By now, I had accepted three universal truths.
First: World Gates hated me personally.
Second: Sovereign women across dimensions had collectively agreed that emotional damage was a valid communication style.
Third: Every goodbye somehow hurt more than every battle.
I stood at the highest gate platform of Skyforge Citadel while stormlight wrapped around the floating bridges and the Forgeheart burnt below like a second heart for the realm.
Dawn was still hours away.
Lei Mira apparently believed emotional suffering should happen before breakfast.
Reasonable.
Commander Darius stood beside the gate controls, looking like a man trying very hard not to become emotionally involved in my continued survival.
Garron stood beside him like a mountain pretending to be a person.
Honestly, I trusted him more than most politicians.
The World Gate before us was different from the others.
The Crimson Realm had burnt.
Moonwater had flowed.
Skyforge had thundered.
This one—
This one bled.
The gate was a circle of black iron floating above a platform carved with old war scars, and inside it moved red-grey mist like smoke mixed with old blood.
It did not feel like a path.
It felt like a battlefield waiting politely.
I pointed at it.
"No."
Commander Darius nodded.
"Correct."
Finally.
Mutual understanding.
I appreciated that.
ARINA's panel appeared.
World Gate Activated Destination: Ashen Dominion Primary Sovereign: Vira Realm Status: War-State Active Threat Level: Extreme Warning: High Probability of Immediate Violence
Immediate violence.
Honestly?
The most honest system warning so far.
I respected it.
Lei Mira approached from behind.
No armour this time.
Only black forged clothes beneath a dark crimson cloak, hair loose in the stormlight, golden eyes brighter than the lightning around us.
That somehow felt more dangerous.
Sovereigns were unfair like that.
She stopped beside me.
No dramatic speech.
Just presence.
Sometimes that mattered more.
I looked at her.
"So. Final advice before I walk into what sounds like a historical mistake?"
She folded her arms.
"Yes."
I waited.
"Do not flirt with Vira."
I blinked.
That was not where I expected this conversation to go.
"I feel like there is a very specific story attached to that."
"There is."
"Are you going to tell me?"
"No."
Excellent.
Deeply suspicious.
I pointed between us.
"This friendship lacks transparency."
Lei Mira ignored that.
Rude.
"She trusts war more than peace."
Her voice lowered.
"And if she thinks you are manipulating her, she will not ask questions first."
I nodded slowly.
"So… fewer jokes."
She looked at me.
"No. That would be unnatural and probably suspicious."
Fair.
Very fair.
"Then what exactly is the strategy?"
Lei Mira stepped closer and adjusted the Stormguard Band on my wrist like she was personally reminding Destiny to behave itself.
"Be honest."
A pause.
"Even when honesty is the more dangerous answer."
That hit.
Because that was never really advice for Vira.
It was advice for everything.
I nodded once.
"I'll remember."
She did not step back immediately.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Then Garron, traitor to all emotional tension, cleared his throat loudly enough to qualify as weather.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
We understood each other.
Enemies.
Commander Darius handed me a black metal token engraved with the Skyforge crest.
"Emergency recall seal."
I accepted it.
"That sounds comforting."
"It is not."
Excellent.
Consistency.
Then, unexpectedly, Garron stepped forward.
He held out his hand.
I stared.
The giant man of hammers was offering a hand shake.
This felt more serious than most royal ceremonies.
I took it.
His grip was like negotiating with a bridge.
He said only one thing.
"Break the right people."
Honestly?
Beautiful advice.
I nodded.
"I'll make you proud."
He grunted.
Which, from Garron, was basically affection.
Lei Mira looked toward the gate.
Stormlight reflecting in her eyes.
Time.
Always time.
I hated that.
She turned back to me.
One final moment.
No jokes left.
No distance.
Just truth.
"Vira was the first person who taught me that strength could be chosen."
A pause.
"And the first person I failed."
There it was.
The real wound.
Not romance.
Not betrayal.
Regret.
I understood.
And somehow, that was heavier.
I touched the crown fragment at my side.
Three fragments.
Three sovereign promises.
And now—
The fourth path.
"I'll bring her back if I can."
Lei Mira's expression sharpened.
"Do not bring her back."
Interesting.
She stepped closer.
"Stand beside her."
Queen Elyra's words.
The same lesson.
Different world.
I smiled faintly.
"Apparently, all powerful women in my life are sharing the same script."
For the first time that night, Lei Mira laughed softly.
Good.
I wanted to remember that sound.
Then she placed one hand against my chest.
Over the Phoenix Mark.
Warm.
Steady.
The storm outside answered.
Her voice dropped to almost nothing.
"Come back alive, Ishaan."
Not command.
Not a request.
Something far more dangerous.
Hope.
I covered her hand with mine.
"I will."
Because promises mattered most when they were made to people who expected loss.
She stepped back first.
Professional.
Safer.
Probably.
Commander Darius activated the gate.
The black iron circle roared to life.
Ash-grey fire spiralled upward.
The smell of smoke, iron, and old blood filled the air.
War.
Waiting.
I took one breath.
Then another.
Lian's fire.
Yue Xiang's moon.
Lei Mira's thunder.
Three sovereigns.
Three worlds.
Three reasons to keep walking forward.
And somewhere ahead—
Vira.
The war sovereign.
The next fragment.
The next wound.
I looked back once.
Lei Mira stood beneath the stormlight like thunder, refusing to kneel.
Darius was beside her.
Garron is behind them.
Skyforge.
A place that had somehow become something worth returning to.
Good.
That mattered.
I stepped toward the gate.
Then paused.
Looked over my shoulder.
"If she tries to kill me immediately—"
Lei Mira answered without hesitation.
"She will."
"Excellent."
I smiled.
"Consistency is comforting."
Then I walked into ash and blood.
The world shattered.
Thunder vanished.
War answered.
And somewhere beyond the gate—
A queen of battle was already waiting.