CHAPTER 58: CHAPTER 58

The sky split completely.

Samael descended with divine calm, his presence washing over the broken Spark Zone like a sterilizing wave. The chaos around Elias flickered—as if unsure it had the right to exist in his presence.

The Harbinger of Absolute Order landed gently, like a whisper.

"Unauthorized flame detected. Purge required."

Elias stood at the center of the ruined plaza, breathing heavy, his chest glowing faintly from the absorption of the Second Spark. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t kneel.

He smiled.

"Finally," he said. "Someone worth killing."

[BATTLE INITIATED]

System Enforcement Class: Samael

Class: Omega-Enforcer

Tier: Absolute

Elias Status: High-Level Anomaly

Combat Potential Match: 39%

Lightning erupted from Samael’s halo—systemic, precise. Not fire. Not electricity. Something purer. Stronger. The code of reality trying to rewrite Elias out of existence.

He dove sideways just in time as the plaza turned to dust behind him.

[Alert: World Integrity Falling – Spark Zone is collapsing]

[Timer Initiated – 08:00]

Escape or defeat Samael before total realm wipe.

"Guess I’ll pick door number two," Elias muttered, summoning both blades. But they weren’t just forged from rebellion and memory anymore—now they pulsed with Will and Command. With each new flame, he wasn’t just growing stronger—he was changing the system from within.

He launched forward, blades clashing against Samael’s radiant barrier. The sound was like time screaming.

"Null Response," Samael intoned, and Elias was sent flying by a wall of invisible pressure. He hit a floating structure midair, flipping through it and landing hard. Blood trickled down his temple, but the grin never left.

He loved a challenge.

"Is that all your Law’s got?"

Samael appeared before him in a flash. One hand gripped Elias by the neck and hoisted him upward.

"You do not belong."

Elias spat blood into the angel’s face. "Neither do you."

Then—explosion.

A counter-pulse from the Soul Splitter trait activated, flinging Samael backward as Elias broke free mid-air. He rolled into a kneel, eyes burning.

[Soul Splitter Stored Damage: 35%]

Activate? [Y/N]

Elias: Y

From behind him, all the strikes Samael had landed suddenly replayed themselves—this time, in reverse—ripping at the enforcer’s armor.

Samael staggered, just for a second.

Elias didn’t hesitate.

He activated his newest ability.

[Ability: Devil’s Verdict – Phase II: Judgement of Flame]

The longer the user resists death, the more unstable reality becomes around them.

15% damage increase every 10 seconds while under divine pressure.

Current Buff: +45% Power

Elias’ flames turned black.

Not metaphorically. Visibly.

His sword ignited with it—the color of rejected truths.

"Let me show you why the system should’ve never been built," Elias snarled and dashed again.

The air screamed.

They collided midair. Blade met law. Chaos met order.

Elias cut. Samael rewrote space. Elias blinked behind him. Samael fragmented into five versions. Elias stabbed them all in a spinning whirl of flame.

For each move Samael executed with logic—

Elias answered with raw rebellion.

The realm around them cracked like glass.

Samael’s golden armor dimmed.

[Health Status: Samael 76% | Elias 54%]

System Interference Detected – Flame Sparks disrupting realm logic

Warning: If Elias wins, the system hierarchy may destabilize.

"You’re afraid," Elias said through gritted teeth as he locked blades with Samael. "Even gods can bleed."

Samael didn’t reply—but his halo dimmed.

Another blow. Another flash of black fire.

And finally—Samael staggered.

Then he spoke again, for the first time in hesitation.

"Terminate Protocol... deferred."

He stepped backward. Lightning surged—but not as an attack. It bent reality around him. A retreat.

"No!" Elias shouted. "You don’t get to run!"

He threw his blade, wrapped in all of his remaining will.

But Samael vanished into logic code, fracturing into a thousand golden fragments and retreating beyond the realm.

[Battle Terminated]

Outcome: Elias – Survived

Realm: Collapsing

Elias’ Level Increased: +2

New Stat Boost:

– Willpower +8

– Soul Integrity +10

– New Title Acquired: Flame That Defied Law

Elias fell to one knee again.

But he was alive.

More than alive—he was becoming something terrifying.

The Spark Zone crumbled around him, cities falling into digital ash.

[System Prompt: Return to Flame Nexus?]

[Y/N]

"Yes," Elias muttered.

He vanished as the realm died behind him.

---

Back in the Flame Nexus, Serathis stood waiting. No smile this time.

"You fought Samael," she said flatly.

Elias nodded. "He blinked."

"That... is a problem," she said quietly. "He never blinks."

Elias cracked his neck. "Then I’ll make him scream next time."

The Flame Nexus had shifted. No longer a tranquil realm of red-glowing roots and divine silence, it now trembled with tension. Serathis stood unmoving, her gaze fixed on the map of stars above, where Elias’s name now burned alongside the words:

"Flame That Defied Law."

Elias approached slowly, his body still aching from the clash with Samael. His coat was torn, his arm slightly burned, and one of his eyes flickered between natural and system vision.

"I’m still standing," he said, voice low but proud.

"Barely," Serathis replied, her tone unreadable. "But I warned you. Samael is not like the others. And his retreat means something worse is coming."

Elias raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

She turned, eyes narrowing. "The Convergence."

Before he could ask, the Nexus rumbled. Runes in the roots lit up with red—a system warning. The third spark had activated itself.

[ALERT: Third Spark Ignited Prematurely]

Location: Forbidden Star Cluster – The Vault of Broken Codes

Status: Corrupted

Cause: Betrayer-Class Signature Detected

"Someone else lit it?" Elias asked.

"No," Serathis said, stepping forward. "Someone stole it. The third spark was never meant to awaken without you. Someone within the system... has betrayed us."

The map rippled—and a face appeared.

Male.

Sharp eyes. Faint smile.

Hair woven with golden threads.

Elias’s breath caught.

"...Lucien?"

[New Target Identified: Lucien Tal]

Class: Former Sovereign Candidate

Trait: The Mirror of Flame

Current Status: Rogue Architect

Affiliation: Unknown

Warning: Access to Spark Three Confirmed

Lucien Tal had been Elias’s closest friend in the orphanage where they’d grown up—a boy born with a perfect memory and a hunger for answers. He’d vanished before Elias died. Now, he was back—inside the system—and had claimed the final flame.

Elias clenched his fists.

"I should’ve known."

Serathis nodded slowly. "Lucien wasn’t chosen by me. He was chosen by another Architect—one who wanted to bend the sparks toward perfection, not rebellion. If he ignites the third flame, it will consume him. And us."

"Then I’ll stop him," Elias said without hesitation. "Where is this Vault?"

She opened her hand.

A new path emerged—fractured, violent, and laced with broken stars.

[Main Quest Updated]

Objective: Reclaim the Final Spark

Location: Vault of Broken Codes

Sub-Objective: Confront Lucien Tal – Determine allegiance

Reward: Final System Authority Upgrade

Hidden Trigger: ??? (Fate-Based)

Elias stepped toward the portal, but Serathis blocked him.

"You’re walking into a place where even I fear to look. The Vault is where corrupted systems are sealed—failed timelines, broken gods, shattered logic."

He looked her dead in the eye.

"I was born in a broken timeline."

Then, with no more hesitation, Elias stepped through the portal.

---

The Vault of Broken Codes was not a place. It was a wound.

The sky was ink and code, stars blinking in and out of place. The air felt wrong—too loud in silence, too cold in fire. Buildings floated, shattered. Echoes of dead systems whispered from walls that didn’t exist.

Elias landed hard, but his instincts had hardened.

Immediately, hostile readings pinged in his vision.

[Enemies Detected: System Wraiths x17]

Type: Remnants of Erased Users

Traits: Mindless, aggressive, feed on spark energy.

The creatures were malformed—part human, part digital failure. Glitches with claws.

They rushed him.

Elias let loose a fury of flame—black, red, gold. He danced through their ranks, blades tearing through corruption. His new Soul Splitter trait built explosive momentum with each kill.

Five down.

Ten.

Seventeen.

Each one burst into fragmented memory.

And then, at the center of the Vault, Lucien appeared.

Wearing white armor laced with golden data. The Third Spark pulsed in his chest.

He clapped slowly. "You always were stubborn, Elias."

Elias raised his blades. "You always were a liar."

Lucien smiled sadly. "We could’ve rebuilt the system together. You chose chaos. I chose control."

"You chose betrayal."

Lucien’s armor flared. "I chose evolution. And now I’ll prove the spark responds better to order."

[BOSS FIGHT INITIATED: Lucien Tal – Flame of Control]

Power Sync: 99%

Warning: Lucien has rewritten some aspects of the system. Skills may fail.

Lucien rushed forward, and the clash was immediate.

Blades met. Systems cracked.

Lucien’s sword split Elias’s abilities midair—reprogramming them. Elias answered with pure willpower, bypassing commands through raw flame.

They were equals—but not for long.

[Elias Trait Activated – Flameborne II]

Incoming damage converted to Spark Energy.

Elias absorbed one of Lucien’s strikes and unleashed a nova punch that shattered the Vault floor.

Lucien staggered—then drove his sword through Elias’s side.

Blood spilled.

Pain flared.

But Elias grinned.

"You’re not ready for chaos."

Then he activated Soul Splitter—

And Lucien flew backward, slamming into the core of the Vault.

[Lucien Status: Health Critical – Spark Instability Rising]

The vault began shaking—overloading.

Lucien coughed blood. "You’ll burn us both."

Elias walked toward him, dragging his blade.

"No. You will."

With one last strike, he shattered the spark casing in Lucien’s chest.

The energy burst free.

A massive surge of data, fire, and light—

Then silence.

---

When Elias woke again, he was alone.

Lucien was gone.

But in his hand—

Burned and glowing—

Was the Final Spark.

[Final Spark Obtained – Flame of Sovereignty]

Trait Gained: Absolute Override

You may now rewrite enemy system logic for 10 seconds.

Passive: Full immunity to Divine System Lockouts

Final Quest Unlocked – The Flame War

Elias stood, barely breathing.

Now, he wasn’t a Sovereign.

He was the flame that would remake it all.