Bearer of the Unlit Flame

The temple walls trembled with the sound of brutal slaughter. 

From beyond the cracked stone doors came the unmistakable, visceral cacophony of flesh being torn and bones splintering. Screams—high-pitched, raw, and fleeting—cut through the stagnant air, only to be swallowed by a low, rumbling growl.

Inside, the remaining slaves huddled together in the dim light of sputtering torches. The air was thick with fear, so palpable it felt like a second skin clinging to their sweat-drenched bodies. Even the guards or mercenaries, swords drawn and held in trembling hands, glanced nervously at one another.

Dax stood at the farthest back, right in front of the very few remaining slaves. 

"Shit," one of them muttered under his breath, the word almost lost in the silence that followed another agonized shriek from outside. "It's killing them all."

"Good," another guard spat, though his voice lacked conviction. "Buys us time."

In the corner, Lucian crouched low, his back pressed against the cold stone wall. The shadows of the temple seemed to stretch unnaturally long, creeping toward him. 

He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears like a drumbeat that refused to quiet. 

We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die…

He trembled. 

Shit, why the thunderjaw of all the monsters?!!

"Shut the fuck up!" Dax hissed. 

The dagger attached to his hip gleamed in the faint light, the weapon more of a talisman against fear than a real comfort. His eyes remained fixed on the doors, the muscles in his jaw working as he swallowed hard. "If we're lucky, it'll stay outside."

But luck wasn't on their side.

With a deafening crash, the temple's front doors exploded inward, chunks of ancient stone raining down like shrapnel. Dust and smoke filled the air, obscuring the hulking figure that stalked into the massive hall. 

When the dust settled, the survivors finally saw it—a nightmare given form.

The Thunderjaw Tiger was massive. Six powerful legs moving with an unnatural grace, as if it was totally normal for a tiger to have and use six legs. 

Its fur shimmered in the torchlight, striped with cobalt streaks that crackled with arcs of electricity. Golden eyes glowed with an eerie intelligence as it scanned the room. 

The way it breathed—it's stench heavy with the tang of ozone. Its jaws parted, revealing rows of jagged teeth, each one humming faintly with an electric current. 

"Throw them!" one of the guards barked, his voice cracking with panic.

"NOOO— SAVE ONE!" Dax cried out. 

The first victim barely had time to scream before the tiger's claws ripped through them, spraying the stone floor with a sickening shower of blood. Another slave tried to run, but the tiger pounced, its massive frame slamming down on them with bone-crushing force. 

It bit his head away, tearing flesh and sinew with wet, horrible sounds that echoed in the survivors' ears. The smell of blood—metallic and cloying—filled the air, mingling with the acrid tang of burnt flesh where the tiger's electric fur scorched its victims.

Dax clenched his jaw, his knuckles tightening around his dagger. "Now," he hissed to the others, motioning for them to move.

The guards crept forward, their weapons raised, trying to position themselves around the tiger while it feasted without a care in the world. Blood dripped from its maw as it tore into another body, the crunch of bones mingling with the soft, wet sounds of ripping meat. 

Its back was turned, seemingly oblivious to their approach.

Dax was the first to strike. He lunged forward, his dagger aiming for the tiger's exposed flank. The blade drove toward its target. 

However, at that moment, Dax came to a realisation as the tiger's eyes lazily followed him as it crunched on the arm of a woman. 

The beast's reflexes were inhuman. Without even fully turning its head, the tiger twisted, one of its six legs slamming into the ground with a crackle of electricity. The force of the movement sent a shockwave through the air, throwing Dax off balance.

It pounced, lightning-fast, claws raking through the space where Dax had been standing a moment earlier.

 He dodged by the breadth of a hair, rolling to the side, and sprang to his feet with a grin. "Too slow," he taunted, twirling the dagger in his hand. "You're no problem for me."

The tiger's lips curled upward in an almost human sneer. Its golden eyes shifted, and Dax's grin faltered. He turned just in time to see the beast's real target—his closest companion.

"No!" Dax shouted, but it was too late. The tiger barreled into the man, its jaws snapping shut around his torso. Blood sprayed across the floor as the tiger shook its prey violently, the man's screams cutting off in a wet gurgle. 

The tiger flung the lifeless body aside like a broken doll, turning its attention back to Dax with a low, rumbling laugh—a pure animalistic sound that sent chills down the spines of all who heard it.

Before Dax could react, Lucian felt rough hands seize him. A guard shoved him forward, his face twisted with desperation. "Take him! Buy us time!"

Lucian went stumbling forward, before slipping into the flood of blood and stopping just before the tiger. 

OH MY FUCKING GOD—SYSTEM, SYSTEM! GRIMOIRE! FUCK, DO SOMETHING!

His breath hitched as the tiger lowered and sniffed him and then looked into his eyes. The beast regarded him for a moment, its golden eyes flickering with something almost like curiosity. 

But the nature of a beast is to strike. 

And it struck—not with its claws or teeth, but with a devastating kick. The blow sent Lucian flying across the room, his body slamming into a crumbling pillar. 

Pain exploded in his chest as he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

Motherfucker—fuck, it hurts!

Meanwhile, another of Dax's companions leapt onto the tiger's back, a heavy iron rod clutched in both hands. He wrapped it around the creature's neck, pulling with all his might. 

The tiger roared, thrashing wildly, its movements shaking the ground.

"[Flash Step]!" 

Dax shouted, his form blurring as he closed the distance in an instant. His dagger flashed downward, slicing through the tiger's front legs. The beast collapsed, its roar turning to a snarl of pain as it flailed helplessly. The others swarmed it, their weapons rising and falling in a frenzy of desperation and rage. 

Blood sprayed across the stone floor as the tiger's struggles grew weaker and weaker until it finally laid still.

Silence fell over the temple, broken only by the survivors' ragged breathing. Dax leaned heavily on his dagger, staring down at the lifeless corpse of the beast.

Dax stumbled toward Lucian, his boots squelching in the blood-soaked floor. He crouched beside him, placing a hand on his chest. A faint pulse thrummed beneath his palm.

"Still alive," Dax muttered, his voice hoarse. Relief flickered in his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder at the others. "At least one of them made it through. We're not done yet."

One of the guards, clutching a deep gash in his arm, scoffed bitterly. "That's all you care about? We barely survived, Dax. Barely! And for what? You think this… this madness will work?"

"It has to," Dax snapped, his expression hardening. "We've come too far to stop now." He rose to his full height, pointing toward the altar at the center of the room in the far north of the temple. 

The stone slab loomed in the torchlight. "Get the fire ready."

The survivors exchanged uneasy glances, but none dared to question him further. One of them hurried to the altar, striking flint and steel until a small flame sputtered to life in the center.

 The fire seemed to catch unnaturally fast, roaring higher than it should have, casting eerie, dancing shadows across the temple walls.

Dax knelt beside Lucian again, gripping his shoulder and shaking him gently. "Come on, wake up," he muttered. "I need you conscious for this."

Lucian groaned, his eyelids fluttering open. His vision swam, and the world around him felt warped and distant. He blinked up at Dax, confusion and pain etched across his face. "What… what are you doing?"

"Freeing us," Dax said simply, his tone devoid of emotion. He gripped Lucian under the arms, hauling him toward the altar. Lucian's protests were weak, his body too battered to resist.

Words half-formed in the form of whispers started to formulate inside Lucian's mind, fragments of a language he couldn't understand yet felt disturbingly familiar.

At the altar, Dax laid Lucian down on the cold stone, the glowing runes casting an unnatural light across his pale skin. He motioned to the others, who began sharpening their knives, the scraping sound grating against Lucian's ears.

"What… what is this?" Lucian rasped, his voice barely audible. Fear flickered in his eyes as he watched Dax draw a long, serrated blade from his belt.

Dax's lips twisted into a grim smile. "This is the price of freedom," he said, his voice taking on an almost reverent tone. "To leave this cursed world, to gain the power to travel to a brighter one, we must offer entertainment to the God of Salvation and Destruction. The requirement is simple: the flesh of someone from the world we wish to reach."

Lucian's breath hitched, his blood running cold. "You're… you're insane."

Lucian was dumbstruck. Afterall, he had not read about cannibalism so far. Or maybe it was because the first survivor or divine gates never mentioned anything about it. 

"Maybe," Dax said with a shrug. "But it's the only way." He raised the blade, the firelight glinting off its jagged edge. "Don't think of it as dying. Think of it as… becoming part of something greater."

The whispers surged, twisting into cruel laughter that seemed to echo from the stone itself. Lucian's heart pounded as he struggled against the bindings they fastened around his wrists and ankles. 

"You don't have to do this!" he cried, panic clawing at his voice.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," one of the guards muttered, his eyes darting nervously around the room. "The temple's already watching. We can't stop now."

"Yes. We have to feast on you. We can't stay in this world anymore." Another one added. 

"You can't live in the bright world!" Lucian cried out, "You're not allowed to! You'll burn and not even ashes will be left of you!"

Dax glanced back at his comrades, his expression hard. "Stay focused. Don't hear to him. We're running out of time."

"What if it's true…what if this dark world is our fate…" 

"Then we fuck fate up!" Dax replied annoyingly. 

As Dax's blade blurred, suddenly Lucian's mind became clear. 

The runes on the altar flared brightly, their pulsating rhythm syncing with the frantic pounding of Lucian's heart.

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The Agony of Shuddering Terror trembles in delight at your fear.

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However, it was gone as soon as the horror had come. 

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The Agony of Weeping Silence recoils at your fleeting hope.

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Huh! What is this? I don't feel scared anymore. What is this…? Acceptance of death? Hahh—but…but—I've always wanted to be in this story…it was my dream…how can I die here????!

In his serene mind, a flame as bright as the sun lit up, filling his entire body with an unbridled rage. 

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The Agony of Burning Wrath wishes to unleash its fury through you.

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And then, a voice—not a whisper, but a roar—filled his mind.

"Do you wish to burn them all? Feed me your rage, and I will give you the strength to survive."

The air around the altar grew suffocatingly hot, the fire's flames twisting into unnatural shapes. The survivors began to falter, their confidence wavering as the oppressive atmosphere bore down on them.

"Show me despair. Show me malice. Feed me. All of it."

"What the hell is happening?" one of them hissed, his knife slipping from his trembling fingers.

Dax's grip tightened on the blade, but even he hesitated as the altar itself began to tremble. "Stay calm," he barked, though his voice betrayed his unease. "It's just… part of the ritual."

But Lucian could feel it—something within him stirring, awakening. Fury, despair, and terror churned together, boiling over into something dark. 

"Burn them. Let them taste the agony they sought to inflict. Give me your pain, and I will give you power. Burn them, with all of your malice."

The grimoire flew in front of his eyes, shining with a few, bloody words. 

******************************************

LORE FRAGMENT #002 has been unlocked. 

Optional Quest "Bearer of the Unlit Flame" has arrived. 

Do you wish to accept:? 

Yes / No

******************************************

"Yes." He breathed out weakly. 

At the same time, his mind went blank. The feeling of a burning cold flame invaded his entire body. 

And then, invisible flames burst out. They weren't visible, but the agony was there. 

The flames twisted. Screams erupted as the guards' flesh cracked like parched earth, their veins igniting with an unholy fire that consumed them from within. 

Their eyes bulged, tears evaporating before they fell, as they relived their worst memories in excruciating clarity. They begged, they pleaded, but the Flame was indifferent. It fed on their despair, their agony, growing stronger with every wail.

Dax was the last to fall, his eyes wide with terror as he begged for mercy. But the Flame showed none. 

Lucian's pale green eyes were shimmering in a dark, sinister shade of red as he stared down at them, the chains that tied him broken as he looked with an air of indifference.

"You...how could it be...NOOOOO!" 

Dax's final screams echoed through the temple as the Flame consumed him.

When the silence returned, Lucian collapsed to his knees, the heat subsiding but leaving him marked. The runes on the altar dimmed, and the whispers in his head turned to low, mocking laughter.

"You are mine, now, Bearer of the Unlit Flame."

And then, the temple began to quake as Lucian lost consciousness. 

************************************************

Congratulations, you have completed the quest "Bearer

of the Unlit Flame." Experience points will now be

granted.

Congratulations, you have become the centre of attention.

Congratulations. You have received 50 stat points. 

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–ATTRIBUTES: Lucian de Luca–

Vitality: 23 (F)

Strength: 8 (F-)

Dexterity: 14 (F-)

Arcana: 21 (F)

Resolve: 19 (F-)

Corruption: 12%

(You have 50 stat points to allocate)

—SKILLS—

N/A

—TITLES—

[Bearer of the Unlit Flame]: 

1. 110% Damage against spectres (Passive)

2. 150% damage while using corrupted flames (Passive)

3. 500% into all stat points when the user is consumed by negative emotions (Active) 

—Lore Fragments—

Fragment #002: The Flame lives inside you § Trail of Unlit Flame