The Ashen Throne exuded an irresistible pull, and the oath brand within Elya resonated with it, the blazing ashen flames nearly tearing her flesh and blood apart.
Her knees trembled, on the verge of collapsing, but Lucian lifted her up in one swift motion.
"Look at me!"
His voice thundered like a war drum, and only then did a sliver of clarity return to her eyes from the darkness.
On the throne, the "gray shadow" rose slowly, her smile cold and striking.
She shared Elya's face, yet was more alluring, with endless desire burning in the depths of her gaze.
"You cannot deny me. For I am you—repressed longing, abandoned ambition, and… the most primal fire of desire."
Elya trembled all over, feeling that desire spreading through her body, each heartbeat pushing her to the edge.
The gray shadow stretched out a hand, her voice soft and bewitching: "Come, sit on this throne, and you shall wield true power. No need to rely on anyone."
Lucian immediately stepped in front of her, his flame sword flaring to life: "She does not need you. She is already a queen."
The gray shadow sneered: "Yet she is also a woman. Lucian, can you satisfy her desires? Or will you only let her be torn between war and craving?"
As the words fell, countless ashen flame tendrils suddenly surged around the gray shadow—like illusions, yet a chilling sense of reality.
They coiled around Elya's limbs, cold yet scalding, making her gasps ring with an undeniable tremor.
"Stop… don't…"
Lucian roared, clutching her tightly as his flame sword swept across, severing the gray shadow's tendrils.
In the firelight, he bent close to her ear, his whisper carrying a resolve:
"Elya, I'm here. Don't be tempted by her. What you need is not solitary power, but our ashen flames."
Tears slid down Elya's cheeks. She opened her arms, taking the initiative to wrap them around Lucian's neck, and kissed his lips fiercely.
The ashen-flame phoenix blazed around them, instantly scattering half of the gray shadow's tendrils.
The gray shadow let out a light laugh, yet did not retreat.
"Very well… You think this can rid you of me? No, Elya. The true test has only just begun."
As the gray shadow raised her hand, a pair of massive black-flame wings unfurled behind the Ashen Throne, standing in distant confrontation with the ashen-flame phoenix behind Elya.
She murmured, as if chanting: "Twin fates… only one shall remain."
A deafening crack split the heavens and earth.
The ashen-flame phoenix and black-flame wings vibrated simultaneously, turning the entire battlefield into a 交织 of fire and shadow.
Lucian held Elya tight, his gaze burning like flame: "No matter the cost, we will not let you succeed!"
Elya's breath was ragged, yet resolve flared in her tear-filled eyes: "The ashen flames belong to us, not to any shadow."
In that moment, their oath brand and desire merged completely. The phoenix let out a long cry, carrying them both toward the throne.
The gray shadow raised her arms high, and black flames surged forth like a tide, meeting their charge.
The Gray Realm and the mortal world, in this instant, faced their true fission.