The moment Sora and I stepped past the threshold down the stairs, light swallowed us whole. It wasn’t blinding like the sun—no, it was deeper, thicker, like plunging into liquid gold. Our bodies felt weightless, stretched thin across an invisible thread.

  Then the world reformed.

  Rather than the overwhelming brightness, we found ourselves in an expansive field of tall silver grass. Moonlight gently illuminated the surroundings while the air was filled with the refreshing scent of chilled earth and faint rain. The wind rustled through the bending grass, conveying a blend of a hymn and a sigh

  The ndscape extended infinitely, yet it felt confined, an illusion distorting the space around us. The stairs we’d come through had vanished, too.

  “Whoa.”

  The moonlight turned the field into a silver painting, and every bde of grass stood still against the dark ground. Sora and I paused, listening as normal nighttime noises disappeared one by one. First, there were the insects, then the wind, and even our breathing felt oddly muffled by the end.

  Spoiler

  [colpse]A sharp pulse fred in my chest, right where the Elven Spirit Pendant rested. Before I could react, a burst of azure light shot from the crystal, and Vyrn appeared in a flicker of ghostly energy.

  “Vyrn, what—?!” I tried to call him back, but he just ignored me. He swooped across the field, then perched on a half-buried sword nearby. His glowing eyes scanned the area like he was searching for something, and their intensity prickled my skin.

  “Iskandaar,” Sora whispered, her wings rustling softly behind her. “Look at the grass. It’s not even moving.”

  She was right. Even with Vyrn’s wings fpping hard enough to stir a breeze, the silver grass at some pces stayed perfectly still, like it was painted on.

  I reached out with my Demonic Sphere, trying to get a feel for this weird phenomenon. The feedback I got was… off. Certain patches of space barely felt real, almost like thin spots in the fabric of reality.

  “It’s almost like we’re standing in two different pces at once,” I muttered. My Sphere readings kept rippling and overpping, distorting in ways I’d never seen.

  Vyrn let out a low, haunting screech that cut through something deeper than just air. For a split second, the horizon flickered—repcing the far-off mountains with an endless field of ancient swords. Then it snapped back, leaving the image burned into my mind.

  I’d never faced anything quite like this. Maybe it was the Phoenix’s final memory bleeding into our world or some pocket realm the Remnant made for protection. The energy didn’t match any patterns I knew, and I knew a lot from the Heavenly Demon’s memories.

  Sora stepped closer, her shoulder brushing mine. “Your pet’s acting gutsy,” she said, giving me a quick sidelong look. “Think he senses something we can’t?”

  “Probably,” I said, watching Vyrn swivel his head like he was tracking an invisible target. “He’s never acted this focused before. Nor interested.”

  She opened her mouth as we walked, then hesitated. A small grin tugged at her lips. “You know… you’ve been so serious tely. Gifting me so many things. If you didn’t have a fiance, I’d have thought maybe you’re trying to impress me?”

  I shot her a sideways look. “Impress you with ghost owls and haunted grass? That’s a weird flex, Sora.” She was obviously joking – she had to know I was doing all this since she was a part of the cult – but I pyed along anyway.

  She ughed softly. “Hey, I’m easy to please. You’ve shown me so many intense sights already—fighting Holy Knights, fighting demon generals, and now strolling through ghost swords in the moonlight. Some girls just get flowers.”

  “Flowers are overrated,” I tried to sound casual, but I couldn’t shake off the smile on my lips. I enjoyed her recent antics since she felt more cheerful these days. “Besides, with you, a quiet date would be weird. You’d burn the restaurant down or something.”

  She gave me a pyful shove, wings rustling. “Hey~ I am not Lilian. But if you’re so worried, you have my word. If you behaved, I wouldn’t burn down anything.” Sora slipped closer, locking arms with me.

  It would have been wise to push her away and maintain professionalism, but the way she rexed into my arms made it impossible. I couldn’t find it in my heart to step away from her. Not when we were so close to a phoenix; she must be feeling emotional, even though she was trying to hide it. So I endured–no, enjoyed her company.

  A moment of comfortable silence slipped in, the ghostly field almost swallowing our voices. Then, as though remembering why we were here, she let out a breath, stepped away, and straightened her posture.

  That easy banter faded from her eyes, repced by the fierce determination I knew too well. “Alright,” she said quietly, “enough jokes. Let’s see what Vyrn wants to show us.”

  The silver grass rustled under our boots as we followed him deeper into the strange field. With every step, we found more swords—dozens, then hundreds. Each was sunk into a stone, almost like grave markers. Some looked ancient, the metal half-eaten by rust, but others gleamed like they’d been forged yesterday, their reflections dancing in the faint light.

  “It feels like a graveyard,” Sora murmured, folding her wings against her back. “Reminds me of these old stories my mom used to tell. Fallen heroes, immortals who outgrew mortal steel…”

  “Immortals?”

  “Apparently, humans who surpassed the limit of mortality before the initiation of the [System] in our world,” she said. “These days, immortality like that doesn’t exist. Even Arcane Kings can die.”

  I nodded. Starting the 7th Ascension, people’s aging slowed down, although not by much. By the 9th Ascension, people were half divinities, so aging was the least of their worries. I let my Demonic Sphere continue its gentle sweep. A lot of these swords had tiny echoes of magic. Some were barely there, and others hummed like they’d been used to sy gods.

  “Didn’t you want to find a sword? Why not pick one from here?” Sora asked.

  “That might be a bad idea,” I said. “Let’s not touch anything yet.”

  We continued walking. Vyrn kept leading the way, and no matter how many times I tried to recall him, he refused to budge. Seeing him so serious was weird—usually, he was too unbothered to do anything and only reluctantly followed my orders. Now he just perched on one sword after another, scanning the field with grim purpose.

  As we moved through different parts of this pce, we noticed it wasn’t all the same. In one spot, twilight felt thick in the air, and one could almost hear the swords singing in some eerie chorus. Then we’d step over a line of burned grass into a patch of bckened ground like a firestorm had passed through. Every sword there was warped or half-melted.

  With every next step, I felt reality twisting around us—or maybe we were the ones changing to match this realm’s rules. Either way, I got the sense there was no halfway point. We had to see this through or get trapped.

  After cresting a small rise, Sora took in a deep breath.

  A massive chasm yawned open ahead, its walls riddled with glowing cracks that pulsed like veins of magma. From the depths, I felt a powerful heat—familiar yet bigger than anything we’d faced in the Highnds. It had to be the Phoenix Essence’s aura.

  The air got heavier, like a furnace bst hitting us head-on. Vyrn screeched and dove off his perch, disappearing into the dark below. I gnced at Sora. Uncertainty flickered in her eyes, but her resolve stayed firm. We both knew why we’d come this far and despite the feeling of danger, neither of us would turn back now.

  “We follow him,” I said, stepping to the edge of that gaping abyss.

  ****

  The descent felt like we were stepping right into an open furnace. Every step onto those half-melted rocks sent waves of heat crashing over us, making the air in front of my face shimmer and dance. My boots slipped a bit on the molten edges, and I reached back to steady Sora.

  “Easy,” I said, gncing over my shoulder. “These aren’t normal stones.”

  “You should be the one taking it easy, mister. I can fly,” she retorted, and her wings spread for bance. Despite her natural resistance to heat, sweat dripped down her forehead, which told me just how intense this pce was. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you.”

  Up ahead, Vyrn’s ghostly silhouette darted around, leading us deeper down the chasm. The rock walls throbbed with veins of light that reminded me of va flows, but there was something more alive about them. My Demonic Sphere kept picking up energy signatures all around, each one echoing with an ancient hum.

  And then we saw it.

  The source of this heat.

  A bzing phoenix hovered in the middle of the chasm, a massive shape made of translucent fmes and light. It had to be at least a hundred feet across, each feather a separate thread of living fire. Ember-like veins pulsed through its body, beating in a rhythm that felt older than the world itself.

  It wasn’t a real phoenix, it was translucent.

  [Phoenix Remnant - Level ???]

  In some cases, when extremely powerful entities would perish, they’d leave a ‘ghost’ behind. Their shadow. It didn’t always happen, but beings of overpowering energy like phoenixes were more likely to fall for this situation.

  As for why I couldn’t see its level, it couldn’t be because it was five ascensions higher than me, that wouldn’t make sense. It was probably because of its spirit status. Whatever the question mark was hiding, it was strong.

  Even in this “dead” state, its divine presence weighed on us like a physical force. My legs almost gave out on the spot. This wasn’t just some powerful spirit or legendary monster—this was the leftover echo of something that once rivaled gods.

  A Dead God.

  Next to me, Sora trembled. Her wings shook, stretching as if responding to a call buried in her blood. Tears streaked her cheeks, turning gold when they caught the Remnant’s light.

  “It’s… it really is a phoenix,” she whispered. “I can feel it in every cell.”

  I tried reaching out with my senses to gauge this enormous spirit’s nature. Right away, something felt wrong. The energy was locked in a cycle, with no real consciousness behind it—just an echo stuck on repeat, guarding whatever remained.

  And I knew what remained. The Phoenix Essence.

  Within the chest of its translucent body, there was something bright and circur.

  “Great One,” I called, forcing respect into my voice. “We’ve come seeking—”

  My words got cut off as the air around us hardened like molten gss. The Remnant’s presence ramped up, pressing on me like a mountain of raw heat. This thing wasn’t going to chat. It was more like an automated defense, left behind to protect its remains.

  Sora stepped forward, her voice tight with emotion. “Ancient Fire, blood of my blood…” She swapped to some older nguage that made the air vibrate. “I’m your daughter’s daughter, perhaps your sister’s grandchild, here to recim what’s lost.”

  The Remnant’s fmes flickered in a different pattern for one tense moment, almost like it recognized her. Sora’s own wings fred back, their crimson glow briefly matching the Remnant’s.

  Then everything changed.

  “Kreaaachhh!” The spirit’s form erupted with hostility, its fmes shifting from gold to this searing blue-white that flooded the chasm with lethal heat. The air felt like it was boiling.

  Overhead, Vyrn screeched in panic. His ghostly shape flickered, like the sheer power of this realm was messing with him. He fluttered in chaotic circles, trapped between loyalty to the pendent and the crushing force of the Remnant’s presence.

  “I-Iskandaar…” Sora said quietly, edging back until her shoulder brushed mine. She sounded sad. “I don’t think it’s gonna talk.”

  The Phoenix Remnant’s wings stretched out, nearly filling our entire view. Waves of godlike power poured off it, making the air shimmer and tremble enough to make my teeth ache, and my bones feel like they were rattling. So much for the warm welcome we’d hoped for.

  Its wings fred with a burst of light, and instinct took over. I yanked Sora with me, Void Stepping behind a chunk of crystal just as a wall of phoenix fire turned the air around us into psma. The heat alone could’ve vaporized anyone normal.

  “Guess that’s a ‘no’ on the peaceful approach,” I muttered, feeling the sweat instantly vanish off my skin. “Some remnants are able to converse, so I had hope.” The whole chasm pulsed like the inside of a star, making my Demonic Sphere spasm from the overload of divine energy.

  Sora’s wings quivered. “I’m sorry—I really need this power!” she shouted, voice cracking as she unched herself into the air. Her own fmes rushed out, forming a crimson shield around us that looked downright pitiful compared to the Remnant’s bzing onsught.

  I poured Qi through my body, letting Stelr energy flood my veins. Then, I switched it to my more powerful Demonic energy. Chaos Affinity. I picked up a stone from nearby and threw it.

  “Legendbreaker should help,” I muttered, recalling the Skill’s effects.

  ===

  Passive: [Legendbreaker]:

  Each successful strike against a mythical or legendary creature slightly weakens their defenses and reduces their resistance to your attacks. This effect stacks with consecutive hits but has diminishing returns.Category: Mythical Syer===

  I felt the mythical fmes not even stutter because the stone melted before it could reach. It was scalding hot, and the stone was like a raindrop on a bonfire. Regardless, I didn’t lose the hope that compared to any other situation, my Css would help the most here.

  Sora’s barrier cracked. Crap.

  Meanwhile, the Remnant’s presence warped everything around us. The walls melted into rivers of liquid fire, ignoring gravity. Ptforms of crystalized fme erupted here and there, creating a twisted obstacle course in midair. Even the wind itself turned into razor-sharp bsts, superheated to near psma.

  “Sora, step behind me,” I said, moving before her.

  “Iskandaar, wait-”

  “[True Demon God Art: Eclipse of the Shadow Tyrant].”

  I summoned waves of darkness to swallow the Remnant’s light, but it shredded through them like they were paper. That had never happened before; even against the Holy Knight it had prevailed. But here, the darkness crumbled. It made sense. After all, this wasn’t just any spirit—it was concentrated divinity, even if it was just an echo.

  Sora darted through a gap in the fmes, trying to match the Remnant’s power blow for blow. That was stupid. It was like watching a candle challenge the sun. She got bsted back, barely avoiding a direct hit.

  “Don’t be rash!” I shouted over the fmes as I tried Void Stepping around to find a safe angle, but the Remnant tracked me perfectly, turning with an impossible grace. Each teleport had me reappearing in the hot air that scorched my lungs.

  If not for the Heavenly Demon Body’s third stage, I’d have passed out already. Still, even now, I had to continuously circute my energy through a breathing technique to keep my body safe.

  “[Mythrend]!” I swung my sword in an arc, releasing a Sword Qi mixed with my best anti-mythical skill. It rushed toward the cluster of energy at his chest. The Essence. It didn’t nd—the phoenix smmed it to the side with its wing, so the attack did basically nothing. The Remnant didn’t flinch, but it did turn its head around to meet my gaze.

  We couldn’t destroy it; that wasn’t the goal.

  We needed to weaken it just enough for Sora to—

  A surge of white-hot fmes nailed me mid-thought. I barely crossed my arms in time, letting out a burst of Qi from my forearms to create a momentary energy shield, but it still felt like my body was on fire. The impact threw me into a rock wall that was half-melted, and I hit it so hard the air left my lungs in a whoosh.

  “Iskandaar!” Sora’s voice cut through the thunder of fmes. She pulled up, wings roaring with a darker red fme. They deepened to a near-purple hue as she pushed herself beyond her limit.

  The Remnant paused for a second, maybe sensing a reflection of itself in her energy. That small hesitation was everything I needed.

  “[Astral Rend]!” I aimed not at the spirit’s shape but at the threads binding its divine power together. I didn’t want to destroy it—just disrupt it.

  The ethereal bde rushed forward, and our energies collided. The entire chasm lit up with screaming light. The sheer force made my vision start to go fuzzy, but I clung to consciousness, knowing Sora needed one clear opening, and this might give her that.

  The Remnant’s roar tore through the chasm, sounding half like rage and half like heartbreak. I felt it rattle through my bones, almost knocking me off bance.

  Molten fissures crawled across the crystal walls like burning veins, dribbling streams of liquid fire onto the battlefield. A normal 5th Ascension would’ve been vaporized by the sheer heat alone. I didn’t. But I wasn’t in a good state, either. I spat blood, my ribs still screaming from the earlier impact. The divine energy in the air was so thick it felt like breathing starlight.

  But I couldn’t back down—we were too close to give up now.

  “[Soul Sever]!” I yelled, pouring power into my bde and striking at the fragile bonds holding the Remnant’s form together.

  ===

  Active: [Soul Sever]:

  Channel the power of the Myth Syer to deliver a precise attack that targets the soul of a mythical being. This attack has a small chance of inflicting significant damage or disrupting their connection to their source of power, weakening them temporarily.Category: Soulmancy===

  I had high expectations of it since a Remnant was basically a soul. So the impact, I hoped, would be immense. And I was right! For a heartbeat, reality hiccupped. The spirit’s fmes flickered, its shape wavering like a bad signal.

  One of its wings blinked dark, then fell off to the ground.

  “Great!”

  Sora seized her chance, wings bzing brighter than I’d ever seen. “I’m sorry,” she cried for it, voice cracking as she dove headfirst into the Remnant’s destabilized center. “I’m so sorry, but I need this!”

  This woman…

  She was almost as power-hungry as me.

  Her desire for revenge ran deep, and that made her the most ambitious one among the cult members. Somehow, that made my lips curl up even amid this pain.

  The spirit’s screech nearly split the world in two. Its fmes surged back in full force, white-hot tendrils shing out like sor fres. One brushed Sora’s wing, sending her spinning through the air, barely keeping herself in flight.

  “Again!” I hollered, Void Stepping onto a higher ledge. “[Fate Unraveled]!” Golden threads shimmered around the Remnant as destiny itself wrapped it up. Its movements went sluggish, pinned down by the skill’s effect.

  “[Soul Sever]!” This time, a dark wound appeared on its side. I continued, while Sora did the same.

  Sora’s next strike carved deep crimson furrows through the spirit’s body. Each blow was followed by a soft apology, her fmes shifting to a darker, almost purple hue as they resonated with the ancient energy.

  The Remnant thrashed, its massive wings pounding at reality. It was an intense sight, making my hair stand at its end. The chamber’s walls began to melt, and gravity twisted sideways as that divine power messed with space.

  My footing almost vanished when the ptform beneath me turned into a ceiling, a wall, and something beyond my understanding. I had to step in once again.

  “[True Demon God Art: Eclipse of the Shadow Tyrant]!” I shouted, dumping a rge portion of my Qi into forming a bubble of darkness. It was not to devour it all this time. The objective was to create a stable reality around us.

  It felt like trying to hold off an ocean with my bare hands, sweat pouring down my face from the mental strain.

  Sora tore through another barrage, wings leaving streaks of crimson fire in her wake. I stepped in every other second, throwing in attacks that were poison for mythical beings. I was doing most of the damage, but it had to be her to be on the front. The remnant didn’t want to attack her seriously, I noticed, so I took advantage of that.

  “Almost... almost there!” She gave more than she had, moving with precision even under this crushing force.

  The Remnant’s shape flickered, starting to buckle inward over the hundreds of attacks I nded. Divine fmes spiraled toward a single point in its center, forming what looked like a tiny sun. The sight stung my eyes—not from brightness, but from the sheer weight of divinity coiling into that core.

  Sora nded next to me, panting. Her wings still shone like molten metal, but I could see her legs trembling from exhaustion. “Is it... done?”

  I kept my sword raised, staring at the whirling mass of power. “Don’t let your guard down. It’s not finished yet.”

  The phoenix stared at me, and its energy pulsed once again, nearly throwing us off our feet. But the shockwave felt weaker, more unfocused. The huge presence filling this pce was shrinking, gathering into that bright core.

  The Remnant's form began to crumble, its massive wings dissolving into motes of golden light. The divine pressure that had been crushing us started to fade, though my bones still hummed from the residual energy.

  "You..." To my shock, it spoke. "Passed."

  Its voice vibrated through my skull instead of my ears, resonating with echoes of ancient power. The spirit's form persisted in disintegrating, fragmenting like paper afme in the wind. A focused point of light lingered where its chest once was — the core we had been battling for.

  The core looked like a miniature sun trapped in crystal, pulsing with rhythms that matched a heartbeat. Golden fmes danced within its depths, occasionally taking the shape of tiny wings before dissolving again.

  The surface wasn't smooth but faceted like a diamond, each reflecting different aspects of fire – some faces showed deep crimson, others pure white, and others burned with colors I had no names for.

  Notifications began flooding my vision.

  [You have defeated the Phoenix Remnant of Feng Huang, the Dawn Singer!]

  [You have earned tremendous experience points!]

  [You have leveled up!]

  [You have leveled up!]

  [You have leveled up!]

  [You have leveled up!]

  [You have leveled up!]

  [You have leveled up!]

  [You have reached Level 66!]

  “Nice, six levels,” I said, letting out a relieved sigh.

  "I gained eight," Sora whispered beside me, her voice trembling with awe. “Level 49 right now. I think I have enough experience points to get a few more, but I’m stuck. Oh right, can’t you show me my Ascension Quest like st time?”

  Her wings still flickered with remnants of the power we'd faced, casting dancing shadows on the chamber walls. I nodded, “Of course.” I reached out a hand, touching her cheek. She smiled warmly at me, making me feel a little odd, and I poured some Qi into her. “Show Ascension Quest History.”

  She stared at me, and then she stared at the air between us. “It worked,” she said. “This, uh… It’s simple, I guess. [Safely Absorb the Phoenix Essence]. That has been the pn anyway. Lucky.”

  “Lucky… but since it’s an Ascension Quest, it means it's that much more difficult,” I said and nodded to her. "But yes. Go on. Absorb it."

  She turned her head to look at the essence. Then she turned toward me, put her arms around my shoulder, and pulled me into a kiss. It didn’t st long. I was surprised but couldn’t push her back. She smiled as she withdrew, “Thank you,” she said. “Really.”

  I stared in silence as she approached the essence and dropped to her knees, both hands shaking as she reached for the swirling heart of divine fme.

  TheVeiledMan