Chapter 21:
Chapter 21: The Flame Domain’s First Public Collapse
Flame Veins of the Nine Heavens
(Order Fails)
The collapse of the Flame Domain did not begin with a disaster.
It began with—
A delay that could not be explained.
In the Flame Domain’s capital, after the seventh chime of the Flame Bell,
The Flame Order Calibration Announcement, which should have been synchronized across the domain, was late by three heartbeats.
Three heartbeats.
To ordinary citizens, it was merely a brief pause.
But to the Flame Domain—
It was a public mistake.
Finally, the announcement appeared.
The text, however, was malfunctioning.
In the projected flame patterns, several lines kept rewriting themselves:
Flame Order Calibration Completed
Flame Order Calibration Not Completed
Flame Order Calibration Status: Pending Confirmation
It was not garbled text.
It was—
The Flame Order hesitating.
In the city, a subtle unrest began to stir.
Flame practitioners lifted their heads.
For the first time, they saw—
Flame patterns that weren’t certain.
Immediately after, the second anomaly appeared—in flame energy allocation.
The previously stable flow of flame suddenly dropped in District Three.
It wasn’t depletion.
It was—
Dispatch failure.
The Flame Order could not decide who should receive priority.
The third anomaly followed.
The Flame Domain’s surveillance arrays temporarily lost their target locks.
Several “marked observers” vanished from the system’s view.
They hadn’t escaped.
The system simply could not confirm their existence.
Word spread quickly through the Flame Domain.
No one dared speak loudly.
Yet everyone felt—
Something that should never have happened, was happening.
The Flame Lords’ Council convened an emergency meeting.
Before the Flame Order console, lights flickered chaotically.
One Flame Lord whispered:
“This is a chain reaction.”
“The breach in the Flame Prison… it wasn’t sealed.”
“It was only… delayed.”
Another Flame Lord’s face went pale.
“Immediately activate the Hunter-Of-Flame second series.”
“Restore order—faster than ever.”
But the instant the command was issued,
The Flame Order console displayed that note.
The note—
Unsigned. Unattributed.
The council fell into a brief silence.
That annotation—
It wasn’t in any permission record.
It couldn’t be traced.
It couldn’t be deleted.
“This is a loophole,” a Flame Lord said coldly.
“No,” another slowly shook their head.
“This… is advice.”
While debate erupted,
Outside the Flame Domain capital,
In a normal city street,
Flame flow suddenly faltered.
Not an explosion.
But—
Extinction.
The flame lamps along the street went out, one by one.
For the first time in the Flame Domain’s night, the people saw—
True darkness.
Panic began to spread.
Not because of danger.
But because—
The Flame Domain had promised this would never happen.
Flame practitioners tried to mobilize flame.
Failed.
Their flame perception remained.
But the flame no longer responded as it “should.”
The Flame Domain broadcast tried to intervene.
But the voice was cut off.
Only a fragment remained:
“All citizens, please remain—”
Then silence.
At this moment,
The Flame Domain lost its omniscient mask in front of everyone, for the first time.
And outside the city, in the wilderness,
The Hunter-Of-Flame second series was being awakened.
Yet at the same time,
The feedback from the first series showed anomalies.
Target existence stability: Low
Tracking efficiency: Decreasing
Cause: World interference
The Flame Lords realized—
Even the Hunters-Of-Flame were now affected by the failure of order.
The Flame Domain was no longer absolute.
This was the first time.
And the deadliest.
Word of the chaos spread through non-flame channels.
Neighboring powers began to watch.
Some were fearful.
Some were excited.
Some finally saw opportunity.
And at the edge of the chaos,
The Nameless One stood on high ground.
He gazed at the Flame Domain’s capital.
That once unshakable beacon of order,
Was gradually dimming.
He whispered softly:
“Ah… so even you are afraid of the dark.”
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