They arrived at Emberhold on the third day.
The journey southward passed in silence—none of them willing to speak of what lay ahead. The landscape grew blacker the closer they drew to the ruins. Forests of charred trees stood like skeletal sentinels, and the sky itself dimmed, as if mourning.
Erza remembered Emberhold as it was in his childhood—an obsidian citadel veined with living flame, carved into the bones of a fire-ravaged mountain. Now it was a smoldering carcass of stone and silence.
Even after ten years, the Flame never truly died here.
Ash fell like snow as the squad stood before the shattered gates.
Erza ran his hand over a cracked pillar. The once-glorious lion crest of House Duskfire was now defaced—its mane burned away, its crown cracked down the center.
Kale stepped carefully beside him. "This place feels... angry."
"It should," Ryse muttered. "It remembers."
Selene unsheathed her blade, watching the shadows. "No birds. No beasts. Something's wrong."
They walked the ancient halls, past throne rooms blackened by war, through shattered galleries of molten gold, and into the Heartforge, the core of Emberhold.
It was there that they found him.
Ignatius sat cross-legged in the center of the forge, a flame hovering above his palms. Runes circled him—sigils of forgotten kingship, of pact and penance.
"You came," he said without looking.
"You left directions burned into the hillside," Selene muttered.
Ignatius opened his eyes. "Then you're smart enough to follow what matters."
Erza stepped forward. "We're here. Now speak."
The elder prince stood slowly, bones cracking. "Before I tell you what you need to know, you must understand what you carry."
He stepped toward Erza.
"You think Leo chose you because you're strong?"
"Because you survived the fall of the kingdom?"
"No. You were chosen because your soul is splintered."
Erza's brow furrowed. "What does that mean?"
Ignatius raised a hand—and pressed it against Erza's chest.
The air twisted.
A searing heat tore through Erza's body as golden light erupted from his mark. But this time it didn't form a lion. It formed a crown of flame, spinning and unstable.
Selene reached for him, but the runes surrounding the forge flared—holding everyone back.
Erza fell to one knee, eyes wide, gasping.
Visions flooded his mind.
A younger Erza, standing in the ruins, blood across his hands.
His father, dying on the throne, whispering, "Forgive them…"
And a twin, screaming in a void of golden light—his face almost identical, but twisted with rage.
Erza collapsed, the visions fading. His breathing ragged.
"There were two of you," Ignatius said quietly. "Twins born of the Flame. But only one body could house the Leo Core."
"The other…" Erza whispered, horrified. "What happened to him?"
"We sealed him. In the constellation itself. He became Leo's Wrath. The fragment of the beast that sleeps until the bond is complete."
Selene's eyes widened. "Wait—you mean Erza's brother is inside the Leo constellation?"
Ignatius nodded. "Half of him. The angriest part. And if Noctyros corrupts Leo... he doesn't just kill a star. He frees the other half."
Kale blanched. "So Erza's not just a chosen. He's a key."
"And Leo isn't just a beast," Ryse added grimly. "It's a prison."
Ignatius turned to the forge, lifting a ceremonial blade from a stone pedestal—its edge seared with lion runes.
"This is the Blade of Coronis. Forged from Leo's original descent flame. If you ever lose control... if the other half awakens within you, you must either tame it—" He held the blade to Erza's chest. "—or fall by this sword."
Erza met his uncle's eyes. "If that time comes... I'll decide."
The flames in the forge suddenly flared.
A pulse of void energy rippled through the ground—faint, but unmistakable.
Ryse turned toward the broken windows. "That wasn't natural."
Selene nodded. "Shadow energy. Close. Moving."
Ignatius hissed. "They followed you."
"Not followed," Erza said, eyes narrowing. "They were waiting."
At that moment, the floor beneath the forge cracked.
From the shadows rose a creature made of collapsed star matter, its body shifting like burning glass. It wore pieces of armor etched with void runes, and its head was shaped like a distorted lion skull.
Kale backed up in terror. "Is that—?"
Ignatius snarled. "A Voidbound Echo of Leo. They've started unraveling constellations."
The Echo roared—and the Heartforge trembled.
Erza stood tall, flames coiling up his arms.
"I won't let them unmake what remains of him."
Ignatius tossed the Blade of Coronis to him.
Erza caught it—and with a single motion, ignited both his fists and the blade in gold and crimson flame.
"This is our kingdom."
"And I won't let them burn it without a fight."