Silence.
The world had collapsed into nothing but void—an endless black ocean without horizon or sky. Vemy floated, Celestine Blue flames flickering faintly around his body, his spectral figure coiled tight behind him as if even it feared this place.
His breath misted in the dark, heavy and uneven. "Where… is this?"
A whisper bled through the void, low and layered, as though spoken by a thousand beings at once:
"You have climbed the path of rings. Ten steps, ten awakenings. But you believe yourself an Ascendant already?"
Vemy's hands curled into fists, his Celestine aura spiking defiantly. "I don't believe—I know. I've earned this power."
A sound like distant laughter rippled through the black. Then—shards of reality cracked open, revealing eyes. Thousands of them. Cold, unblinking, all fixed on him.
"Then prove it."
The void trembled. From the fractures, spectral beasts began to crawl out—each one forged from colors Vemy couldn't name, their shapes shifting between flesh, crystal, and shadow. They carried rings on their bodies, pulsing with an energy sharper and older than his own.
The tenth ring on his hand throbbed violently, warning him.
His spectral figure expanded, wings bursting open in defiance. Celestine Blue flames flooded the darkness, searing into the beasts with blistering force. The first wave of creatures disintegrated instantly.
But more followed. Hundreds. Thousands. Each carrying an aura that resonated like a ring beyond the tenth.
Vemy's heartbeat thundered in his ears. He slashed, spun, and burned through waves of monsters, every motion a symphony of lethal grace. Flames danced over his body, illuminating the void in blinding brilliance. Yet no matter how many he destroyed, the eyes only multiplied, the whisper only deepened.
"Every flame consumes. Every flame dies. What remains… when your fire fades?"
Vemy staggered, sweat dripping, aura burning at its peak. He bit down hard, lips curling into a savage grin. "Then I'll burn again. And again. Until nothing can outlast me."
The eyes narrowed. And then—one colossal figure stepped forward, towering over all others. Its body was humanoid, but warped, crowned with rings that spun endlessly like miniature galaxies. Its aura was suffocating, a crushing weight even his Azure Infernum struggled to resist.
The being raised its hand, and space itself warped around its palm.
"Then face me, Blue Inferno. Face the path… beyond rings."
The void roared as they clashed, the impact shattering the darkness into shards of light.