As the Blazing Abyss collapsed, heaven and earth trembled violently. At the junction of volcanoes and deep seas, a ring of dark ripples burst forth. These ripples were not water waves, but a kind of cursed power breaking free from the abyss of time—gray, inorganic, and hungry, a malice that devoured all life and order spread from the depths of the earth's veins.
Elea was reborn from the flames. slowly faded from her skin, which had been wrapped in feathered fire, revealing glowing with moon-white luster. She knelt on the ground, gasping violently, sweat sliding down her exposed back. Her fingertips dug into the scorched earth, as if still unable to escape that fire domain where illusion and blazing passion intertwined.
"The phoenix's blood is not yet cold, but we must already the curse of the Gray Realm," she murmured, a hint of Oliphia's lingering breath still on her lips.
She turned. Above the Blazing Abyss, Oliphia's figure slowly emerged—this was the queen's true form, silver hair floating like stardust, eyes burning with a subtle light of division.
"You released it," Oliphia walked forward slowly, bare feet stepping over charcoal stones and charred bones. Her cloak was torn, revealing a half-naked chest and waist wrapped in gray talismans—chaotic, dangerous, yet infinitely alluring.
"We all released it," Elea struggled to stand, her gaze fixed on those eyes that reality. "Not just you and me, but also—the Lord of the Shattered Moon."
At that moment, the sky made a strange sound. The remains of the Shattered Moon King shattered into thousands of star fragments, merging into the expanding gray waves. This was the primal curse from the depths of the Blazing Abyss, transforming into a talisman seal, branded between the soul flames of the two reborn ones.
On a distant cliff, a gray-robed apostle watched silently. His eyes were covered with black veils, but gray mist spread from his fingertips, shrouding the earth. He spoke softly, as if whispering to some ancient being about to awaken: "The Gray Realm is born, order crumbles—this is the moment we've waited a thousand years for."
Oliphia felt a burning heat spreading inside her body, but this heat did not belong to her flames. It was a… forcibly aroused contractual desire, born from the fused power of the Blazing Abyss and the Shattered Moon—all who shared her bloodline would be awakened by that ancient cursed power to their deepest primal desires and madness.
Elea suddenly let out a soft cry, clutching her chest, and knelt at Oliphia's feet. Her body trembled, forehead touching the ground, skin glowing with eerie feathered flame patterns. A gray cursed mark slowly appeared on her back, sliding from her cervical vertebrae to her coccyx, coiling like a snake, branding her soul like a kiss.
"It… is calling me," her voice trembled.
Oliphia said gravely: "No. It wants to use you as the key to the Gray Realm."
In the next moment, the gray-robed apostle appeared before them. He extended a to touch Elea's shoulder, and in that instant, she trembled violently. The feathered fire on her body burned backward, transforming into layers of wing-like smoke that wrapped around her—as if she were about to undergo,with the price of being completely devoured by the "Gray Realm."
"Stop!" Oliphia,blood flames exploding suddenly, repelling the apostle three steps back. She embraced Elea, holding her tightly in her arms, skin pressing against skin. The temperature between them instantly rose to an uncontrollable.
Oppressed by the Gray Realm's cursed flames, they entangled in tension and longing. Oliphia bent down to kiss Elea's lips, trying to awaken her with stronger flames of desire. Her tongue the other's mouth, seizing every breath and will to survive like a beast.
And Elea's hands clutched Oliphia's back in return. Her body struggled between desire flames and,talisman seals and lust tearing at each other, making her moan repeatedly, yet gradually returning to herself.
She trembled in Oliphia's arms and asked: "Can we… ever return to the light?"
A crimson flame flashed in Oliphia's eyes. She pressed her forehead against Elea's and whispered: "If the Gray Realm is fate, then we will burn it down together."
The gray sky slowly descended. The moans of the one had not yet faded, and a new blood sacrifice was brewing. The gray-robed apostle only watched silently, as if everything was under control.
For he knew that all this was but the eve of the true ruler's awakening.