Dawn light seeped into the rifted realm, tearing through the endless blood-red night.
The ashen-flame phoenix soared high, carrying Elya and Lucian out of the collapsing core of the blood moon.
They fell onto the continent of reality.
The sky still burned, and ashes drifted down like silent snow.
Once-familiar mountains and rivers had;the earth split into abysses, and the aura of the Gray Realm permeated the air, tinting it with cold flames.
Elya dropped to her knees, her breath still ragged, the oath brand lingering hot on her chest.
Lucian pulled her into his arms, lifting his gaze to the sky—where the once-bright sun had been replaced by a dim, ashen moon.
"The blood moon shattered… but in its place, the Gray Realm is born."
Elya her eyes, her voice trembling yet steady: "We won the battle, but not the ending."
At that moment, the earth trembled.
A throne forged from ashes and flame rose slowly from the abyss.
Ancient runes flickered across it, as if summoning a new ruler.
Elya reached out instinctively, but Lucian caught her wrist.
"Do not touch it lightly. That is… the Throne of the Ashen Flame King."
A figure emerged from the ashes.
She was Elya's reflection, yet wore a cold smile and naked ambition.
"At last… you have completed the sacrifice, allowing me to appear."
Elya's chest ached sharply—the shadow resonated with her oath brand, as if they shared the same origin.
"Who… are you?"
The shadow replied softly: "I am the half you never accepted. The will of the Gray Realm."
Lucian immediately stepped in front of Elya, his flame sword pointing at the figure.
"Whoever you are, she no longer belongs to you."
The gray shadow slowly seated herself on the ashen throne, her eyes glinting like burning cold flames.
"Belongs to me? No. The ashen flames belong to the Gray Realm, and you… are merely the chosen tinder."
The throne erupted in a burst of light, and the entire world trembled.
Elya's body suddenly burned with heat; pleasure and pain mingled, drawing a low whimper from her as the oath brand threatened to consume her.
Lucian clutched her tight, gritting out, "Hold on, Elya! Don't let her control you!"
The gray shadow laughed coldly: "Resistance is useless. Only by embracing the Gray Realm can you truly become the queen who burns the world."
Elya trembled, tears mixing with sweat. In Lucian's arms, she whispered shakily: "If I fall… please end me with your own hands."
Lucian's gaze blazed with unwavering resolve: "No. I will make you the one true ruler—not her puppet."
Ashen flames erupted around them, crashing against the gray shadow and the throne.
The shadow smiled, spreading her arms: "Then come. Let the ashen flames judge, and decide who is the true ruler."
The earth split again, and the Gray Realm and the mortal world merged completely.
Sinister black-flame creatures poured from countless rifts, their howls echoing across the heavens and earth.
And in the light of the ashen throne, a war more terrifying than the blood moon was about to begin.