You stand at the top of Mount Korin.

The wind howls around you, cold and sharp, but you barely notice it. Storms twist across the sky, lit with strange colors—green, purple, and black. Symbols carved into the stone glow red beneath your feet. They pulse like a heartbeat. Your heartbeat. Or what’s left of it.

You are no longer the boy called Ralen. That name belongs to another life. A life of pain, of loneliness, of failure.

Now, you are Ralen the Hollow Flame, chosen of the Deep Fire. The cult that found you in the ruins gave you purpose. They gave you power beyond what any human was meant to hold. And now, after hundreds of years, you're ready. The world will burn.

Your arms rise. You chant in the old tongue. Deep beneath you, Earth's core starts to shift. One more word, one more moment, and it will all be over. No more betrayal. No more weakness. No more world.

But then, voices. Footsteps on the stone.

You don’t have to look to know. Imperial soldiers. You feel the heat of their weapons pointed at your back. A voice calls out. Calm. Commanding.

“Ralen. Please. Step away from the altar.”

You don’t turn. You don’t stop.

“Don’t waste your breath,” you say. “This is the end.”

Another step. Then another.

“I know what they did to you. I know how the world failed you. But this doesn’t have to be the way.”

You finally look. The commander stands tall, surrounded by his men. They’re scared. You can see it in their eyes. Good. They should be.

“I am no longer part of your world,” you tell him. “And soon, there won’t be one left to belong to.”

The soldiers raise their weapons. Just one word from you, and they’ll burn. But the commander raises a hand. “Hold fire.” Then, everything changes.

A light appears just in front of you. Soft, warm, nothing like the cult’s dark fire.

A girl steps forward. No armor. No weapons. Just her. Hair like copper. Eyes like summer rain. The storm seems to pause for her. You know her. You could never forget her.

“Ana...?”

Her name is a whisper on your lips. A ghost you thought was long gone.

She stares at you, eyes wide. “Ralen... it is you.”

Your breath catches. Your chest tightens in a way you haven’t felt in centuries.

“Ana, you.. how...?”

She takes a step closer.

“I came looking for you,” she says. “I never stopped.”

You feel the power in your veins flicker. For the first time, doubt creeps in. Memories flood back. Laughter between classes. Her hand brushing yours. The letter you never gave her.

The Deep Fire growls in your mind: “She is weakness. She is your cage. Finish it. Tear the world open.”

You stand at the edge of godhood, and yet...

She’s looking at you like you still matter. Like there’s still someone human behind the fire in your eyes.

Do you speak the final word and destroy the world as you planned?

Or do you step away… and face what you became?

What will you do, Ralen?