The sky above the Vistro estate no longer felt natural. It was like the world itself had been torn open and turned into a stage for destruction. When the Duke wiped his blood across his palm and spoke the summoning words, the change was instant. The air became suffocating, like a giant furnace closing in. The clouds burned away in seconds, leaving an empty sky that was quickly filled with a living heat that pressed down on everything below.
From the rift in the sky, the Flame Phoenix appeared. Its wings stretched wide enough to darken the entire valley, formed from flowing waves of blazing solar flames. Every time it flapped its wings, fire rolled across the land, turning the night sky into a red, endless dawn. When the creature roared, it sounded like a star collapsing, and the air itself seemed to catch fire.
