The Sanctuary trembled.
From the altar, the Dragon King's soul had risen—no longer a flickering remnant, but a colossal golden dragon, wreathed in fire and shadows, its eyes glowing with divine fury.
The air vibrated. The ground cracked beneath the group's feet.
Kaien stepped forward, flames already dancing up his arms. The Second Seal pulsed on his shoulder, glowing like a living brand.
"This is it," he whispered. "The final trial. If I survive this… I'll unlock the Third Seal."
Yuki joined him, frostblade drawn, the wind around her shimmering with icy tension. "We face him together."
"No," the Dragon King boomed. "This trial is for him alone. Only he carries the fire I once bore. Only he can claim the Third Seal. Or be destroyed by it."
A flaming circle erupted around Kaien, forcing the others back. The dragon's aura pressed down on him like a mountain. His knees buckled.
But he stood.
"I am Kaien Ryugami," he said through clenched teeth. "I am not your shadow. I am your legacy."
The Dragon King roared—and lunged.
Kaien vs. The Dragon King's Soul
The battle began with fire so intense it turned the stone platform into molten glass. Kaien barely dodged the first strike, flipping backward and summoning his flameblade.
"Dragon Fang Strike – Fifth Form: Ember Shatter!"
He launched forward, blade splitting into three flaming arcs, but the dragon's claws swatted them away like dust.
The King's voice thundered in his head:
"You wield power. But you do not yet wield balance.Flame without control… becomes destruction."
Kaien roared back, "Then I'll learn!"
He pushed harder, flames flaring gold. His aura merged with the wings behind him, forming a partially draconic silhouette—horns forming, fire coiling like a living creature.
His heartbeat matched the rhythm of the King's roars.
His vision blurred—but something clicked.
He stopped fighting against the King's soul… and began syncing with it.
Awakening the Third Seal
Kaien raised his hand—and the flames didn't lash out.
They flowed.
Smooth, graceful, powerful.
The Third Seal cracked open like a shell, pouring energy into him. Markings spiraled down his arm and across his chest, forming a radiant golden tattoo of a coiled dragon encircling a lotus of fire.
His body lifted from the ground—his hair streaked with flame, his eyes pure gold, his aura now controlled, majestic.
The Dragon King halted mid-attack.
A silence fell.
"You have done… what I could not.You have embraced power without corruption."
Kaien's voice was calm. "Because I'm not just your heir. I'm me."
The dragon soul exhaled.
Then, slowly… it bowed its head.
"Then take my true flame. Take what was lost.And forge a future we never had."
Golden light enveloped Kaien.
The Third Seal fully awakened.
Outside the Trial — The Ashborn Attack
But as Kaien opened his eyes, now glowing with celestial fire, the Sanctuary cracked violently.
Darkness poured in.
Seirath, Chosen of the Ashborn Cult, had arrived—flanked by dozens of cloaked acolytes and twisted spirit beasts.
The traitor from earlier appeared too, now fully corrupted, his left side a blackened skeletal construct.
"You took the King's flame," Seirath said with quiet rage. "But the rage belongs to us."
Kaien stepped forward, now radiating power unlike anything before.
Baran readied his club. "We've got company."
Reizo, still bruised, grinned. "Time to blow them away."
Akari's flame ignited her hair like a phoenix crown. "Let's burn the cult to ash."
Yuki walked to Kaien's side, her frost aura harmonizing with his fire. "Together?"
He nodded.
"Together."
The Final Battle Begins
The Sanctuary became a battlefield.
Reizo summoned wind tornados to throw back charging beasts. Baran's fists shattered rock and bone alike. Akari's fire lit the skies.
But the cult's elite warriors fought like demons—empowered by corrupted dragon flame.
Kaien and Yuki fought Seirath side by side, fire and ice combining into a devastating Stormfire Tempest that blew away the first wave.
But Seirath was no ordinary enemy.
He held up a black orb—within it, a fragment of the Dragon King's wrath.
"Your legacy is divided," he spat. "And I carry the forgotten half."
He plunged the orb into his chest.
And began to transform.
Seirath: Wrath Incarnate
His body exploded with black flame.
A second pair of horns grew from his head. Wings of cursed ash erupted from his back. His eyes turned entirely red.
Seirath had become Wrath Incarnate—half-man, half-dragon, fully consumed.
The power rocked the Sanctuary.
Yuki stepped back, shielding herself from the pressure. "We can't let him reach the altar. If he corrupts the true flame—"
Kaien clenched his fists. "Then I'll end this. Here and now."
He took to the skies, wings blazing with golden fire.
Kaien vs. Seirath had begun.