The battlefield roared with chaos. Fire and shadow collided with steel and magic.
Irelia and Pip fought in tandem, their unorthodox style keeping Blazebringer Yin off balance. The cultist's patience had long since worn thin.
Behind them, the Lava Wraith loomed, its molten form twisting with living heat, waves of magma spilling onto the cobblestones.
Irelia barely had time to react before the creature lifted a massive, clawed fist—
Then a warhammer slammed into its leg.
A deep CRACK echoed as molten rock splintered from the force of the impact.
The Lava Wraith lurched, staggering backward, its core pulsing in unstable fury.
From the smoke, a familiar voice rang out.
"That big bastard's a bit slow, but it sure does hit hard."
Thalric Emberforge strode into view, gripping his warhammer, sweat and soot streaking his face. His beard was singed at the edges, and he looked like he had walked through an inferno and punched his way out.
Right behind him, a figure moved like a silver streak—
Nariel cut through the flames, her radiant blade arcing as she deflected a wave of black fire. The holy energy from her strike dispersed the corrupted flames, forcing them apart before they could consume the street.
She glanced at Irelia, golden light gleaming off her armor. "You're not dead. That's good."
Irelia, still catching her breath, smirked. "Barely."
Thalric surveyed the battlefield, eyes moving from the Lava Wraith, to Blazebringer Yin, to the absolute wreckage of what was once a market square.
"I don't suppose you had a plan for this, lass?" he asked, flexing his grip on his warhammer.
Irelia exhaled, wiping blood from her lip.
Her eyes blazed—not with exhaustion, but with the fire of a mind already forming a strategy.
"I do now."
The battlefield pulsed with raw energy—fire, shadow, and steel clashing in a storm of chaos. Irelia's mind raced through the possibilities.
Fighting both Blazebringer and the Lava Wraith at once was not wise. They had to divide and control the fight.
She scanned the battlefield, instinct and experience guiding her thoughts.
The Lava Wraith—massive, slow, but devastating. It needed power hitters.
Blazebringer—fast, dangerous, arrogant. He needed someone who could keep up with him.
Her team—skilled, but uncoordinated. This was the first time they had ever fought together.
A plan took shape.
She shouted over the chaos, her voice cutting through the roar of fire.
"Thalric, Nariel—focus on keeping the Lava Wraith contained. Don't waste your strength trying to destroy it; just hold it back. The more Yin loses control, the weaker it'll become. When that moment comes, you'll have your opening to take it down."
Nariel nodded without hesitation. "Understood."
Thalric cracked his knuckles. "Aye, just another oversized furnace. I've cracked worse."
"Pip," Irelia continued, glancing at the halfling. He was already loading his slingshot. "You keep them distracted. Break their focus. If they can't predict us, they can't control the fight."
Pip grinned. "I like the sound of that."
Irelia's gaze snapped back to Blazebringer Yin. His flames still burned high, but there was something in his expression now— irritation, lots of it.
"It's time to dance."
"You've spent all this time tasting my strength," he sneered, shifting his stance. "By now, you should've realized how futile your struggle is."
Irelia smirked, wiping the blood from her lip.
"No," she said, rolling her shoulders, her daggers glowing with pulsing runes.
"I was testing your weaknesses."
Blazebringer Yin had expected an easy victory.
But Pip and Irelia weren't fighting like soldiers. They didn't engage him with discipline or structure—they fought like survivors. Unpredictable. Reckless. Impossible to control.
Pip moved like a phantom in the smoke, darting through the ruins, slipping through every gap in Yin's attacks. Slingshot stones, smoke bombs, and misdirection kept the cultist on edge, forcing him to constantly adjust.
Irelia had stopped testing Yin's strength.
Now she fought with intent.
Faster. Sharper. Every move had purpose. Every strike chipped away at Yin's control, forcing him onto the defensive.
Yin's patience unraveled. His flames lashed out in wild, erratic bursts—his precise control slipping.
Across the battlefield, the Lava Wraith let out a monstrous bellow.
Its molten form flickered violently as Thalric and Nariel pressed forward.
Thalric fought with brute force, each swing of his warhammer cracking through layers of burning stone. His strikes weren't just strong—they were calculated, targeting the creature's weak points.
Nariel moved with precision. She danced between the beast's massive swings, her sword radiating divine energy as it cut through the tendrils of molten corruption before they could reform.
The Wraith's core pulsed violently, its body no longer stable.
It was losing ground.
The Lava Wraith reared back, its massive claws glowing white-hot, preparing to bring them crashing down in a devastating blow.
But before it could strike—
CRACK!
Thalric's warhammer smashed into its leg joint with enough force to send a deep fracture ripping through its molten hide.
A shockwave of unstable heat erupted outward, the Wraith's form shuddering violently from the impact. Its balance faltered for the first time.
Nariel saw the opening and struck.
She surged forward, light pulsing along her blade. The divine magic infused within it burned hotter than the Wraith's own fire.
With a single, precise strike—
SLASH!
One of the Wraith's flaming tendrils severed, its corrupted energy shrieking as it burned away into nothingness.
The Lava Wraith howled, staggering backward, its body flickering violently.
For the first time, it looked vulnerable.
Thalric rolled his shoulders, shifting his grip on his warhammer. "Aye. Looks like we can hurt this ugly bastard after all."
Nariel adjusted her stance, her blade still humming with energy. "Then let's make sure it stays down."
Across the battlefield, Irelia smirked.
She could feel it—the shift.
Yin was frustrated. The cultist's once-arrogant composure was slipping and so the Wraith was faltering.
They were no longer in control.
And Irelia was ready to push the advantage.
Pip ducked behind wreckage, rebounded off a fallen beam, and let loose a slingshot shot—a direct hit to Yin's shoulder.
Yin snarled, spinning to retaliate, fire lashing out—only to find Irelia was already gone.
She teleported mid-motion, reappearing behind him, blades flashing.
Her strike forced him back, his flames coiling inward, defensive rather than aggressive.
Yin's expression twisted with frustration.
"Your persistence is an insult," he growled.
He raised a hand, fire twisting into a javelin of blackened flame, aimed at Nariel's exposed flank—
BOOM!
A smoke bomb exploded at his feet.
Yin coughed, stumbling backward, momentarily blinded.
From above, Pip grinned, slingshot still smoking.
"Yeah, sorry," he called down. "I don't play fair."
Yin let out a snarl of pure rage, the flames around him roaring outward. "Enough of this foolishness—"
But the moment of distraction was all Irelia needed.
She teleported mid-step, appearing behind him—daggers gleaming, faster, deadlier.
Her blade slashed through his outer defenses, forcing him backward.
He was forced to be on the defensive.
Yin's movements became rushed, sloppy—he was losing control.
Pip continued to frustrate him, drawing his attention away at key moments.
Irelia pressed forward, her strikes more aggressive.
Blazebringer Yin had to retreat.
Across the battlefield—
The Lava Wraith stumbled. The fractures along its form deepened, molten rock oozing from its core.
Nariel's blade burned with holy radiance as she prepared to end it.
Thalric cracked his neck, gripping his warhammer tighter. "Time to finish this."
Victory didn't feel impossible.
The enemy was no longer in control.
Irelia could feel it.
The Ashen Veil had come to burn this city.
But now, they were the ones being burned.
Yin growled, low and irritated. "You think this changes anything?"
His flames coiled tightly around him, swirling, twisting—no longer the fluid, effortless inferno from before. Now, they were defensive.
Irelia smirked, flipping a dagger in her hand.
"I think you've stopped enjoying this fight, Yin."
The embers in his gaze burned hotter.
With a flick of his wrist, blackened fire spiraled upward—forming into a lance of pure destruction.
Irelia teleported.
The moment she vanished, Pip acted.
Before Yin could unleash his next attack, a tiny, unassuming metal sphere rolled toward his feet.
He glanced down—
BOOM!
A deafening concussive blast detonated at ground level, not fire, not shrapnel—just force.
Yin staggered backward, his footing lost for just a fraction of a second—
And that was all Irelia needed.
She reappeared behind him in the instant his balance wavered, her daggers already striking.
Slash!
Her blade carved a deep gash along his arm, forcing him further back.
Yin snarled, fury overtaking calculation. He spun, flame surging in a wild arc—but Pip was already moving.
A quick shot—TWANG!
A perfectly placed slingshot stone cracked against Yin's knuckles just as he was about to release a spell.
The fire dissipated mid-cast, harmlessly flickering into the night.
Yin stumbled, caught off guard—Irelia pressed forward, relentless.
Now, he was the one reacting.
The Lava Wraith had grown unstable.
The fractures along its body glowed brighter, pulsing erratically as molten rock dripped like liquid gold onto the cobblestones.
Nariel and Thalric didn't let up.
Thalric fought like an unyielding wall of iron, each swing of his warhammer landing with earth-shaking force. He wasn't just aiming at the Wraith's core—he was breaking its stability.
Nariel moved like a living flame, her radiant sword slicing through molten tendrils before they could lash out. She didn't merely cut through fire—her blade devoured it, extinguishing the corruption at its core.
The Wraith's movements became sluggish.
It swung a massive, molten claw—Nariel ducked low, rolling under the strike.
Thalric saw his opening.
With a roar, he planted his feet and swung his warhammer in a brutal, shattering arc—
CRACK!
A deep fracture tore through the Wraith's molten body, a web of glowing fault lines spreading across its form.
It reeled back, unstable, struggling to hold itself together.
And Nariel knew exactly how to finish it.
She surged forward, light bursting from her blade.
Yin let out a snarl of pure rage.
His flames no longer controlled the battlefield.
Irelia and Pip had taken away his advantage—his ability to dictate the fight.
For every strike he tried to land, Irelia was already gone.
For every spell he prepared, Pip disrupted him before it could take form.
And across the battlefield—his monster was dying.
The Lava Wraith trembled, its molten core pulsing wildly, erratically—on the verge of collapse.
Nariel's blade shone with divine radiance, the holy energy amplifying with every passing second.
Thalric braced himself, his warhammer raised for the final blow.
Yin saw it happening.
And for the first time since the battle began—
There was fear in his eyes.
Irelia smirked.
"It's over."
The battlefield trembled.
The Lava Wraith flickered like a dying flame, its movements sluggish. Deep fractures spread across its body, glowing cracks revealing the unstable core pulsing within.
Blazebringer Yin had lost his composure.
His fire, once a controlled inferno, lashed out wildly in all directions, born of frustration rather than strategy. His body was marked with fresh cuts from Irelia's blades, and his stance—once confident, unshaken—was faltering.
And worse?
He knew it.
A guttural roar of fury erupted from the Wraith, its remaining strength surging into one final, desperate attack.
Its molten limbs glowed white-hot, heat warping the very air around it.
Then—
It lunged.
A massive molten fist crashed toward Nariel and Thalric with enough force to level a building.
Nariel's instincts screamed. There was no dodging this.
"Thalric, NOW!"
The dwarf didn't hesitate.
With a grunt, he slammed his warhammer into the ground—
BOOM!
A shockwave rippled through the cobblestone, cracking the street beneath them. The sheer force shifted the battlefield, unbalancing the Wraith's charge at the last second.
Its strike went wide—narrowly missing Nariel as she pivoted out of the way.
The creature stumbled, momentarily off balance.
This was it.
The opening they needed.
Nariel's sword pulsed with radiant energy, the light surging brighter as she lifted her blade.
With a single, precise movement, she drove her sword straight into the Wraith's exposed core.
The creature screamed, molten veins surging violently, its corrupted energy unraveling from the inside out.
Thalric followed through—his warhammer came down in a final, shattering strike.
CRACK!
The Lava Wraith's core fractured.
A second passed.
Then—
The beast erupted.
A wave of molten fire burst outward as the Wraith collapsed in on itself, its massive form disintegrating into a rain of fading embers.
The impact sent shockwaves through the battlefield, forcing everyone to brace themselves.
When the light faded, only scorched stone remained where the monster had once stood.
Silence.
Then—Thalric exhaled, rolling his shoulders.
"Well." He wiped soot from his brow. "That's one problem solved."
Yin had barely registered the Wraith's destruction.
He was breathing hard, sweat dripping down his face despite the fire coiling around him. His robes were tattered, streaked with soot and blood.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
He was Blazebringer Yin. Keeper of the Sacred Flame. A chosen vessel of the Phoenix's will.
Yet here he was—wounded, exhausted, and losing.
Irelia studied him carefully. His stance was failing, he could no longer contain his flames.
He's at his limit.
She flicked a dagger between her fingers. "I expected more from the Keeper of the Sacred Flame."
Yin's eyes snapped to her. "You… dare mock me?"
Pip, standing beside her, tilted his head. "I mean… kinda hard not to." He gave a lopsided grin. "I thought you were supposed to be scary?"
Yin snarled, his frustration boiling over.
"ENOUGH!"
With a furious wave of his hand, blackened fire exploded outward in a spiraling wave.
Irelia teleported mid-motion, dodging the blast entirely—only to reappear behind him.
He spun—but too late.
Her blade flashed—a perfect, devastating strike.
Slash!
The dagger tore through his armor, sinking into flesh. The impact sent Yin staggering, his fire flickering violently.
He coughed blood, struggling to stay upright. His body trembled, knees nearly giving out.
For the first time in many years—Blazebringer Yin had been truly, utterly beaten.
Irelia didn't hesitate.
She moved to finish it.
She teleported again, appearing mid-motion—dagger poised for the final strike.
Then—
SHADOWFIRE ERUPTED.
The temperature plummeted.
The battlefield had fallen into eerie silence
A wave of unnatural black fire surged between them, forcing Irelia to retreat.
The flames didn't burn. They consumed.
And from within them—
A voice spoke.
"Enough."
A voice low, resonant, and absolute.
A voice that silenced everything.
Yin froze.
His breath hitched—his flames immediately died down.
And then…
His eyes widened and Irelia could see terror reflected in them. His hands began to tremble and his mouth opened a bit as if he wanted to say something but say nothing.
The shadowfire wrapped around him, lifting him from the ground.
Irelia watched, gripping her daggers, her mind racing—what was this?
The air itself felt heavier.
Then, from within the black flames, the voice spoke again.
"You have done well, Yin. But this battle is over."
The cultist's body stiffened, his face twisted in defiance—
"But Emberlord, I—!"
The flames tightened.
A command without words.
And then—Blazebringer Yin vanished. The shadowfire took him. Consumed him. Erased him.
For a long moment, nobody moved.
The fire still burned in the distance, but the battlefield had fallen into an eerie stillness.
No more cultists came.
No more monsters rose from the depths.
The enemy was gone.
Pip let out a sharp breath, slumping against a broken cart. "So… we won?"
Thalric exhaled, shaking out his arms. "Aye. But I don't like how it ended."
Nariel's gaze remained locked on the lingering black flames where Yin had disappeared. "Neither do I."
Irelia said nothing.
She stared at the smoldering ruins, at the destruction left behind.
And at the shadowfire still flickering in the air.
That voice.
She had a sinking feeling—this wasn't the last time she would hear it.
The Emberlord.