The battlefield of the Shadow Realm had finally grown quiet.
Black smoke slowly drifted across the broken land where the Abyss Hunters had been destroyed. The smell of burned shadow energy still hung in the cold air.
Aria lowered her sword slowly.
Her breathing was heavy, but her eyes were still sharp. The blue glow around her blade slowly faded as the last remains of the shadow creatures disappeared into the wind.
Rowan wiped dark dust from his face and looked around.
"Okay…" he said, breathing hard.
"I officially hate this place."The Dragon King stood behind them, his massive wings partially spread. His golden eyes scanned the dark horizon carefully.
"The Shadow Realm never rests," he said calmly.
"More creatures will come."
Rowan groaned.
"Fantastic."
Aria looked at the strange land around them again. The cracked ground, the dead trees, the rivers of dark glowing energy—it all felt unnatural.
Everything here felt wrong.
Like the world itself had been corrupted.
But something else bothered her moreShe slowly turned toward Rowan.
During the battle… something strange had happened.
For a brief moment, when one of the Abyss Hunters attacked Rowan from behind, a flash of red light had appeared around him.
Not the dark energy of the Abyss.
Something different.
Something powerful.
Rowan noticed her staring.
"What?" he asked.
Aria frowned slightly.
"Nothing…"
But the Dragon King had noticed it too.His ancient eyes were now focused entirely on Rowan.
And they were filled with curiosity.A Strange Mark
The three of them began walking again across the dark land.
The fog moved slowly around their feet as they traveled deeper into the Shadow Realm.
After some time, Rowan suddenly stopped.
"Uh… guys?"
Aria turned.
"What is it?"
Rowan lifted his hand.
A faint red glow was coming from his palm.
"Okay," he said nervously.
"This is new."The glow slowly spread across his skin like thin lines of fire.
Then—
A symbol appeared.
It looked ancient.
A circular mark surrounded by sharp runic lines.
The Dragon King's eyes widened.
For the first time since entering the Shadow Realm…
He looked shocked.
"Impossible…"
Aria stepped closer.
"What is it?"The Dragon King stared at Rowan's hand carefully.
"That mark…" he said slowly.
"I have seen it before."
Rowan blinked.
"Great."
"Is it something bad?"
The Dragon King looked up at him.
"No."
"If anything… it may be the opposite."
Rowan raised an eyebrow.
"I hate mysterious answers."The Dragon King remained silent for a moment.
Then he spoke again.
"That symbol belongs to an ancient warrior bloodline."
Aria's eyes widened slightly.
"What bloodline?"
The Dragon King's voice became lower.
"A bloodline older than most human kingdoms."
"A bloodline that once fought the Abyss itself."
Rowan laughed awkwardly.
"Okay, that definitely sounds like the wrong guy."But the glowing mark on his hand grew brighter.
The red light slowly moved across his arm.
Like energy awakening inside him.
Rowan suddenly grabbed his head.
"Ah—!"
He stumbled backward.
Aria caught him quickly.
"Rowan!"
The world around them suddenly shook.
Wind exploded across the land.
And inside Rowan's mind—
Something awakened.Memories of Another Time
Rowan fell to his knees.
Images flooded his mind like a storm.
A battlefield.
Fire everywhere.
Armies clashing beneath a burning sky.
And in the center of it—
A warrior.
A human warrior surrounded by blazing red energy.
His sword burned like living flame.
Shadow monsters surrounded him from every direction.But he did not fall.
He fought.
Again and again.
Cutting through the darkness like a storm of fire.
Rowan gasped.
The warrior's face slowly turned.
And Rowan froze.
The warrior looked exactly like him.
"No way…" Rowan whispered.
The vision continued.
The warrior stood before a massive shadow creature—far larger than anything Rowan had ever seen.Behind him stood dragons.
Ancient dragons.
Fighting beside the warrior against the Abyss.
The warrior raised his burning sword.
And shouted something Rowan couldn't hear.
Then the vision shattered.
The Truth Revealed
Rowan collapsed forward, breathing hard.
The red glow around his arm slowly fadedAria knelt beside him.
"What happened?"
Rowan stared at the ground.
"I… saw something."
The Dragon King stepped closer.
His eyes were calm again.
"Memories," he said.
"Not yours."
"Your ancestor's."
Rowan looked up slowly.
"What?"
The Dragon King nodded."Your bloodline once fought beside the dragons during the first Abyss War."
Aria looked shocked.
"So Rowan is…"
"Yes."
The Dragon King finished the sentence.
"A descendant of the Flame Guardians."
The wind across the Shadow Realm suddenly grew stronger.
Rowan sat silently for a long moment.
Then he sighed.
"Of course."
"Because fighting an ancient god of darkness wasn't complicated enough already."Aria smiled slightly.
"You handled the news better than I expected."
Rowan stood slowly.
"Yeah well…"
He looked at his hand again.
The mark had faded—but he could still feel something inside him.
A new strength.
Like fire sleeping beneath the surface.
Rowan smirked.
"Guess that explains why I survived all those stupid fights."The Dragon King chuckled softly.
"Your destiny is only beginning, Rowan."
Far away in the darkness—
A massive fortress stood beneath the black sky.
And inside it—
The Abyss Lord slowly rose from his throne.
His glowing red eyes looked toward the distant battlefield.
"Flame Guardians…" he whispered.
"So the bloodline still lives."
The darkness around him twisted violently.
"Good.""That will make destroying them far more satisfying."