"To consume is easy. To carry what you've consumed… that is the curse of power."
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Scene 1 — Underworld Breach, Level 37
A deep hum vibrated through the ancient Underworld Labyrinth beneath Old Eurasia.
Researchers screamed as black-gold fire surged through their soul-forged shielding. Nothing held. Not even hope.
From the void emerged Kai'en—his once-silver eyes now burning black with a golden slit, like a star collapsing inward.
> Kai'en: "They called it divine. But it was always meant to devour."
Behind him, the voice of Mo Xie echoed from a rift of nothingness:
> "You are the First Devourer. Burn the world—not to destroy, but to consume its truths."
With a wave, Kai'en ignited the entire compound.
Yet the flames didn't burn flesh—they burned memories.
The surviving researchers forgot their own names. Their identities. Their purpose.
The world above wouldn't even know they ever existed.
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Scene 2 — Sky Temple: Flame Archive
Kaien sat before the Sovereign Archive—a living book bound in the hide of voidbeasts, inked in celestial flame.
> Sun Mei: "We've located Kai'en. But he's no longer touching our plane. He's in something older. A sub-temporal channel."
Kaien turned the page.
And then stopped.
Because the next chapter in the Archive—the part detailing Wang Chung's flame origin—was ripped out.
> Kaien (frowning): "What happened to this page?"
> Sun Mei: "The truth was too dangerous. Even for Wang Chung."
Kaien closed his eyes. And then, flames enveloped him—not destructive, but searching.
And from the fire, a voice emerged.
> Wang Chung's Echo (from the flame): "I didn't create the Sovereign Flame. I stole it. From something that should have never existed."
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Scene 3 — The Broken Sky Rift
Across the horizon, a giant flaming crack tore open the sky over the Pacific. It was like a second sun—but this one screamed.
Governments went into lockdown.
Spiritual corporations scrambled.
People stared up, trembling.
And from that flame descended Kai'en—in a cloak of starfire and shadows.
He landed in a shattered plaza, where Kaien had first awakened months ago.
> "Hello, twin," Kai'en said, smirking.
> "You've taken too much," Kaien replied.
> "I've taken what you denied."
Their flames surged simultaneously.
But this time, Kaien's was overwhelmed.
His fire—pure and radiant—shrieked in the presence of the Devouring Flame. It began to unravel.
Kaien stumbled.
> "What… is this?"
> Kai'en: "Not all power heals. Some burns away lies."
And with a single touch, he scarred Kaien's shoulder—not physically.
But spiritually.
A corruption mark flared: a black-gold lotus embedded into Kaien's fire-sea.
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Scene 4 — The Memory Prison
Kaien awoke inside a shifting void.
No sky. No earth. Only looping memories.
He saw Yu Meilan's final smile.
Wang Chung's last words.
And a new memory that wasn't his:
A war… from before the Age of Sovereigns.
A godlike being screaming as flames consumed it.
Wang Chung standing before it… whispering: "Forgive me."
> Kaien (whispers): "What did you do…?"
A mirror appeared before him.
He saw himself.
And Kai'en.
And then… they became one reflection.
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Scene 5 — Return and Resolve
Kaien burst awake in the Sky Temple infirmary.
Sun Mei looked shocked. "You vanished for three hours."
> "Three hours?" Kaien asked. "It felt like years."
He looked at his hands. The mark still burned faintly.
The Sovereign Flame… was shifting.
Not just fire.
But memory.
Emotion.
Truth.
> Kaien (softly): "The Devouring Flame doesn't destroy. It shows what's been hidden."
> "Can you handle that?" Sun Mei asked.
> "I'll have to. Or the world dies in illusion."
Outside, cities rebuilt.
But the stars above swirled wrong.
Because Mo Xie was watching again.