> [Region: Riftlands – Approach to the Monolith Grave]
System Sync: 71.4% Integration | Flame Bond Sync: Stable
Zone Status: Uncharted Memory Field – Echo Residue Active
Threat Level: Tier SS – Unknown Creature Signature Detected Ahead
---
Beneath a Dead Sun
The sky over the Riftlands was still sky—just wrong.
It shimmered without warmth, like a painted sun had been scraped thin. Wind didn't blow; it remembered blowing, and let you believe it.
Jiang and Tian Xue walked in silence. Every stone they stepped on echoed back memories that weren't theirs.
> "These aren't hallucinations," Jiang said. "They're flame memories—imprinted when the Sovereign system consumed this place."
Tian Xue nodded, her blade half-drawn, steps careful.
> "Then we walk on graves made of forgotten wars."
A glyph pulsed ahead—faint, blue-white, buried in the moss.
Jiang crouched to examine it—
The earth shuddered.
> [Warning: Flame Memory Disturbed – Guardian Triggered]
---
Emergence – The Beast That Waited
From the ash-soaked cliffs above them, a growl cut through the haze.
Something massive dropped down—scaled, serpentine, six-legged, with a body covered in molten gold veins and eyes that pulsed like coals.
It opened its mouth—and a roar echoed across the Rift, made not of sound, but of flame language. Words that seared the soul:
> "You are not the ones."
> "You are not the fire."
> "YOU ARE NOT WORTHY."
> [Entity Identified: Forgotten Beast – "Molten Howler"]
Classification: Pre-Sovereign Flame Guardian – Construct-Class Intelligence | Sentience Grade: Partial
Weak Point: Core Emberstone (Hidden beneath frontal crest)
---
Battle Engaged – Riftlands Rules
The Phoenix Hatchling dove forward instantly, flame-wrapping itself in a wing-burst meant to blind.
Jiang rolled to the right, drawing Emberfang, his Sovereign Spark flaring in sync.
> [Echo Vision Activated – Reading Last Battle Imprint from Flame Residue]
In a flash, he saw it—Long Chen, facing the same beast with three flame elders.
Only one survived.
> "Aim for the crest!" Jiang shouted. "That's where its emberstone hides!"
Tian Xue was already moving, dashing between magma-stone bursts and slamming her blade into the creature's hindleg. It barely flinched.
> "We need more power!"
Jiang's mind raced—then he drew on the newest spark ability:
> [Echo-Brand: Channel Past Flame Techniques Through Bonded Weapon]
He raised Emberfang—
And struck with Long Chen's split-triple flame arc.
It carved a crescent through the Howler's shoulder, searing deep.
The beast screeched—not in pain, but recognition.
---
Phoenix Ascends
The Hatchling locked eyes with the beast.
A flare ignited in its chest—a new flame crest forming above its crown.
> [Flame Evolution Triggered – Phoenix Hatchling has entered Mid-Phase Ascension]
New Ability: Soulflare Cry – Disrupts Memory-Based Constructs within 20m]
It screamed.
Reality rippled.
The Molten Howler staggered backward, its molten veins dimming just long enough for Tian Xue to leap, spin mid-air, and slam her soulblade into the crest.
The emberstone cracked.
Jiang followed with a full-channel spark pulse, silver-white fire coiling like a drill.
The Howler burst into fragmented flame.
Its voice whispered:
> "...The fire remembers you."
And vanished.
---
Aftermath – Guardian's Gift
Where the beast fell, a stone rose—clean, polished obsidian, inscribed in glyphs only Echo Vision could read.
Jiang stepped close.
Words appeared to only him:
> "If you have reached here, then the fire has not died. The true Monolith lies past the bone altar. But beware—what guards it is no beast. It is a man who chose silence over salvation."
—Huo-Shan, Last Archivist of the First Path
Jiang turned to Tian Xue.
> "We're almost there."
She wiped ash from her cheek.
> "Then let's finish what none of them could."