They left before dawn.
Kaien walked first, with Nyru at his heel and his flame hidden, wearing not a crown, but silence. Behind him trailed the other three disciples—Seren with dreamfire dancing at her fingertips, Rin cloaked in ash-banded chainmail, and Veyra with the judgment sigil on her brow faintly pulsing.
"No speaking past the Veilstone," Kaien warned as they crossed the last ridge."Words echo in the Grove. Not always in your voice."
The Grove was not green.
It was ashen-gray, as if every tree had been carved from bone. The roots bled no sap but gave off a faint heat—dying flame, trapped in time.
They crossed under twisted archways made from ruined sect crests. Broken swords. Cracked soul mirrors. Faded oaths still humming.
"How many sects fell here?" Rin asked quietly.
"Enough to birth a god," Kaien replied.
They stepped through.
[Ashen Hollow System — Zone Entry: Sealed Ground]
Territory: The Grove of Withered NamesRank: Forbidden B-Rank Flame GraveyardPrimary Echoes Detected:— Sectless Sacred Beasts— Dormant Oath Relics— Burned Memory Sigils (Unstable)Risk Level: Tier 3 — Unwritten Flame ExposureObjective: Secure Heart Root / Awaken Guardian Beast / Claim Oathstone
As they moved deeper, the mist grew heavier.
Kaien raised a single hand.
The flame in his palm pulsed—and three paths lit before them in faint gold.
A path of jagged obsidian statues, all depicting fallen sect masters.
A path of cracked earth where beast prints burned deep into stone.
A path of silent wind and floating flame-scrolls, sealed within glass.
"We split," Kaien said.
"Veyra, with me—we take the beast path."
"Seren, Rin—you two, take the relic-scrolls. Seek memory sigils. Do not touch them directly."
"If you see a creature with no name, do not fight. Retreat and burn your echo."
They parted in silence.
— Kaien & Veyra: The Beast Grave
The deeper they went, the hotter the air grew.
And then came the bones.
Dozens. Hundreds. Massive skeletal frames of ancient spirit beasts—some still glowing faintly. Horned lion corpses. Thunder-scaled serpents. A bird with wings like inverted fire.
All with sect marks burned into their skulls.
"They bound them," Veyra said."Then abandoned them."
Kaien nodded grimly.
"Their oaths were weaker than their pride."
Suddenly, Nyru stopped.
Growled low.
A crack in the center of the grove split open. A pulse of heat surged.
And from beneath the roots, a living beast rose.
Its form was scorched crystal, half flesh, half ghost.
Its name burned into the world around it: Yraleth, Oathbound Flame-Warder.
[Boss Entity Awakened – Yraleth the Bound Flame]
Type: Ancient Pact Beast (Guardian Class)Core Rank: Mid SovereignAffinity: Oath Flame / Soul ChainTemperament: BetrayedCondition to Tame: Present a living sect oath and survive 1 minute under judgment flame
Yraleth roared.
Flames poured from its mouth in spiraling rings—each one shaped like an unspoken name. Veyra raised her ash brand and screamed a single word:
"We remember!"
Kaien stepped forward, cloak torn by heat.
"I do not come to bind you."
"I come to wake you."
He knelt.
And offered the Hollow's Flame Crest to the beast.
It paused.
Then opened its mouth again—and instead of fire, it spoke.
"Name the one you burned to build your sect."
Kaien's eyes darkened.
"Kaien Maerok."
"But he was not the first name."
The beast lunged.
Time slowed.
Back in the other path—
— Seren & Rin: The Memory Scrolls
The glass cases floated like stars in fog.
Each one contained a sealed memory. A relic of a fallen sect's final words.
Rin pointed at one.
"This one's pulsing."
Seren nodded, dreamfire flickering.
"Careful. These remember not only who held them—but who destroyed them."
She touched one scroll with her veil-flame.
It screamed.
Dozens of names poured into the air like smoke.
One hovered longest:
"Thessia Maerok."
Seren gasped.
The scroll cracked.
And a voice whispered:
"Tell him I remember."
They ran.
— Back at the Beast Grave
Kaien stood, one arm burned to bone, but his eyes clear.
Yraleth bowed.
"You spoke the name."
"Then I serve your fire."
"Until the stars forget us both."
[Beast Bond Formed – Yraleth (Dormant Guardian Pact)]
Awaiting Oathstone Anchor.Ashen Hollow Sect Influence Increased.
As they left the Grove, the flame behind them did not fade.
It stayed burning—
A reminder to every sect who passed by:
"One name survived the fire."