> [System Prompt: Choose Your Path]
1. Join the Cult of Fang and Flame
2. Reject the Fang – Fight Lyria and the Bleeding Circle
3. Defer – Stall for time and uncover more secrets
Aelric's fingers twitched on his sword.
He looked at Lyria.
At Caelum, who still knelt, betrayed and broken.
At the assassins, who waited like statues.
And at the sky above—clouds swirling unnaturally above the Obsidian Spire.
"I choose…" Aelric's voice was steady.
"…none of you."
> [Option Chosen: 3 – Defer]
Branching path activated: Hidden Lore – "The Chains Beneath the Spire"
Before Lyria or the Warden could react, Aelric slammed his palm into the stone floor.
Mana surged outward—his own, mixed with the lingering embers of the Trial of Flame.
The sigil of the Shadowflame pulsed.
And the floor beneath them collapsed.
They fell through darkness.
Stone and fire and screams tangled in a vortex of mana.
They landed hard—underground.
Beneath the Spire.
Where no man had walked in centuries.
The cavern was massive.
Black stone. Red veins glowing faintly with corrupted mana.
And in the center:
Chains.
Dozens of them.
Anchored into the mountain itself.
Holding something buried beneath molten glass and crystal.
It moved.
A tremor.
Then a sound—
A whisper in no known tongue.
And all at once—
> [System Alert – Forbidden Entity Detected]
Designation: "Ur'Zhal, The First Flame"
Status: Bound
Threat Level: Catastrophic
Lyria landed hard nearby, coughing.
Her mask had cracked.
The Warden was still somewhere in the shadows.
Caelum groaned, but alive.
And Aelric stood—his eyes fixed on the sealed horror below.
A great eye opened within the molten rock.
Nine slits, glowing red.
Watching.
Knowing.
"Do you see now?" Lyria's voice was hoarse. "This is what they feared."
"The empires didn't kill the gods. They chained them."
"And now, it calls to you."
The chains groaned.
And Aelric felt it in his bones—
A pressure.
A voice in his skull.
A power offering itself.
> [System Alert – Entity Offering Pact]
Ur'Zhal, Bound Flame of Origin, offers contract fragment
Effect (Partial): Unlocks Forbidden Martial Skill – Flamebrand Devourer
Side Effect: ???
Caelum rose beside him.
"Aelric," he said, voice shaking. "Don't. That's not power. That's corruption."
Lyria, standing at the edge of the molten pit, extended her hand.
"It's choice," she whispered. "And it's yours."
For a long moment, Aelric said nothing.
The eye stared.
The chains trembled.
The world held its breath.
And Aelric…
…smiled.
"I'm done choosing between lies."
He raised his sword—and slashed the sigil on the ground.
A ripple of golden mana surged from the blade, cutting through both cult and chain.
Not freeing the god.
Not joining the rebellion.
But rejecting both.
> [System Trait Acquired: Pathforger]
You have chosen your own way. Future quests and rewards will now diverge from all known legacy paths.
> Skill Unlocked: Flamebrand Devourer (Sealed)
New Objective: Seek the First Starfall Temple – Learn to forge your own Fateblade
The cavern shook.
Not with collapse.
But with awakening.
Aelric turned to Caelum.
"Come on. We're not done yet."
He looked back at Lyria—who stared in silence.
"I hope you find the truth," he said.
"Even if you have to burn for it."