Mira's voice cut through the shocked silence."That's impossible."Her tone was firm, almost defiant."Our goddess can't be tamed down and be someone's power source. She's Embera. The Crimson Flame Dragon. She's not…she can't be…"She struggled to find words, her hands gesturing helplessly.Roderick spoke up, his voice carrying conviction."Yeah. Mira's right."He sat up straighter on the hospital bed, his expression serious."Goddess Embera is among the six strongest Flame Dragons that ever existed. Our clan,the entire Molten Clan,we learned everything we know today from her."His voice was getting stronger, more passionate."Every technique we use. Every flame manipulation method. Every combat stance. It all comes from her teachings. She's the foundation of our entire clan's martial tradition."He paused, his eyes distant like he was remembering lessons learned long ago."She's so strong that no one can match her in pure combat ability. No one. Not the other elemental dragons. Not th

Old Man Kael's voice was calm, steady."I want to know about the rightful vessel of Embera."Jabber leaned over to Asta and Mira, his voice coming out in a sarcastic whisper."You guys are seeing this, right?"His eyes were wide, staring at the talking book."Or am I hallucinating? Because I've hit my head a lot tonight and I'm not entirely sure what's real anymore."Asta whispered back, his own eyes still locked on the book."You're good."Mira nodded quickly."Yeah. You're good. We're all seeing it."Her voice was equally stunned."The book is talking. Books don't talk. But this one is. So either we're all hallucinating together or this is actually happening."The book began to move.Its pages started flipping on their own,not randomly, but with purpose, like invisible hands were searching for specific information.The sound of rustling paper filled the hospital room.Flip. Flip. Flip. Flip.Faster and faster until the pages became a blur.Then it stopped.Landing on a page about ha

Meanwhile, in the Dark Realm...The chamber was vast.Impossibly vast.The ceiling disappeared into darkness so complete that it felt like staring into the void itself. The walls were made of obsidian,black, reflective, polished to a mirror sheen that caught no light because there was no light to catch.Five massive thrones sat in a semicircle.Not ornate. Not decorated with gold or jewels.Just massive. Carved from single pieces of black stone. Each one rising fifteen feet high, their backs carved with symbols that seemed to shift and writhe when you weren't looking directly at them.And sitting on each throne was a figure.Not moving, not breathing, just stood completely still.Statues.Hooded figures carved from the same black stone as the thrones. Their faces hidden beneath stone hoods. Their bodies frozen in positions of waiting and watching.In front of each throne, extending from the armrest, was a stone hand.Palm up. Fingers slightly curved. Like they were meant to hold something

Web was still carrying Hakuwa's messed-up body over his shoulder.The unconscious vessel was breathing,barely. Shallow, ragged breaths that suggested broken ribs, internal bleeding, maybe worse.Blood had soaked through the makeshift bandages Web had wrapped around the worst wounds, dripping slowly onto the stone floor as they walked.The female assassin turned to look at Web.Her voice came out softer than usual. Vulnerable."Thank you."She paused, then continued."For standing up for me back there. For speaking to the Grand Master on my behalf. You didn't have to do that. You put yourself at risk. If he'd been angrier, if he'd decided we were both failures..."She trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought."You could have died too. So... Thank you. Really. I won't forget it."Web's voice came out flat. Serious.Cold in a way that wasn't quite natural for him."It's okay. Forget about it."He shifted Hakuwa's weight slightly on his shoulder."Just... next time? Don't mess up.

"At first, we thought it was just bandits. Normal theft. But the frequency is too high, too consistent. And the caravans that do make it through report seeing... things. Shadows moving between the trees. Strange sounds. Flame signatures that don't match any known beasts or wielders."Yuki added, her voice thoughtful."The Empress wants Cassian's team to guard a shipment personally. See if they can draw out whatever's causing the disappearances. Figure out if it's an organized group or something else entirely."She paused."It's a dangerous mission. The Dark Forests are unpredictable at the best of times. Add in an unknown threat actively hunting people? It could get bad quickly."Asta nodded slowly, processing this."Oh. Okay then."Flora leaned forward slightly, her expression curious.She looked at Yuki with warm, interested eyes."Yuki... how did you and High Official Roderick meet?"Her voice was gentle, genuinely interested.Mira immediately perked up, grinning."Yeah! I want to