Ronak retreats into the wastelands beyond Future Pride — a no man's land scorched by the first ignition years ago. The air hums with forgotten energy, golden veins pulsing beneath ash.
He kneels in the ruins of an ancient reactor, eyes closed. The world around him fades as he slips into the Luminis Veil — the inner realm between flame and void.
There, reality bends. Ember dust floats like stars. In the silence, a shape rises from the molten horizon — his reflection, but darker. Its eyes glow with red-gold light, its veins alive with shadowfire.
"You fight me like I'm your enemy," it says, voice echoing like cracked thunder."But I'm the part that saved you when the world burned."
Ronak's fists ignite, white fire trembling against the black inferno."You're the reason I almost lost control. You destroyed everything I swore to protect."
The shadow smirks. "I saved them. Every time you hesitated, I struck. Every time you forgave, I burned. Without me, you'd be ashes."
Visions flood around them — Vexar's fall, the plasma core, the young heroes looking at him in fear. The scenes twist, replaying through both light and darkness.
Ronak falls to his knees, clutching his chest as the golden flame and black ember coil within him like serpents."You're not me…" he whispers.
The entity steps closer, its hand of molten smoke brushing his face."You can't be light without me."
The words echo — truth and curse intertwined.
Ronak realizes the war isn't about good or evil, but integration. He must learn to accept both — the mercy and the fury, the warmth and the blaze.But as he reaches out to reconcile, something shifts.
The shadow laughs — the sound fractures the realm."Too late, hero. You gave me form."
The darkness solidifies, splitting from him entirely — a being of molten crimson and shadowfire, Obsidian Ignis, born from the fracture of his soul.
The world trembles as Ronak awakens in the real world — gasping, flames searing the ground beneath him.Above the city, black fire gathers like a storm.
The flame has divided.And now, the other half walks free.