[Chp 13.1] The Ember Reign

The kingdom of Nerathis, a shimmering bastion of sea temples, tide-forged cities, and ocean-born magic, lay cradled by cliffs and the ever-turning waves, its people known for their harmony with the water and their unmatched naval mastery. On a morning like any other, the coastal winds carried salt and song as the capital, Vaelyss, stirred to life. But far beyond the horizon, the sea began to hiss. A tremor rippled beneath the waves. Fishermen paused, their nets halfway cast, as the ocean started to warm unnaturally. Seagulls dropped from the sky, and the air grew thick and sharp, tasting of ash. “What’s going on?” One of the civilian's said. “I don’t know...” Another said. “Hell shower.” A voice said from a distance. Rocks bigger than a house started to appear from the thick dense ash from the sky. The general looked up and notice this. “Everyone! Watch out! Meteors are coming down!” They were coming down to fast for anybody to react. Meteor after Meteor came crashing down onto the Kingdom of Nerathis, house, towers, everything exploding from the Meteors. “Queen Lyriana! We must get you out of here! It’s Ember Vow—one of their top members is here!” And above the chaos, something vast pierced the veil of ash—not a meteor, but a monstrous silhouette. A figure—titanic, jagged, alive with violent energy—descended like a god of war. Crimson armor bristling with spikes caught the dying sunlight, and at his side, Twin colossal greatswords wreathed in roaring flame crackled with raw, volatile energy, each swing threatening to tear the very air apart. From beneath his horned helm, two eyes blazed like molten fire. Azarek had come. “Every last one of you will either join Ember Vow…” he roared, his voice shaking rooftops, “…or die trying to defend this pathetic little kingdom!” He laughed—deep, booming, cruel—the kind of laugh that made even the bravest hesitate. On the ground below, the kingdom’s last line of defense stood firm. One general, eyes locked on the monster above, planted his feet with such force the stone beneath him cracked like glass. “I WILL STOP YOU!” he bellowed, and launched himself into the sky, rocketing upward with burning resolve, a streak of defiance slicing through the falling ash. Then the sky split open. Thousands descended—soldiers draped in ember-scarred armor, their banners aflame with the mark of Ember Vow: a black crown engulfed in fire. The sound of war drums echoed like thunder. Azarek raised his hammer high. “NOW GO, MEN! Leave no one breathing!” The armies collided in a storm of metal and fire. Steel rang, spells shattered the air, towers crumbled. The tide-forged city of Vaelyss—once a beacon of oceanic majesty—was consumed in a maelstrom of smoke, screams, and flame. The general swinged his blade straight at Azarek, He block like it was nothing. “Before we fight...” Azarek said. “What is your name?” as he said that, he rammed his foot into his gut sending him flying straight to the Queens throne room. “You were too slow!” Azarek roared. “General Tusk!” Queen Lyriana said.” The general groaned, dragging himself from the rubble of shattered marble and golden inlays now charred black with soot. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth, but his grip on his blade never loosened. “I am General Tusk of the Tidal Guard,” he spat, rising to his feet. “Protector of Vaelyss. Slayer of tyrants.” He planted his sword beside him with a thunderous clang, eyes burning with fury. “And I will not let you lay ruin to Nerathis!” Queen Lyriana rushed to his side, her silken robes singed at the edges, her ocean-blue eyes wide with a mix of horror and pride. “You must fall back,” she said, placing a trembling hand on his shoulder. “You’re no match for him alone.” Tusk glanced at her, then at the shattered walls of the throne room, where flames licked upward like hungry serpents. “You think I care if I am or not?! Were being attack there’s no reason for me to not stay back!” Tusk launched himself straight back to Azarek. Azarek Look straight into his eyes, Tusk vanished in thin air. He blocked Tusk attack from behind. “Smart move. But sadly, I’m faster than you!” Before he could slice Tusk, Queen Lyriana Jumped at him, forming a deep blue reinforce trident, stabbing Azarek from behind. Azarek starts laughing. Lyriana’s eyes grew big in shock. Her trident went straight through him, Azarek body opened no organs, no flesh, just pure fire, it was as if his body was made up of fire itself. “As if a mortal weapon could harm me,” he said, he turned around and back hand Lyriana sending her straight to the ground making a crater. She spat out blood. “My Gueen!” Tusk yelled out. Azarek turn around. “Your Queen is already dead.” He said. “What...do you mean!?” Azarek didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand, summoning a blade of flame that hovered in the air, crackling with intense heat. He extended two fingers, and the weapon obeyed his command, moving like an extension of his will. With a sharp motion, he hurled the blazing sword directly at Lyriana. A stream of water surged from Lyriana's outstretched arm, whipping through the air with precision. The fiery blade, still crackling with energy, was sent hurtling away, smashing into a nearby rock with a deafening clang. Lyriana's arm shifted, her fingers twisting as she formed half of the water into a jagged shard, glowing with the ethereal power of the sea. “I will not let this kingdom fall! You hear me!” Lyriana body starts emitting a blue aura color, she launched her self at Azareth without thinking, Azareth, Jams his knee into her gut, she didn’t move, her arm coats in black, small faint of blue, she moved her arm and grab his neck choking him. “Impossible!” Azarek gasped, struggling in her grip. “You—You can’t! I’m made of FIRE!” Lyriana’s eyes gleamed with cold resolve. “You’re wrong," she hissed. "I’m using Obsidian Veil—a technique that allows me to form an impenetrable layer of energy around my body or my attacks. It’s designed to counter elemental users like you” She tightened her grip, her voice rising with fury. “I won’t let you make this kingdom fall!” With a surge of strength, she hurled Azarek through the air—straight into the stone wall of her kingdom with a thunderous crash. Azarek slammed into the wall with a violent impact, stone shattering around him as cracks spiderwebbed through the fortress's inner keep. Smoke and embers swirled in his wake, but before the dust could settle, he let out a low, guttural growl—more beast than man. His eyes blazed like twin suns, fury igniting anew. He smirks, “Now that was a nice trick, But that wont stop me.” His body began bursting into flames, the ground melting everytime he takes a step forward. “You may have something to inflict damage on me but That won’t stop me.” In a flash, he vanished in a blaze of fire—then reappeared right in front of Lyriana. Before she could react, the flat of his massive greatsword slammed upward, catching her in the ribs with brutal force. The impact sent her soaring through the air, crashing into a stone pillar with a thunderous crack. In a flash of an eye, Azarek kicks and jams his foot in her chest sending her more down into the ground. Lyriana's hand twitched, then slowly rose—fingers curling around Azarek’s flaming boot. His eyes widened. “What—” “Where do you think you’re going?” she snarled through gritted teeth. Her palm shimmered with gathering force, then—BOOM!—a concentrated blast of high-pressure water erupted from her hand, slamming into Azarek’s chest like a cannon. The impact sent him hurtling backward, flames sputtering as he crashed through a marble column, skidding across the battlefield in a cloud of steam and debris. Lyriana forced herself upright, one knee digging into the cracked stone as her body trembled with exertion. The blue aura around her pulsed, mingling with the faint black shimmer of Obsidian Veil that still danced across her arm. “You’re not unstoppable,” she said, her voice low but unyielding. “You bleed like the rest.” Azarek rose slowly from the rubble, a sneer curling across his burned lips. “You’re starting to irritate me, Queen.” Azarek rose from the rubble, smoke curling off his armor, chest scorched where the water had struck. His sneer turned into a grimace as he wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’re starting to irritate me, Queen,” he growled, eyes burning like twin furnaces. Lyriana stood tall, shoulders squared despite the strain. The Obsidian Veil still glimmered faintly on her arm, the energy flickering like coiled lightning beneath her skin. “Good,” she said coldly. “Because I’m just getting started.” Azarek let out a roar, both colossal greatswords igniting with renewed fury. The air distorted around him as molten heat surged outward, warping the very ground beneath his feet. With a burst of speed, he lunged forward, blades crashing down like falling suns. But Lyriana didn’t flinch. She stepped into the blow, aura flaring, and crossed her arms. The impact exploded in a flash of steam and sparks—but her defense held. As the smoke cleared, she caught one of the massive swords against her water-forged bracer and deflected the second with a sharp kick of a jetstream-enhanced leap. Midair, her hand coiled with surging energy—that same refined force—the internal-piercing version of the Obsidian Veil. She focused, breathing once. Then struck. Her palm hit Azarek square in the chest, not with force—but with precision. The energy surged into him, bypassing his blazing skin and attacking from within. Azarek staggered, choking. His flames stuttered violently. “What… did you… do…?” Lyriana dropped to the ground and raised her gaze. “Obsidian Veil doesn’t just protect. It reaches inside—strikes where your flames can’t guard.” Azarek fell to one knee, coughing embers. “You’re strong,” she said. “But you're not invincible.” “Ha… Flare Blitz!” Azarek roared. A shockwave of heat erupted as his body ignited, flames bursting outward in every direction. The very ground beneath him liquefied, marble melting into glowing magma as pillars of fire spiraled into the air, devouring everything in their path.m“Aqua Burst!” Lyriana shouted in return. Streams of high-pressure water exploded from her body, spiraling like twin serpents around her arms. They surged forward, crashing head-on into Azarek’s inferno. The two forces collided with a deafening hiss—fire burning out in steam, water boiling into vapor. The battlefield vanished beneath clouds of scalding mist. For a moment, neither side gave in Lyriana braced herself, heels digging into the shattered stone as she pushed forward, her veins glowing with oceanic energy. “You won't burn this world to ash!” she cried, pouring everything into the Aqua Burst. Azarek snarled from within the blaze, eyes burning through the mist. “Then drown trying!” Suddenly, the ground beneath Lyriana cracked—Azarek lunged through the mist like a comet, flames wreathing his greatsword. But Lyriana was ready. She raised her arm, still glowing with the internalized Obsidian Veil. Their weapons met in a blinding crash—fire and water detonating around them, a shockwave flattening the ruins. Azarek was forced back, skidding through scorched stone. His flames sputtered, dimmer than before. Breathing hard, Lyriana narrowed her eyes. “You’ve burned long enough, Azarek,” she said. She points her finger straight at his chest “Jet…Bullet!” bullet shape water shot out of her finger shooting directly into his chest. Azarek eyes widened, the blast slammed into his chest with such force it staggered him backward. Steam erupted from the impact site, and the smell of scorched skin filled the air. For a moment, silence hung between them. Then, he started laughing. Low. Deep. Ominous. Smoke curled from his mouth as he straightened, the green fire around him flaring brighter. The point of impact on his chest slowly healed over with molten veins of emerald flame. “That hurt,” he muttered, voice like a furnace roar. “Impressive, even now.” His body began to ripple and crack, muscles swelling. His skin turned darker, almost like charred obsidian, and his eyes glowed fully green. “But you should’ve aimed for my head!” Azarek let out a deeper, darker laugh—no longer human, but something ancient and monstrous. Green flames erupted violently from his body, spiraling upward and blackening the skies above the entire continent. The sun vanished behind a curtain of ash and fire, casting the land into an eerie twilight. His body began to twist and expand, bones cracking, muscles surging with infernal power. Jagged, obsidian-like scales rippled across his skin, spreading like a living armor. From his back burst a pair of massive, demonic wings—leathery and scorched, each flap sending shockwaves through the air. A long, spiked tail uncoiled from his waist, lashing the ground with bone-snapping force. His fingers stretched into deadly talons, nails hardening into blackened claws. Twin spiral horns curled upward from his skull like a dark crown, glowing faintly with runes etched in flame. His teeth elongated into fangs, a wicked grin carved across his now monstrous face. His eyes—no longer resembling anything mortal—burned emerald, wild and godless. “This…” Azarek’s voice thundered like an earthquake, distorted and layered with demonic echoes. “…is my true form.” Lyriana stumbled back, her breath catching in her throat as the wind howled around her. The pressure in the air had changed — heavier, suffocating. Her water aura flickered, unstable against the overwhelming heat now radiating from the towering demon before her. “That’s Impossible…not even a demon…can have hotter flames other than red or yellow flames!” in a quick instant Azarek dashed towards her, stabbing her chest with his entire arm. Picking her up off the ground. Lyriana’s eyes widened, coughing up blood, “H…how…I didn’t even see you come…” Coughs up more blood voice, fading. “Y-you’re…a monster…” He then slams her body into the ground. “Your dead now!” he pulls his hand out of her chest and starts burning her body. Everyone seeing this without hesitation all rushed towards Azarel, he slowly turned around and closed his eyes and reopened them wide sending them up all a blaze. “Chaos Meteor…” A giant meteor times the twice the size of kingdom, smashes into the kingdom and destroys it all. A dark laughter comes from Azareth, He has won. Kingdom of Nerathis has been defeated and destroyed.