> [Location: Northern Dusk Marsh – Fogveil Border]
Travel Status: Tempest Engaged (Stealth Flight Mode Active)
Escort: Lin Suyin (Temporarily Detached)
Time Since Signal Trigger: 36 Hours
Target: Yan Feng – Status: Presumed Deceased (Contradicted by Monolith Memory Trace)
---
Entering the Marsh
Tempest glided just above the mist-thick trees of the Northern Dusk Marsh, his wings leaving faint ripples through the vaporous air. Below, memory fog rolled over the wetlands, thick with distorted echoes—failed flame imprints, broken soul fragments, and Sovereign test zones long since abandoned.
> "This whole place feels… haunted," Lin Suyin murmured from behind, scanning the mist.
Jiang didn't answer.
He could feel something ahead.
Not a beast.
Not a trap.
Something waiting.
> [Zone Entry Confirmed: Fogveil Borderlands]
Warning: System Visibility Obscured – Flame Signal Unstable – Relic Artifacts May Behave Erratically]
---
The Flame That Whispers
They made camp in the hollow of a dead flame tree. The Phoenix Hatchling refused to leave Jiang's side, feathers bristling every time the fog thickened.
That night, the fire Jiang lit didn't burn orange.
It burned blue.
A memory flame.
It formed a ring—and a voice spilled from it.
> "You found the Monolith."
"Then you deserve the rest of the truth."
Jiang's eyes sharpened. "Yan Feng."
The flame surged, then focused into a projection—a tall man, silver hair tied back, eyes unreadable but piercing. A faint scar marked his temple.
> "This isn't a call. It's a door."
> "Come to the center of the marsh. I sealed something beneath the old Sovereign relay tower. Something Long Chen didn't dare show the world."
> "But if you're truly Free Flame… you'll understand why he died for it."
The fire snapped out.
---
Into the Heart of the Marsh
By morning, they reached the tower.
Or what was left of it—a collapsed spire wrapped in vines, blackened with ancient flame runes. It was a Sovereign Relay Node once—used to send trial commands across provinces.
Now it pulsed with nullfire—anti-flame, created to destroy soul energy.
> "Whatever's down there," Lin Suyin whispered, "wasn't meant to ever rise again."
Jiang stepped forward.
The glyph on his hand—granted by the Monolith—glowed.
The vines parted.
A stairway appeared, spiraling down beneath the tower base.
And the fog… followed him in.
---
Trial of the Sealed Flame
The underground chamber was round, made of soulglass. Seven mirrors lined the walls—each one flickering with visions of Jiang's past.
But it was the center that held his focus.
A pedestal.
Upon it: a blade, sealed in cracked flame crystal. Elegant. Deadly.
And bound in Long Chen's flame signature.
> [Object Identified: Echofang – Last Artifact Forged by Long Chen During the Sovereign Collapse]
Status: Unused. Incomplete. Key Required to Awaken: Memory Flame Carrier + Yan Feng's Sigil]
Jiang reached for it—
And the chamber reacted.
> [Trial Initiated – Flame Echo Imprint Detected]
Replicating Final Duel: Subject – Long Chen vs. Sovereign Class Enforcer]
The flame surged.
And the shadows came alive.
---
Battle Memory – The Final Stand
Jiang was pulled into the flame-vision.
He wasn't himself.
He was Long Chen—eyes burning, cloak shredded, holding Echofang, facing down two Overseers at once.
> "You can take my spark," he had said. "But you'll never hold my fire."
The battle memory wasn't just a test.
It was a download—a gift Long Chen left behind.
Each slash Jiang threw in the echo taught him timing, weight, and something deeper—
Intent.
By the time the vision ended, Jiang collapsed to one knee—but Echofang pulsed in front of him, no longer dormant.
The seal had accepted him.
> [Echofang Acquired – Legacy Weapon of the First Flame Rebellion]
Special Traits: Flame Memory Adaptation, Sovereign Bypass, Twin-Bond Reactive]
New Combat Style Unlocked: Ashborn Dance – Echo-Based Counter and Slash Techniques (Mid-Range)
---
The Guardian Appears
As the last pulse faded, a slow clapping echoed through the chamber.
Yan Feng stepped out of the mist.
Alive.
Unchanged.
But scarred deeper than time.
> "So," he said, voice low, "the flame didn't choose wrong."
Jiang rose, blade in hand.
> "You were supposed to be dead."
> "So was the truth."
Yan Feng walked forward, gaze sharp.
> "You carry what Long Chen started. But to finish it, you need more than belief."
> "You need a spark that breaks fate."