Pain.
That was the first thing Rael felt as consciousness clawed its way back to him. A heavy ache pressed on every inch of his battered body. His limbs were like stone, his chest burning with each shallow breath. The sterile scent of healing herbs and magical wards surrounded him.
His eyes flickered open.
Dim light filled the infirmary room. He recognized Evelyn's neat handwriting on the scroll beside his bed. Lyra's biscuit crumbs were scattered across a nearby chair.
But none of it mattered.
"Eris…"
The memory struck like lightning: the demon's blade at her throat, her whisper—"Why didn't you pick me?"—and the shadow portal ripping her away.
He clenched his fist. Rage and guilt mixed like poison in his veins.
He couldn't wait for orders. Couldn't sit and plan. Every second she spent in that realm was a second closer to death—or worse.
He had to move. Now.
Ignoring the pain, Rael sat up. His muscles screamed in protest, but he forced himself to his feet. He quietly donned his gear—his charred academy robes, reforged shoulder plates, and most importantly, his sword: Solar Edge—a radiant blade forged in the style of the Solari Ascendants.
He looked back once.
"Sorry… Evelyn, Lyra," he murmured. "I can't risk waiting. I won't lose her."
He slipped out of the infirmary and disappeared into the night.
---
Rael stood before the rift.
The sky above twisted like liquid darkness, thunder and crimson lightning dancing within. The air was foul—thick with demonic energy and bloodlust. He had tracked the rift's coordinates, bypassing magical sensors and outposts with stealth and speed only his First Awakening could grant.
He inhaled sharply. Ember Ascension.
Golden-orange flames ignited along his body like wildfire meeting oil. His hair flared in the wind, his aura pulsed with contained fury.
"I'm coming, Eris."
And then he leapt in.
---
The Demonlands.
A world of ash and bones stretched before him, skies dark with endless clouds. Jagged towers of obsidian loomed like gravestones. A thousand demons patrolled the obsidian valley near the fortress where Eris was held—rank upon rank of snarling beasts, armored monstrosities, and hellish soldiers wielding corrupted magic.
They felt him arrive.
The first demon charged—a brutish ogre-creature with axes fused into its arms. Rael met it mid-stride, his Solar Edge blazing. One clean arc of his blade split the demon in two.
The battle began.
A horde swarmed.
Rael didn't retreat. He advanced.
He twisted through the mob like flame on wind, dodging a barrage of black bolts and swinging wide. Solar Edge cut through armor like paper, golden arcs cleaving flesh and bone. Dozens fell in minutes—slain by speed and precision.
A winged demon dove from above.
Rael leapt, mid-air sword clash, sparks flying as claws met steel. He flipped backward, landed, and lunged into a second wave.
"RAAAHHHH!"
He roared, unleashing a fiery shockwave that blasted enemies backward. His flames weren't wild now—they were disciplined, each strike surgically incinerating.
Two hours in, his robes were bloodstained and his breathing ragged, but over half the army had fallen.
They kept coming.
Archers on the cliffs fired shadow arrows. He raised a barrier of flame to deflect. An ice demon lunged with a jagged spear. He ducked under and drove Solar Edge through its skull.
By the fourth hour, Rael had stopped counting corpses. The field was a graveyard of ash.
He knelt for a breath.
Just a second.
Then a tremor.
A massive demonic gate creaked open at the far end of the valley.
Flanked by two fiendish guards, a colossal horned demon stepped forth—eight feet tall, skin plated like volcanic stone, a halberd wreathed in darkness in hand.
Rael didn't flinch.
He stood.
He raised his sword.
The demon roared. The final wave attacked.
And Rael charged.
Blades clashed. Flames and shadow collided. The battle lit the valley like a supernova. Rael spun and cut, parried and burned. When overwhelmed, he unleashed a blazing circle of Emberfire, clearing space. One by one, the final demons fell.
He pushed deeper, past the gate.
Only one enemy remained.
The Highest Demon.
---
Beyond the gate lay the ritual chamber—a spire of obsidian and bone. In its center, Eris floated above a glowing altar, magical chains wrapped around her, demonic runes circling her body.
Her eyes fluttered open.
"Rael…" she whispered.
He stepped into the chamber.
Blood dripping. Aura flaring.
"I'm here."
And from the shadows, it emerged.
A demon unlike any other—clad in gold-black armor, eyes like black suns, aura heavier than gravity. Its voice was a chorus of death.
"You've come to die."
Rael didn't speak.
He attacked.