The Lion and the Flame
The bunker had become a furnace.
Scarlet fire roared like a storm, bending steel, peeling paint from the walls. Families screamed, clutching their children, shielding them from the searing heat.
And at the center stood Ishita—eyes glowing blood-red, aura wings spread wide, her face streaked with tears and rage.
Ash drifted on the air. Ash that had once been her parents.
Rehan's Struggle
The steel door crashed open. Rehan rushed inside, his aura blazing gold, eyes widening at the scene.
"Ishita!" he shouted, forcing his way through the inferno. The heat scorched his skin instantly, blistering his arms, but he pressed on.
When he reached her, he grabbed her shoulders, his voice cracking with urgency.
"Look at me! You have to stop this!"
Her gaze flicked to him, but her eyes were wild, drowning in grief.
"They're gone, Rehan! I burned them with my own hands! I killed my own parents!"
Rehan clenched his teeth, aura sparks crackling across his fists as he tried to counterbalance her Scarlet surge. The clash of gold and crimson sent shockwaves through the bunker.
"No—you didn't kill them. The demons did. That wasn't your family anymore."
But her voice rose, raw and broken.
"You don't understand! Everyone I love disappears! Amélie, Sophia, Maria, Klaus, Dmitri… and now them! What's the point of fighting if I can't save anyone?!"
The scarlet storm surged, throwing Rehan back into the wall. Blood trickled down his lip.
Still, he forced himself up, coughing.
"Then let me carry that weight with you! If you burn, I'll burn too—but you are not alone, Ishita!"
Her aura wavered—but the grief was too deep. The Scarlet flames spiraled upward, smashing through the bunker roof, painting the Mumbai night sky crimson.
---
Kaalrath's Gaze
High above, Kaalrath, the 4th Rank Upper Demon, turned.
His molten eyes locked onto the pillar of Scarlet light that split the city. A cruel smile curved across his cracked obsidian face.
"Ah… so the Scarlet child has awakened. Perfect. Let her rage burn. I will harvest it myself."
His wings beat once, scattering embers across the suburbs, and his shadow fell toward Borivali.
---
The Edge of Collapse
Inside the bunker, Ishita staggered, clutching her chest. The Scarlet aura surged chaotically, flames lashing dangerously close to civilians.
Her sobs echoed.
"I can't control it… I can't… it's eating me alive!"
Her aura wings shook violently, energy tearing through her veins. It was as if Scarlet itself demanded she burn everything until nothing remained.
The families cried out, begging, praying. Children's voices pierced the chaos.
And then—calm.
---
Li Wei's Arrival
Threads of pale blue light flowed into the chamber, weaving through the Scarlet storm like rivers cutting fire. The flames dimmed slightly, tamed not by force, but by balance.
A voice followed, calm and steady.
"Ishita. Enough."
Li Wei stepped into the bunker, robes swaying in the aura wind, his eyes calm but sharp. His presence alone steadied the air, like gravity reasserting itself.
The Scarlet flames lashed toward him instinctively. But Li Wei raised a single hand. Soul aura threads spiraled outward, wrapping around the wild fire, unweaving it gently without extinguishing it.
Scarlet clashed against Soul—but instead of violence, harmony bloomed.
Rehan exhaled in relief. "Li Wei…"
Ishita dropped to her knees, shaking violently, tears streaming down her face.
"I can't… I can't control it! I killed them, Li Wei! My parents… my family… I—"
Li Wei knelt before her, his voice low, firm.
"You destroyed what demons left behind. That was not your family anymore—it was the shells of their bodies, corrupted. Do not bind your grief to guilt."
His Soul aura threads wove deeper, tethering the Scarlet flames until they no longer lashed outward but folded inward, forming a steady, burning mantle around Ishita instead of an inferno.
"Scarlet is grief," Li Wei continued. "Scarlet is rage. But above all, Scarlet is love that refuses to die. Shape it. Guide it. Let it be your flame, not your chains."
Her breath steadied. The fire no longer threatened to consume civilians—it coiled protectively around them instead.
Her eyes flickered, still glowing red, but no longer wild. For the first time since her awakening, Ishita felt the Scarlet answer her will.
The Shadow Descends
The ground trembled. A deafening roar shook the streets above.
Dust rained from the broken ceiling as families gasped in terror.
Rehan's eyes widened. He felt it too. The oppressive aura that dwarfed everything else.
Li Wei rose to his feet slowly, his gaze sharp.
"He's here."
The bunker roof ripped apart as Kaalrath descended, his massive shadow filling the chamber. His horns scraped against the steel beams, molten cracks glowing like rivers of hellfire across his skin. His wings unfurled, blotting out the emergency lights.
His laughter shook the walls.
"So… the Scarlet finally awakens. And here you are, Soul Wielder. How fortunate. I can kill two relics at once."
The families screamed. Rehan's aura blazed, fists clenched. Ishita rose slowly, scarlet aura steady around her, eyes burning with fresh resolve.
And Li Wei stood tall, Soul aura threads spiraling outward like a calm storm, his gaze locked on the Upper Demon.
"Stay behind me," he said softly. "This is not your fight. Not yet."
Kaalrath's molten eyes narrowed.
"Then come, Soul Wielder. Show me if humanity still remembers how to resist."
The chamber shook as the clash was about to begin.