The wind felt different.
It wasn't loud or strong.
But it carried weight.
The kind of weight that came before disaster.
Eon stood on the roof of an abandoned building near the city's edge. From here, he could see the skyline. Glass towers. Busy roads. Distant hills.
And above it all—a tear in the sky.
It was small, but it pulsed.
Black veins stretched around it, flickering with red light.
People didn't notice it yet.
But he did.
A Rift Gate.
And this one… was different.
Dungeons usually opened underground or deep in nature.
But this?
This came straight from the Rift's center.
A summoning.
Something was stepping through.
Not a beast.
Not a drone.
But a General.
Eon closed his eyes and reached into the Earth's flow — the energy that ran beneath all life. It welcomed him. It told him where the gate would land.
The Old Rail Yard.
He vanished from the rooftop.
The Old Rail Yard was silent.
Rusty train tracks. Empty warehouses. Cracked pavement.
And in the center, floating above the ground, was the gate.
It swirled like smoke and flame, but it wasn't made of fire.
It was hunger in shape.
Lightning crawled across the sky.
The clouds spun above the hole.
And then…
He stepped through.
The figure was eight feet tall.
Armor black as void.
A red cape flowed behind him, torn and scorched.
His head had no mouth, only eyes — glowing like dying suns.
He held a long, twisted blade in one hand.
And in his other hand, a chain, dragging behind it something Eon couldn't yet see.
The Rift pulsed as the figure landed.
Dust flew out.
Concrete cracked beneath his boots.
Eon stepped forward slowly.
"You are not welcome here," Eon said.
The figure tilted his head.
Its voice echoed without sound. A whisper, yet it filled the air.
"You are still alive, Flameborn."
Eon's eyes narrowed.
"You know me."
"I watched you burn stars," the General said. "Long ago. Before you hid in dirt and flesh."
"Those days are over."
"No," the General replied. "They are just beginning again."
The chain behind him jerked.
From the Rift came a creature — part insect, part machine — bound by the chain, shrieking in pain.
"I offer your world a gift," the General said. "A pet. One of many."
He released the chain.
The creature rushed toward Eon, claws clicking, mouth wide.
Eon raised his hand.
The Origin Flame answered.
A white blaze burst from his palm.
The creature didn't scream.
It simply vanished into ash.
The General didn't flinch.
"So the fire still obeys you," he said.
"It remembers who I am," Eon said. "Do you?"
The General raised his blade.
"This time, you die alone."
He charged.
Faster than a blink.
Eon raised both hands. Fire surged around him, forming a burning barrier.
The blade struck the fire — and for a moment, the world froze.
The air cracked.
Time slowed.
Then—boom.
Energy exploded outward.
The warehouse walls shattered.
Trains flipped.
Flames and red lightning clashed.
Eon flew back, landing on his feet.
The ground beneath him glowed with runes.
He spoke a word.
The flame formed a spear in his hand.
He threw it.
The General dodged — barely.
The spear struck the Rift gate.
It flared, unstable.
"You would damage the door itself?" the General asked.
"I'll burn the sky to keep Earth safe."
The General laughed, though no mouth moved.
"You protect a broken world. Your people drown in greed and weakness. Let us remake it."
"No," Eon said. "They will rise. Like I once did."
They clashed again.
Steel against light.
Void against flame.
The ground melted beneath them.
Each strike sent waves of heat and darkness across the rail yard.
Eon moved like wind.
The General struck like thunder.
But Eon began to fade.
His breath grew shorter.
The flame flickered.
The General raised his sword high and drove it down—
Eon caught it with both hands.
The fire in his chest blazed white-hot.
And in his eyes—a storm of stars.
"I'm not done yet," Eon growled.
He grabbed the General's sword, poured flame into it, and it shattered.
The General stepped back.
"You have improved."
"I've had time."
The General raised both arms.
The Rift pulsed.
"Then face my true form."
Darkness wrapped around him.
His body grew taller, broader.
Wings of void stretched from his back.
Eyes opened along his arms, chest, and head.
His voice became a chorus.
"I am Rhazik the Worldpiercer. First General of the Conquest Flame."
"And I will burn your world with its own light."
Eon raised his hand.
His flame responded.
But it wasn't enough.
Rhazik's wings swept down, sending blades of red energy forward.
Eon dodged left, but one slice hit his side.
He winced.
Blood — golden — dripped onto the ground.
He fell to one knee.
Rhazik raised his claws.
"This is how you die, Flameborn."
But then—
The ground behind Eon glowed.
Symbols lit up.
Runes written long ago.
They activated.
Not because of Eon.
But because someone else was watching.
Far away, in the city, Rin's eyes opened wide.
She stood in front of her mirror.
Her palms glowed white-gold.
She whispered, "I hear you."
Back at the rail yard, the runes formed a circle.
Eon looked up.
His flame reignited.
Stronger.
Brighter.
"Someone answered," he said.
Rhazik stepped back.
"What is this—?"
Eon rose.
He burned with unity now.
With the first spark of the next generation.
He launched forward.
Flame wrapped around him like armor.
He struck Rhazik's chest — the blow cracked space itself.
Rhazik screamed.
The Rift above trembled.
Eon raised his hands.
And the sky burned.
The gate closed.
The Rift sealed.
Rhazik was forced back through it — screaming, vowing return.
And then… silence.
Only smoke remained.
Eon dropped to his knees.
The battle was over.
For now.
He whispered, "She heard me."
He smiled.
A new spark had awakened.
He wasn't alone anymore.