The air tasted different.
Not like rain. Not like wind.
Like contract.
Invisible signatures scrawled themselves into the soil as foreign step met sacred ground.Flame adjudicants in black-and-gold robes approached in quiet formations—flamebrands flickering across their arms like shackles of light.
Atop the Veilbranch, Kaien watched them come.
"The Courts did not wait long," he murmured.
Behind him, Seren's dreamfire curled against her back, whispering visions.
Nyel sharpened her blade.
Veyra finished sketching a sigil-line of defense across the soil—a ward rooted in the old Maerok script Kaien had taught her days ago.
"Do we wait for them to speak?" Rin asked.
Kaien turned.
"They've already issued their verdict."
"We answer."
System Alert: [War Class: Defensive Flame Protocols Enabled]
✦ The Hollow is now considered a sovereign unsanctioned sect✦ Crownfire Adjudicants authorized to neutralize Flame Nexus✦ Autonomous bounty hunters permitted within outer territory✦ Pillar Response: Ashen Core activated – Passive defense arrays enhanced by Maerok lineage
Scene: Lower Grove, Flame Boundary Line
The first challenger arrived not with horns, but with silence.
A lone bounty seeker in mirrored armor, carrying a twisted brand of Crownfire verdict-marks around his neck.
"Kaien Maerok," he called."By the decree of Sovereign Velrith, you are to be subdued or surrendered."
Kaien did not move.
Seren stepped forward instead.
Her dreamfire burned around her fists.
"You want a Sovereign?"
"Then prove you're worthy of waking one."
Battle: Seren vs. Lawbranded Bounty Seeker
Seren Flame Type: Dreamfire
Talent: Memory Echo Pulse
Tier: Flame Initiate, Tier 6
Opponent: Crownfire Tracker, Lawbond Tier 4
Seren struck first.
But her flames bent—not toward destruction, but replay.
Every time he dodged, the dreamfire responded with a flash of what could have been, wearing down his certainty.
By the fifth exchange, he hesitated—
And flame does not forgive hesitation.
Seren's fist struck true, dreamfire searing through the armor, and the bounty hunter fell, twitching with illusions of forgotten trials.
Kaien watched the fight end.
He spoke once, low.
"Let them come."
"Each that falls will become a memory."
"And memory… becomes flame."
Meanwhile: Crownfire Front Operations, Outer Realm
Adjudicator Lucien reported to Velrith:
"The Hollow resists."
"Kaien Maerok has not fled. His disciples are forming defensive phalanx formations… sovereign-style."
Velrith's voice crackled through the flame channel:
"Begin siege escalation.Send the next wave."
"And send… the Ashblade Scion."
Lucien hesitated.
"But he—"
"Is unstable," Velrith finished.
"So is memory. So is Kaien."
"Let them burn each other."
Back at the Hollow
Nyel turned to Kaien as night began to fall.
"What happens when they send one of their Sovereigns?"
Kaien didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"Then I stop being a teacher."
"And become… what they remember me to be."
He placed his hand against the Oathstone.
"But they forget one truth."
"You cannot burn away the Ash."
"You must stand in it."
System Update: Hollow War Status
✦ Defensive Success – Wave I Repelled✦ Flame Rank Increased for Seren (Tier 6 → Tier 7)✦ Crownfire Escalation: Confirmed✦ Incoming Threat: Ashblade Scion, Sovereign-Slayer Class