Chapter 14: The Flame Domain’s All-Out Manhunt

The wanted notice was not posted on city walls.

It was written directly into the Flame Order.

For the first time in its history—
The Flame Domain declared a being an enemy through its very rules.

Year 3,722 of the Flame Domain calendar, first day of the Flame Moon.

The Flame Order arrays synchronized across the entire domain.

All Flame Cities, all sects, all array control centers received the same directive simultaneously.

Not an announcement.
But a forced cognitive imprint.

Every Flame Practitioner, at that moment, had the same concept appear in their mind:

“Flame-less one: Level One Adversary of the Flame Domain.”

No portrait.
No name.
Only a definition.

Because—
The Flame Order could no longer depict his form.

The wanted notice was extremely brief:

Target: Flame-less one

Characteristic: Source of Flame Failure

Behavioral Assessment: Existence equals threat

Processing Authority: Immediate erasure

No bounty.
No trial.

Because this was a judgment of existence itself.

The Flame Domain began to move.

Flame Cities sealed their borders.
Flame arrays ran at full power.
Flame Envoys, Flame Guards, and Flame Hunters were authorized maximum freedom of action.

But the first to feel unease—
Were not ordinary people.

It was those standing at the edges of the system.

Some noticed anomalies.

In certain regions, Flame Techniques became unstable.
The failure rate of Flame Devices rose.

And the moment Flame deviated even slightly—
Patrolling Flame Envoys arrived immediately.

Their first question was not “why.”

It was:

“Has anyone seen Flame-less reaction here?”

Panic spread rapidly.

Some began reporting voluntarily.

Not out of hatred.
But out of fear of being implicated.

In the black market, the tide turned overnight.

The so-called “Flame-less body techniques” became prohibited.
Owners were instantly added to inspection lists.

Yet at the same time,
Prices surged.

Because some realized—
The more the Flame Domain panicked, the more one thing became clear:

Flame was truly becoming unreliable.

The Flame Prison.

Su Lan was held in solitary confinement.

Not for torture.
Not for interrogation.

But for complete isolation.

Her Flame perception had been stripped, her senses sealed.

This was how the Flame Domain dealt with “those who crossed the bounds of thought.”

Yet in the darkness, she remained remarkably calm.

Because she knew—
Those three breaths had altered the world line.

“You’ve already lost.”
She whispered silently in her mind.
“You just haven’t realized it yet.”

Meanwhile, in an unnamed corner of the world.

Lin Jin—or rather, the man without a name—
Awoke in a dilapidated hunter’s cabin.

He did not know who he was.
Did not know the Flame Domain.
Did not know of the manhunt.

He only felt the weight of his body and the searing pain of his wounds.

Yet when a patrolling Flame Envoy passed outside—

Flame devices temporarily failed.
Flame perception went blank.

The Envoy’s heart tightened.

“Something’s wrong.”

They exchanged a glance.

And in the next moment,
The cold definition from the wanted notice appeared in their minds:

Existence equals threat.

The Flame Domain’s all-out manhunt had officially taken effect.

And the true prey—
Was in the seams of the world, relearning how to breathe.