Location: The Obsidian Wastes – Devil Territory
The air shimmered with heat.
Volcanic winds howled across the jagged black plains of the Obsidian Wastes, where crimson rivers of magma flowed like veins of a dying god. Lightning flickered faintly in the clouds above, unnatural and pulsing with dark energy.
Leon stood at the edge of a narrow cliff path, Yamato strapped across his back, his cloak fluttering in the sulfuric wind. Beside him, his system map pulsed faintly—locked on to a single location:The Temple of Black Flame — current containment site of the Third Fragment of Vritra.
"This one… is wild," Vritra growled inside his mind. "Untamed. It was sealed away long before I fell. Even I don't remember what it became."
Leon narrowed his eyes. "Then it's time we wake it up."
Hours Later – Temple Grounds
The temple was a ruin carved into a mountain's base—columns melted and reshaped by time and lava, obsidian statues lining the path in twisted dragonic shapes. But it wasn't abandoned.
Dozens of cloaked figures knelt in silence, their bodies tattooed with glowing infernal runes, voices whispering in sync:
"Vritra, Flame of Binding… Devourer of Chains… Black Flame Eternal…"
Leon stepped into the temple courtyard.
The moment he did—they turned.
A silence fell.
The largest of them—taller than even Leon, covered in ceremonial bone armor—stepped forward. His eyes glowed with a pulsing, corrupted purple hue.
"You bear His mark," the high priest rumbled. "The Dragon King calls to you. Why do you seek Him?"
Leon's voice was cold, certain: "Because I'm not here to worship him. I'm here to reclaim him."
The cult stirred, hissing like snakes.
"We are his vessel! He is ours now!"
Leon's aura exploded outward—void energy crackling through the ash, silver eyes glowing with layered power.
"You've been feeding off a broken god," he said, drawing Yamato with a sharp shing. "Time to break your illusion."
Battle Begins – The Cult vs. the Voidborn
The fight was brutal.
Runed weapons clashed against Leon's Yamato, but none could keep up with his speed. The air was filled with purple-black flames and Void slashes that bent space around the shrine.
Each strike he landed burned away more of the cult's twisted power—freeing chunks of the temple's corrupted heart, bit by bit, until—
BOOOOOM!
A shockwave burst from beneath the altar.
The third Vritra Fragment awakened—roaring with molten wings unfurled, its voice echoing into the mindscape:
"WHO DARES TOUCH MY FLAME?"
Leon stood firm, Sacred Gear burning around his arm, eyes like liquid silver.
"I'm not here to ask."