Chapter 9: The Awakening Flame

The tunnel was collapsing.

Mira barely had time to register the explosion before the force of it sent her tumbling forward. Choking dust filled the narrow passage, the sound of cracking stone and panicked screams echoing in the darkness. Rocks rained down like vengeful stars, crushing the bodies of unfortunate captives too slow to escape.

Her lungs burned as she pushed herself up, her mind racing. Damn it. Damn it. This wasn't part of the plan!

A second explosion rumbled through the underground cavern, sending another shockwave through the brittle walls. Mira's gaze darted toward the exit—just a few meters away. If they could just make it…

A sharp cry ripped through the chaos. Mira turned just in time to see Nia trapped beneath a fallen wooden beam, her small frame struggling but pinned. Her golden eyes were wide with fear as dust and debris rained down around her.

"Go!" Nia gasped. "You have to—"

"Shut up," Mira snarled, shoving away the overwhelming urge to run. She wasn't leaving her behind.

She staggered to Nia's side, hands wrapping around the splintered wood. It was heavy, too heavy. Her muscles screamed in protest, her vision blurring from exhaustion and the suffocating air. The guards had set off explosives to collapse the tunnels, trapping or killing any escaping slaves. And it was working.

She could hear them in the distance, shouting orders, the clang of weapons echoing through the tunnels. The reinforcements were coming. They didn't have time.

Mira clenched her teeth, frustration and something deeper curling inside her chest like a wildfire. No. I won't die here. I won't let her die here.

Her hands trembled against the beam, her body on the verge of collapse. Move, damn it. MOVE!

And then—

A searing heat erupted from deep within her.

The world burned white.

A rush of power surged through her veins, hotter than any fire she had ever known. It coiled around her like a living force, seeping into her very soul. The chains on her wrists, engraved with magic-suppressing runes, shattered like brittle glass, their remnants sizzling into molten slag.

Mira gasped as the surge of divine energy threatened to consume her, but instead of pain, all she felt was clarity. Strength. Power.

A voice—not her own—whispered in her mind.

"The Flames of Dominion recognize your will. Burn, and be unyielding."

Her eyes snapped open, blazing with an unnatural crimson light. The weight of the beam no longer mattered. With a single motion, she lifted it as though it were made of air, tossing it aside.

Nia gasped, staring at her with wide, stunned eyes. "Mira…?"

Mira didn't answer. She couldn't. The power roaring through her veins demanded release.

The guards had caught up.

A group of armored men rounded the corner, their weapons drawn. The moment they saw her standing there, unharmed, unshackled, wreathed in shimmering heat—

They hesitated.

One of them, likely a captain, barked an order. "Kill her! Now!"

The first man lunged forward.

Mira raised her hand on instinct. A roaring inferno burst from her palm, devouring him in an instant. His scream was lost beneath the deafening rush of flames. The others scrambled back in terror.

"Monster!" one of them choked out.

Mira exhaled slowly, watching as the fire danced at her fingertips, coiling around her like a protective cloak. Her arrogance, the force that had simmered inside her ever since her transmigration, was now an inferno.

Flames of Dominion.

She didn't know exactly what it was, but she understood one thing—

She wasn't just an extra anymore.

She was a force of nature.

She turned to Nia and reached out. "Can you run?"

Nia, still shaken but alive, nodded and grabbed Mira's hand. Together, they sprinted toward the collapsing exit.

The remaining guards scrambled to pursue them, but Mira barely spared them a glance. A single flick of her wrist sent a wave of fire roaring through the tunnel, cutting off their path.

They burst through the exit just as the tunnel behind them crumbled, sealing away the hell they had just escaped from.

The night air was crisp, cold against Mira's overheated skin. The world stretched open before them, free and full of possibilities.

Mira stood there, panting, the last embers of her fire flickering into the darkness. Then, she let out a breathless, exhilarated laugh.

She had survived.

No. She had conquered.

And this was only the beginning.