Chapter 120: When the World Trembles – The March of the Ember Titan

The skies above the mortal realms cracked first.

A crimson rift tore through the clouds, opening like a wound across the heavens. From it spilled a torrent of divine fire—no mere flame, but essence forged in an era when gods bled and screamed.

The Ember Titan stepped through.

Each footfall melted the earth. Mountains crumbled. Oceans hissed as his shadow passed overhead. A sunless blaze blanketed the land, and for the first time in centuries, mortal cities prayed not for salvation—but for the end to be swift.

Across kingdoms, temples, and divine territories, oracles fell into seizures. Prophets tore their hair from their heads, screaming the same name again and again.

"Chen Ming."

Panic swept the divine courts.

Within the Sapphire Sanctum of the Tidesworn Court

Waves turned violent inside their sealed palace, crashing unnaturally without lunar pull.

"She's done it," the Sea Matron growled. "The Flame Matriarch has broken the Pact of Restraint."

"Then we must retaliate," her war-heir replied.

"No," the Matron snapped. "We watch. If the Ember Titan fails, we strike. If it succeeds…" She let the sentence hang, bitter as brine.

In the Silent Grove of the Verdant Court

The trees wilted.

A once-eternal forest curled in terror, roots retracting, petals closing in mourning.

The Green Empress stood barefoot on sacred moss, listening to the cries of her court. "I told them," she whispered. "I warned them. The Flame Court no longer seeks balance."

A druid knelt. "Should we aid him?"

Her eyes closed. "If Chen Ming is the god of change, then this is his trial. If he fails, there will be nothing left to save."

Elsewhere: Hidden Peaks of the Unknown Court

A cloaked figure watched the Titan's march from an ancient mirror of wind and starlight. "It's begun," she murmured, hand pressed to a feathered sigil glowing against her chest.

"Lysaria," whispered the wind.

The hidden goddess of Purity turned her gaze westward, toward Chen.

"Survive this, Soulflame," she whispered. "And I'll reveal everything."

A tremor ran through the ancient Vault, subtle at first—like a heartbeat out of rhythm. Then came the second. Heavier. Hungrier.

Chen froze mid-sentence. The divine map in his hands glowed, lines distorting.

Ye Yue's eyes widened as her celestial senses flared. "That's not just divine pressure. That's… ancient rage."

Lanmei pressed her palm to the wall, her expression unreadable. "Something is moving. Something huge."

The temperature dropped, despite the searing heat in the vault's depths. Sarina stepped forward from the shadows, her voice tight. "They've unleashed it. The Flame Court... the Ember Titan walks."

Chen's breath caught.

He felt it not just through his bond with Ye Yue and Lanmei, but through the Soulflame itself—its flickering rhythm suddenly disrupted by a monstrous presence. His soul didn't just sense the threat; it recoiled from it.

"I've read of it," Sarina continued. "Buried in divine records—half erased. It was sealed after the last Great Schism. Said to burn through mortal time itself. It doesn't just destroy, Chen—it unravels what came before."

Lanmei looked at him. "Then this war isn't coming. It's here."

Chen slowly exhaled and closed the map, eyes glowing faintly with divine fire. "Then we make our next move now. Before it reaches the heartlands."

Ye Yue stepped beside him, her voice steady. "We fight not just to stop it… but to show the courts there's another path. One they're too afraid to walk."

Outside, the trembling worsened. But within the chamber, something else burned stronger—resolve.

The Ember Titan marched, but Chen Ming now walked to meet it.