Omega Arden stepped into the chamber, ember veins burning so hot they cast molten shadows across the walls.
Steel groaned beneath his footsteps. The air itself warped.
Raine moved in front of Lian, blades drawn.
"Focus on the Core, Lian. Don't look back."
"But—"
"Do it!"
Her voice cut like steel, leaving no room for argument.
Lian turned toward the glowing platform—but his hands trembled uncontrollably.
The Core had awakened, humming louder with each passing heartbeat, as if recognizing him.
Behind him, Omega Arden's distorted voice reverberated through the chamber:
"EM-BER HEIR.
STOP."
Raine stepped forward.
"No," she answered for him.
"You want him? You go through me."
Omega Arden's head twitched in a jerking, broken movement.
"RAINE.
MOVE."
"I'll move," she said, raising her blades,
"when you're dead."
And she charged.
Raine vs. Omega Arden
Their clash detonated the room.
BOOOOOM—!
Raine spun low, blades carving at Arden's knees—
Sparks exploded, but the armor didn't break.
Arden countered with a downward strike—
She flipped aside just in time, the molten blade melting the floor where her head had been.
"Lian!" she shouted mid-movement.
"Core! Now!"
Lian turned back to the platform.
The rings of light rotated faster, awaiting his activation.
But the moment he reached toward it—
A violent surge of ember energy tore through his chest.
He doubled over, gasping.
"Raine—something's wrong—"
"Fight it!" she yelled, locked in deadly motion with the Omega.
"I can't—!"
The ember wasn't reacting to fear.
It wasn't reacting to Arden.
It was responding to the Core.
Calling to it.
Pulling at it.
Wanting to connect.
The Omega's Rage
Omega Arden's voice deepened, glitching, broken.
"DO NOT… TOUCH… THE CORE."
He slammed Raine aside with a single blow.
She crashed into a pillar, coughing blood.
"Raine!!" Lian cried.
She waved a shaking hand at him.
"I'm not done yet— GO!"
But Omega Arden was already stepping over her fallen body, molten blade extending from his arm, dripping sparks.
He raised the weapon toward Lian—
And for the first time, Lian felt the ember inside him do something new.
Not panic.
Not fear.
Warning.
A pulse of heat spread outward, and his vision shifted—
everything coated in glowing outlines of temperature.
Raine's heat signature flickered weakly.
Arden's blazed like a burning star—
And deeper inside his chest—
Lian saw something unexpected.
A smaller heat source.
A flickering shape.
A human shape.
"Arden…" Lian whispered, horrified.
"He's still in there."
Omega Arden froze.
His head jerked toward Lian—
"LI…AN…"
That fractured human voice again.
Raine gasped from the ground.
"That hesitation— use it!"
Core Activation
Lian stumbled to the center platform, ember swirling violently inside him.
The Core responded instantly—
FWOOOM—
Columns of blue-white light shot up around him.
Symbols spiraled across the air.
A holographic prompt appeared:
CORE ACCESS: LIAN HART
ENTER KEY PHRASE
"Key phrase…?" Lian breathed.
Another message appeared, in his father's handwriting:
THE EMBER REMEMBERS ITS BIRTHPLACE.
SPEAK THE WORD 'IGNIS.'
Lian swallowed hard.
"Ignis."
The Core exploded in blinding light.
A shockwave rippled outward, knocking Omega Arden back several steps.
Raine shielded her eyes.
"What did you do?!"
"I—I don't know!"
The chamber shifted.
The walls folded away.
The floor separated into rings of light.
The ceiling peeled open like the petals of a metallic flower—
Revealing a sphere suspended in mid-air.
A sphere of pure ember energy.
White.
Ancient.
Alive.
Raine stared, stunned.
"Lian… that's not man-made."
Omega Arden roared, a thunderous metallic scream.
"STOP.
DO NOT WAKE IT."
The Ember's Origin
The Core sphere pulsed.
A voice echoed—not human, not machine.
Something older.
Something… alien.
"EMBER HEIR RECOGNIZED."
Lian's mind vibrated with the sound.
"YOU CARRY THE FINAL SEED."
Raine's eyes widened.
"Seed…? Lian, what does that mean?"
The sphere glowed brighter.
"THE EMBER DID NOT COME FROM THIS WORLD."
Lian's heart stopped.
Raine whispered,
"Oh my god…"
The voice continued.
"YOUR FATHER DISCOVERED THE TRUTH.
HE TRIED TO HIDE YOU.
TO HIDE WHAT YOU CARRY."
Lian stumbled backward.
"I don't understand— What do I carry?!"
"THE PROTOTYPE MIND.
THE ONE THAT CAN CHOOSE."
Omega Arden roared and charged toward the Core.
Raine dragged herself up, desperate.
"LIAN!! FINISH THE ACTIVATION!"
"How?!"
The Core responded:
"EMBRACE THE EMBER."
Lian's chest ignited with searing heat.
He screamed—
A column of red fire shot upward from his heart, connecting with the Core.
Arden slammed into the barrier, sparks exploding off his armor.
Raine lunged to intercept him—
But Lian—
Lian floated into the air, ember burning around him in a vortex of red and white fire.
And the Core spoke again:
"THE CHOSEN MUST AWAKEN."