whispered:
"The phoenix has ignited; the Shattered Moon shall finally rise."
"Who shall overturn the gods' chessboard?"
She spread her arms, and a massive dream flame wheel began to rotate behind her—the embodiment of the [Gate of the Dream Realm]. Reality trembled; the starry sky warped; cities floated. The royal capital seemed suspended between purgatory and paradise.
Elea felt it.
She took a deep breath, and silver flames formed huge wings behind her, a phoenix shadow rising in her wake. No longer fleeing, no longer struggling. In that moment, she was no longer a pawn to be moved, but a fire-bearer about to seize the ending.
"Oliphia," she murmured, "come. We were always fated to fight."
Light the sky, and the auras of the two women converged atop the royal capital. The last glow of the Shattered Moon and the phoenix's soul flame clashed in midair, instantly triggering explosive energy tremors that shook the entire royal city in silence.
Battle erupted in the sky.
Phoenix flame feathers the night; Shattered Moon blades fell like dreams. Reality and dream shifted endlessly. With each clash, the surrounding space shattered into crystal shards—fragments of divine memories: ancient oaths, desires, punishments, love, and betrayal.
Oliphia unleashed a [Dream-Shattering Wheel Slash]; Elea blocked with [Soul Flame Wings]. Fire and dreamlight intertwined, blooming into a splendid corruption of color high above. They were not merely foes, but mirrors of each other—two halves of a soul torn asunder.
"You hate fate, and so do I," Elea gasped. "But we shouldn't destroy each other."
"Yet fate has long pushed us to opposite sides," Oliphia's gaze was cold. "Either you die, or I perish."
Elea closed her eyes, and in the next instant, made a choice no one had foreseen—she dropped all defenses.
She spread her arms, baring her chest before Oliphia's sword, only a whisper escaping her throat:
"Come. If this will set you free."
Oliphia's hand trembled, the Shattered Moon blade hovering an inch from her chest.
The air froze.
The blade quivered slightly, as if awaiting its master's final decision. And in the next moment—
The sky split wide open. A massive crimson rift tore across the vault, and an eye woven from flame and void appeared above them both.
It was the will of the "Realm-Shattering God."
A thunderous voice boomed down:
The sacrifice is prepared, destiny is ignited, the realm shall shatter.
A colossal divine force dragged both women into a fiery vortex. Their figures vanished above the royal capital, and the entire space fell suddenly silent, leaving only that enormous fire-eye watching over billions of souls below.
—A greater tearing was about to begin.