> [Location: Outer Echo Hollow – Mistwound Vale, Northern Dusk Marsh]
Participants: Jiang Han, Yan Feng
Status: Training Interrupted – Hostile Contact Detected
New Objective: Survive First Encounter with Sovereign Enforcer Squad
Flame Evolution Chance: Triggered – Phase III: Unbound Spark (Conditional)
Warning: This event may result in permanent system deviation.
---
Uninvited Guests
The fog turned gray.
Not natural.
Not marsh-born.
Yan Feng rose from his meditation as a piercing vibration cracked the silence.
> "Enforcers," he said. "Three, maybe four. Low Sovereign grade. They've got a locator crystal tied to your system deviation."
> "Then they came for me," Jiang said, drawing Echofang.
> "They came to erase you."
---
The First Flame Clash
The marsh split open with the arrival of the Enforcers. Their cloaks bore Sovereign Division seals, their weapons humming with compressed time-state glyphs.
> "Jiang Han," one barked. "Flame Rebellion Code violation. Surrender your spark for cleansing."
> "I already burned that code," he replied. "And I'm not giving my spark. I'm letting it grow."
The lead enforcer moved like thunder.
A red slash ripped through the mist—Jiang barely dodged with Voidflare Step, flickering between seconds.
> "He's trained!" one of them shouted. "Feng's style!"
Jiang swung Echofang, now pulsing with memory thread. The blade left not a cut—but an echoing flame wound, refusing to extinguish.
Yan Feng leapt into the fray behind him, flames spiraling like falling stars.
But one of the enforcers locked eyes with Jiang.
> "Your flame isn't yours. I see it—it's from the Monolith."
> "So what?" Jiang hissed.
> "So it doesn't belong in this world."
---
When the Flame Breaks Back
Pinned between two enforcers, Jiang reached for Voidflare again—but his threads snapped mid-channel.
The enemy's blade came down—
—and in that moment, something inside him cracked.
Not fear. Not instinct.
Flame.
But not the same one.
It twisted.
And for a split second, time shuddered.
Everything slowed. The world went flat.
Jiang moved through it like a ripple in a frozen lake.
His flame surged with new color—silver and violet, threaded with anti-memory.
When he slashed with Echofang this time—
The blade disappeared.
And then reappeared behind his enemy.
Blood hit the ground before the scream.
---
Flame Phase III: Unbound Spark
Yan Feng turned as the light changed.
> "That's not Free Flame," he said. "That's…"
> "Chaos Flame," Jiang murmured. "It was buried beneath my spark. Always there. Waiting."
> "You weren't meant to awaken that phase without guidance."
> "Guess we're past 'meant to,' aren't we?"
The last Enforcer stood trembling.
> "The Council will send stronger ones. You can't hide in these swamps forever."
Jiang stepped forward, eyes glowing with chaotic fire.
> "I won't be hiding."
> "I'll be burning a path forward."
---
Aftermath
The swamp quieted again. Jiang's hands still trembled, his threads wild but stabilizing.
Yan Feng watched him silently.
> "Do you understand what you've done?" he asked.
> "No," Jiang admitted. "But it feels right."
> "It feels wrong," Yan Feng replied. "And that's how I know you're ready for the next lesson."