Epilogue: Traces of Su Lan

(Did She Truly Disappear?)

Su Lan’s name was the first to vanish from the Flame Domain’s public records.

Not deleted.

But—
unable to be classified.

Beside her file, the Flame Order left a blank.

Not “deceased.”
Not “missing.”

But a designation never seen before in Flame Domain history:

Status:
Unable to confirm

The Nameless One tried many times to search for traces of her.

Within the Reality Null Zone, there was no fluctuation belonging to her.
In the deep layers of the Flame Order, there was no mapping of her.
In the Pyrohunter rollback data—

she was as if the world had gently wiped her away.

Clean.
Silent.

Yet some things could not be recorded by the Flame Order.

Southwest Flame Domain, Seventh Dock.

During a routine inspection, technicians discovered an anomalous residue.

Not flame.
Not non-flame.

But—
a contradictory structure that had been deliberately stabilized.

It was extremely faint.

Yet precise in a way that could not be natural.

The Flame Order attempted to parse it.

Failed.

It could only mark:

Source: Unknown
Purpose: Unknown
But—
structure shows protective inclination

The Reform Faction sealed the data.

It was not made public.

Because they vaguely realized—

this did not resemble a power.

It felt more like—
a choice that had been left behind.

Later still.

At the edge of the Reality Null Zone.

A Flame Adept, during a brief loss of consciousness, reported a vision.

Not a memory.
Not a projection.

Just a blurred silhouette.

Standing before a裂隙 in the world.

Turning back, saying a single sentence:

“Don’t be afraid.”

The Flame Order reviewed the subjective report.

Conclusion:

Cannot be falsified
Cannot be verified
But report frequency is increasing

Children were the first to sense her.

Children who never awakened flame.

On Non-Flame nights, they would point at empty street corners and say:

“There’s someone there.”

Adults thought it imagination.

Until they realized—

the children had never spoken to one another.

Yet their descriptions of “that person”
were astonishingly consistent.

A name began circulating underground.

Not “Su Lan.”

But—
“the one who stayed.”

The Nameless One eventually stopped searching.

Not because of despair.

But because—
he finally understood.

Su Lan had never been erased.

She had simply—
turned herself into a condition that could not be cleared.

She did not survive.

Nor did she die.

She became:

That one second in which the Flame Order delays execution
That moment of hesitation in a Pyrohunter’s command
That reason the world chooses not to be immediately correct

One day.

In the most stable region of the Reality Null Zone,
the Nameless One felt a faint fluctuation.

Not a summons.
Not a reply.

Just—
the world aligning itself, ever so slightly.

He smiled.

For the first time.

Without paying a price.

In the deepest layer of the Flame Order.

Beneath the nameless annotation,
another line appeared.

This time—

there was no system format.

It felt as though
someone had written it directly.

If you can read this,
then the world has not broken beyond return.

Su Lan left no name.

But she left the world
the space to keep choosing.

So she did not disappear.

She merely—
no longer needed to be seen.