"What if your enemy knew you better than you knew yourself?"
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Scene 1 — Shared Dreamscape: The Mirror Veil
Kaien stood in a white void.
No ground. No sky. Just silence.
Then—a ripple. And another version of him stepped forward. Same face. Same voice. But something was wrong. His hair was ink-black. His eyes… voids.
> "You're not real," Kaien said.
The other smiled. A dark, cracked pendant gleamed at his chest.
> "Wrong. I'm you—unshackled."
> "You're Kai'en," Kaien whispered, the name tasting bitter. "The one the Temple made."
They circled one another. Like twin flames splitting a candle.
> "You dream of protecting," Kai'en sneered. "But protection is weakness. Fire that heals is fire that dies."
Kaien clenched his fists.
> "I won't become you."
> "You already are," Kai'en said. "Every time you hesitate. Every time you forgive. That's when I grow inside you."
The white void trembled. Shadows crawled.
And then—Kaien's chest erupted in flame, and Kai'en staggered back, burned for the first time.
Kaien's voice echoed like thunder:
> "I'm not your reflection. I'm your end."
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Scene 2 — Sky Temple, Mission Briefing
Kaien awoke on the temple balcony, gasping. His chest mark flared.
Master Sun Mei stood nearby, watching the horizon.
> "He reached you."
> "Who is he?" Kaien asked.
> "Your counterpart. Your test. You are the Sovereign Flame reborn. He is the Sovereign Flame twisted. Where you walk, he follows."
She gestured to a projection screen.
> "Your first mission will take you to Neo-Shanghai Sector 3. There's a high-density void breach under the city. Civilians report dreams filled with fire and mirrors. You must investigate… and decide who to save."
Kaien stood tall, his breath steady.
> "When do I leave?"
> "Now."
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Scene 3 — Neo-Shanghai Sector 3, Ground Level
Modern skyscrapers floated in layered rings, each platform connected by neon bridges and drone lanes. Civilians wore a blend of tech and talismans—AR glasses inscribed with defense seals, earpieces that read spiritual signatures.
Cultivation had become fashion. Technology had become divine.
Kaien stepped through the light gate and arrived in a storm of energy.
Everyone turned.
The pendant on his chest glowed visibly—and murmurs spread fast.
> "Is that the Flame Bearer?"
> "Didn't that legend die centuries ago?"
A little girl tugged her mother's sleeve.
> "Mom, that's the fire hero from the stories, right?"
Kaien's heart trembled.
And then—the ground split.
From below, a twisted mass of flame and shadow burst upward, screaming in a dozen languages.
A void creature, infected with Sovereign residue.
Kaien's mark ignited.
> "Solar Cycle: Second Bloom."
He dashed forward, sliding under the monster's claws, palms glowing. With a sweep of his arm, he drew a ring of fire in the air and slammed it downward.
WHOOM—
The beast shattered into fragments of broken qi.
Kaien stood amid the swirling ash, breathing hard.
> "Not a dream," he whispered. "He's here. His influence is already spreading."
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Scene 4 — Elsewhere: The Mirror Child Watches
From atop a tower, Kai'en smiled coldly, a black cloak fluttering in the wind.
He whispered one word:
> "Soon."