The starlight had barely faded from Steven's cloak when the next vision pulled at the edges of the Codex.
This time, it wasn't a location.
It was a memory — not his, but one buried deep within the Codex itself. A memory that bled with heat, ash, and roaring defiance.
> "The next Warden isn't hiding," Maeron said gravely. "He's sealed."
> "Why?" Steven asked, instinctively bracing. "Who would seal a Warden?"
> "Because he burned a god."
---
They arrived in a desolate crater of obsidian and scorched glass — Ashgrave, a realm devoured by fire eons ago. The air shimmered with ancient fury. Nothing lived here. Not anymore.
Steven's boots crunched on bones turned to black stone.
At the center of the wasteland stood a chained pyre, wrapped in runes too ancient to speak. Flames whispered secrets. A pulse echoed from within — like a heartbeat made of magma.
> "We're not alone," Maeron warned, his shadow tendrils rising.
From the ashes, flaming beasts erupted — twisted hounds, fireborn dragons, skeletal giants wreathed in eternal blaze. Guardians of the pyre.
Steven raised a hand, lightning crackling. "Let's test this flame."
The battle was pure chaos. Steven danced between flames, launching cosmic bolts and starfire blasts. Maeron became a blur of shadows, dragging beasts into the void. Still, for every beast felled, two more rose from ash.
Steven's patience cracked.
> "Enough," he growled. He thrust his hands into the air — Codex glyphs spiraled, forming a blazing sigil.
> "Arcana: Sixth Seal — Solar Cataclysm!"
A miniature sun ignited above him and dropped like judgment. The battlefield turned white. The firebeasts disintegrated.
The chains on the pyre groaned… and shattered.
From the inferno stepped a man.
Bare-chested, body carved with runes, eyes burning like twin furnaces. His hair was a flickering mane of molten strands, and every breath he took singed the air.
Kael'Zar the Flamewrought — Warden of Forgotten Flame.
He looked at Steven.
> "Another fool to challenge me?" he said, voice like lava cracking stone.
> "No," Steven said. "I've come to reignite you."
Kael'Zar laughed. "Reignite? I am the flame, Starcaster. And I only burn what dares touch me."
With a roar, he charged.
Their clash melted the sky.
Steven fought like a tempest — stars, lightning, shadows, celestial force — all thrown into the flames. But Kael'Zar was relentless, shrugging off each strike, turning pain into power.
> "Why do you resist?" Kael'Zar bellowed. "The world ends! Let it burn!"
Steven floated, blood dripping from his brow. "Because some things are worth saving! Even if the world deserves to burn… I won't let it!"
He reached within — to the heart of the Codex, to the storm, to the shadow, to the stars — and merged them into one.
> "Chrono-Aetherion Spell: Phoenix Writ Rebirth!"
A colossal bird of flame and stardust erupted from Steven's chest, colliding with Kael'Zar and wrapping him in memory and light.
Kael'Zar screamed — not in pain… but in clarity.
When the fire settled, he stood still, breathing heavily. Then, he laughed.
> "You're mad, Starcaster. And maybe… that's what we need."
He knelt.
> "The Flamewrought swears his oath. Let your Codex burn bright."
Steven collapsed to one knee, exhausted.
Maeron helped him up. "One more."
Steven's eyes flared with purpose.
> "And then… we bring the war to Pain."
(To be continued)