Chapter 112: Ash and Echoes

The air was thick with old power, the scent of scorched stone and divine memory clinging to the wind like ash to a battlefield. The Veiled Corridor pulsed faintly beneath Chen's boots, ancient sigils shifting with every step, guiding the strike team deeper toward the Court of Ash.

Ye Yue moved at his side, her aura dimmed to a gentle shimmer. Lanmei was ahead, her senses tuned to the faint divine pulses scattered through the ruins. Mei, Sarina, and a hand-picked squad of bonded elites flanked them, each one cloaked in shadows and focused silence.

"Do you feel it?" Lanmei whispered.

Chen nodded. "Something's watching. Not Flame Court. Older."

They passed beneath a fractured arch inscribed with the name of a long-dead god, and the path opened into the remnants of a once-glorious atrium. Massive murals depicted divine judgments, war trials, and purging flames. But beneath the decay, new glyphs stirred—fresh, raw, alive.

Lysaria's mark.

"Her power is waking," Mei said, awed. "She's guiding us."

Meanwhile – The Celestial Conclave

Panic was not a thing the Flame Court was accustomed to.

But the council of high gods had been summoned early. Urgently. And all eyes were now locked on the unfolding chaos.

"He broke through a sealed corridor," one of the elder deities hissed. "No Court has used those paths in millennia!"

Another flared with divine light. "The Purification Node is real. They confirmed it. If he claims it, entire divine regions can be severed from our influence."

A third stood slowly, voice like molten iron. "We must prepare for total containment."

But far away, beyond the chaos of the Flame Court…

In the Court of Masks, veiled figures exchanged glances.

"Chen Ming is progressing faster than expected."

"If he reaches the Vault of Ash…"

"…he may awaken more than just Lysaria's influence."

One leaned forward, her voice low and uncertain. "Do we stop him? Or do we help him?"

Silence followed.

Then: "Not yet. He may still succeed. And if he does… the balance will shift."

Back in the Court of Ash

They stood before a sealed gate, cracked but still pulsing with power.

Chen stepped forward, raising his hand. His Soulflame ignited with a strange harmony—part his own, part divine, part born from nights of union and trust.

The gate responded.

Ancient locks fell away like dust in the wind, and the chamber beyond opened into light and shadow—vines of starlight growing along charred stone, feeding on forgotten prayers.

"This place..." Sarina whispered.

"It remembers," Ye Yue said.

Chen crossed the threshold, heart steady. And far above, in unseen sanctums and crumbling divine towers, gods watched.

And some… trembled.