Darkness was the first thing Jae Hoon felt.
Not the absence of light—but something heavier. Thicker.
A suffocating void that pressed against his skin like cold water, seeping into his bones.
He lay sprawled across a black, slick surface, rainwater—or something like it—pooling beneath his palms. The ground was wet, unnaturally smooth, and ice-cold to the touch, as though it had never known warmth.
Above him—
Nothing.
No sky.
No stars.
No ceiling.
Just endless black.
A quiet so absolute it rang in his ears.
Jae sucked in a sharp breath and pushed himself upright, water dripping from his fingers as he scanned his surroundings.
"…Where the hell am I?"
His voice didn't echo.
It was swallowed.
He slowly rose to his feet, boots sinking slightly into the wet surface. The black ground reflected him faintly—like a distorted mirror—showing a pale face, black hair hanging loose, black eyes dulled by exhaustion.
Then—
Plop.
A sound.
Jae froze.
Splash.
Footsteps.
Measured. Unhurried.
Something was walking toward him.
His muscles tightened instinctively as he turned.
From the darkness ahead, a shape emerged.
Tall.
Humanoid.
But wrong.
There was no flesh.
No skin.
No face.
It was fire.
Flames shaped into the silhouette of a man—broad shoulders, long limbs—its body composed entirely of twisting, living fire. Not ordinary flames, but a violent fusion of deep red and abyssal black, coiling around each other like warring serpents.
The heat didn't scorch.
It crushed.
A pressure settled on Jae's chest, forcing his breath shallow.
"…What are you?" he asked hoarsely. "Who are you?"
The being stopped a few steps away.
The flames that formed its head shifted, slowing, as if focusing on him.
"I am—" it said, its voice layered, echoing as though spoken by many mouths at once, "—the Divine Flame of Curses."
Jae's breath hitched.
The title alone carried weight.
Not mana.
Not killing intent.
Something older.
"…Divine…?" Jae murmured. "A flame?"
His thoughts raced.
Divine Flames were not myths.
They were recorded in ancient scripture—stories passed down from the earliest civilizations, fragments of truth buried beneath doctrine and fear.
Stories of creation.
Of Adam and Eve.
Of Paradise lost.
It was said that when humanity was cast out of Eden—when sin, suffering, and death were introduced into the world—God, in His mercy, created three Divine Flames.
Guardians.
Protectors.
Pillars meant to stand between humanity and annihilation.
Jae swallowed.
The Divine Flame of Shadows—
Bearer of darkness and secrecy. Master of shadows, forbidden sorcery, and the power to bind the dead, allowing fallen souls to return as shadows tethered to its will.
The Divine Flame of the White Moon—
Keeper of the celestial cycle. Warden of time, space, tides, and fate. It governed causality itself, bending moments, folding distance, watching over the passage of eras like a silent observer.
And the strongest of them all—
The Divine Flame of the Sun—
Embodiment of creation and destruction. Ruler of fire, heat, magma, stars, and life-giving light. The flame that forged civilizations… and erased them.
Three.
Always three.
"…There isn't a Divine Flame of Curses," Jae said slowly. "That doesn't exist."
The being of red-and-black fire regarded him in silence.
Then—
"That is because the truth was buried."
The flames flared violently.
"There was a fourth flame," it continued. "One the others erased from history. One they Rejected."
Jae clenched his fists.
"…You're saying the stories are lies?"
"Fragments," the flame corrected. "Convenient omissions."
It stepped closer.
"The Divine Flames did not protect humanity," it said. "They used it."
Jae's heart began to pound.
"They are the reason Yokai exist," the flame continued, its voice lowering. "The reason abominations roam your world. The reason suffering was refined… perfected."
Jae shook his head.
"No. That doesn't make sense."
Silence.
Then—
"They are also the reason," the flame said quietly, "my student killed your father."
The world stopped.
Jae's vision blurred.
"…What?"
Veins stood out along his neck as his jaw clenched, teeth grinding so hard blood leaked from his bitten lip.
"What the hell did you just say?"
The Divine Flame of Curses raised one burning hand, stopping inches from Jae's face.
"I will show you," it said. "The truth of the Divine Flames. And the truth behind your hatred."
The familiar dizziness struck him.
The same sensation he had felt before the Emperor statues.
The world tilted.
Darkness consumed him.
Jae awoke to metal.
Cold.
Unyielding.
He lay on a vast steel floor, its surface etched with glowing runes that pulsed faintly like veins beneath skin.
He wasn't alone.
Before him stood four figures.
Four Divine Flames.
The Sun burned brightest—golden, blinding, majestic.
The White Moon glowed pale and serene, its flame calm and distant, warping the space around it.
Shadows coiled unnaturally around the third, swallowing light, whispering secrets.
And the fourth—
The Flame of Curses.
But it was different.
No longer red and black.
It burned pure crimson, warm and gentle, its presence comforting.
Peaceful.
Jae stared.
"…You," he whispered.
The flames moved.
They walked—
Straight through him.
Jae gasped.
"They can't see me…"
A memory.
A vision.
The Divine Flame of the Sun spoke.
"They're almost finished," it said. "Soon, we will turn humans into gods."
The Flame of Curses roared.
"You arrogant fool!" it thundered. "You are using them as test subjects! Our purpose was to protect humanity!"
The Sun Flame flickered.
"I knew you would say that," it replied coldly.
"Divine Flame of Love."
Jae froze.
"…Love?"
The Sun Flame turned.
"That is why we agreed to remove you."
The Flame of Love recoiled.
"…What do you mean?"
"Consider yourself fortunate," the Sun said. "If not for God's Oath, you would have been destroyed."
The three flames began chanting.
Ancient words.
Older than language.
"Lux finitur."
"Umbra ligat."
"Luna testatur."
Chains of shadow and runes erupted, binding the Flame of Love.
It screamed.
Its beautiful red light darkened.
Corrupted.
The Sun Flame spoke one final decree:
"From this moment on, you shall bear a new name."
The flame's purity shattered.
Black bled into red.
"You are no longer Love."
"You are the Divine Flame of Curses."
Jae staggered back
"So… that's how you became the Divine Flame of Curses," he said hoarsely.
The words tasted bitter.
But then—
Something shifted.
The vision warped, trembling like a cracked mirror.
"There was more," the flame said from a far. "Something even they did not foresee."
The world twisted.
An unseen force rippled through the divine chamber.
"There existed another oath," the flame continued, its voice heavy. "One not spoken. One not written into scripture."
An Oath of Betrayal.
If a Divine Flame betrayed another…
There would be consequences.
Severe ones.
Jae's breath caught as the scene changed.
Behind the flames, the human test subject—the one encased in glass—began to twitch.
Small at first.
Barely noticeable.
Then—
Crack.
A fissure split across the containment chamber.
The human convulsed violently.
Bones shifted.
Snapped.
Reformed.
Skin tore as coarse black fur erupted from beneath it. Fingers elongated into claws. The spine bent grotesquely, vertebrae popping one after another as the body reshaped itself into something wrong.
Something demonic.
The Divine Flame of the Sun recoiled.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" it screamed.
The chanting broke.
The runes faltered.
The human—no, the thing—let out a scream that shook the realm itself.
"GAAAAHHHHHHH—!!"
The glass shattered.
Shards exploded outward as the creature burst free, eyes burning with feral madness.
It didn't attack.
It ran.
Tearing through the chamber.
Escaping.
And that—
That was the beginning.
The vision fractured again.
Jae was no longer among the Divine Flames.
He stood in a familiar world.
Villages.
Cities.
Homes.
And then—
People began to change.
A mother clutched her child—
Her bones snapped.
Her jaw unhinged.
She transformed mid-scream and tore into her own baby.
A husband shielded his family—
Fur erupted from his back as his arms elongated into talons.
Animals twisted into abominations, mauling entire households.
Blood soaked the ground.
Screams drowned the sky.
Jae stumbled back, horror freezing his veins.
"No… no—!"
He saw them.
The statues.
The ones outside the ruins.
The kneeling Yokai.
The frozen humans.
Every pose.
Every expression.
Every scream carved into stone.
They weren't symbols.
They were records.
Memories preserved at the moment of annihilation.
The vision blinked.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Each flash another atrocity.
Another family.
Another city erased.
Jae's knees buckled.
He collapsed, clutching his head as the images assaulted him relentlessly.
"STOP—!!"
The screams overlapped.
Echoed.
Multiplied.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!!"
His cry tore through the void.
And then—
Silence.
The vision shattered completely.
Darkness reclaimed him.
His breath came in ragged gasps as the truth settled into his bones.
The Divine Flames were not saviors.
They were the architects of hell.
And curses were never born from malice—
They were born from betrayal.