The scorched earth still smoked beneath their feet as the last Wyrm fell, shattered by Kael's Emberfall Slash. The Fireborn warriors stood breathless but unbowed, eyes fixed on the approaching silhouette emerging from the flickering haze.
The Oracle of Ash stepped forward, cloaked in woven embers that seemed to glow with an inner fire. Her gaze pierced through Kael like molten metal, unyielding and ancient.
"You bear the Mark of Sovereignty," she said, voice a whisper that roared inside his mind. "But your path is chained to the flames of ruin."
Kael's grip tightened on Ashrend. The sword thrummed with power, ready to answer any threat. "I will forge my own fate."
The Oracle's eyes flickered. "Fate is not so easily cast aside. The flame within you grows—Crimson Ascendance—but it will consume all if unchecked. Your enemies gather in shadow, and your allies may yet betray."
Behind her, the air shimmered and twisted. From the molten mist stepped Sarrin, his eyes now glowing with a Veil-corrupted light.
"You lie," Kael growled, stepping forward.
Sarrin's lips curled. "The Veil whispers truths you refuse to hear. The Sovereigns' legacy is a cage, and you, Kael, are its warden or its destroyer."
Without warning, Sarrin summoned a wave of dark flames, swirling with unnatural cold. The ground beneath Kael cracked, searing lava mingling with shadowy frost.
Kael sprang back, summoning his blade's fury. "Crimson Rift!" he shouted, swinging Ashrend in a wide arc that tore a blazing crimson slash through the air, cleaving Sarrin's flame with a violent hiss.
The two clashed, power meeting power—Kael's blazing blade cutting through Veil-corrupted fire, each strike sparking shockwaves that rippled across the battlefield.
Lyra and Darric moved to flank Sarrin, but more dark figures rose behind him—Veilspawn assassins, sleek and deadly.
Kael's eyes narrowed, the Mark burning hotter than ever. "Time to end this."
He charged through the assassins, his sword flashing with a new deadly precision.
"Crimson Seraph Strike!" he bellowed, Ashrend splitting the air like a streak of divine fire, beheading two Veilspawn in a single, breathtaking sweep.
The battlefield erupted into chaos as Kael carved a path forward, each named attack slicing through the darkness—a furious dance of light and death.
But the Oracle's words echoed: the fire within him would consume or save.
Kael's destiny was blazing toward its inevitable climax.