The night was quiet. A rare peace settled over the city. Sonnet, Andreas, and Lumi lay in their motel room, their exhaustion finally pulling them into a deep sleep.

  Then....

  Boom!

  The earth trembled. Glass shattered. The walls groaned under the weight of the sudden shockwave.

  Sonnet's eyes snapped open. A deep, guttural roar filled the air—a sound so immense, so unnatural, that it sent shivers down her spine.

  Andreas jolted awake, his heart hammering. "What the hell was that?!"

  Lumi sat up, her face pale.

  The three of them rushed outside, the cold night air hitting their faces as they ran toward the inferno that had erupted in the distance. A towering pillar of fire raged against the dark sky, swirling violently as if alive. But this was no ordinary fire—

  It was changing.

  The flames burned deep red, then flared into a brilliant orange. A moment later, they turned an ethereal blue, illuminating the city with a ghostly glow. But then—

  Purple.

  A color that shouldn't exist in flames. A color that twisted the laws of nature.

  The fire was evolving.

  Lumi's breath hitched. "This… this isn't normal."

  Sonnet clenched her fists. "It's not just fire anymore."

  Andreas swallowed hard. "It's him."

  Then, amidst the sea of shifting flames, they saw HIM.

  A lone figure stood at the heart of the inferno. Unmoved. Unshaken. As if he belonged there.

  It was The Vessel Of Chaos,Kazuki.

  His silhouette burned against the raging fire, his body wreathed in chaos itself. The flames danced around him, yet they did not consume him. They obeyed him.

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  The Vessel of Chaos had awakened.

  And in that moment, he was not just a boy. Not just a Trailblazer.

  He was something else entirely.

  He was the one who stood in the Primordial Flames.

  The heat was unbearable.

  The very air around them shimmered, distorting like ripples on a molten surface. The stone beneath their feet cracked, seared by an unseen force. The group could barely breathe,the oxygen itself felt like it was being devoured by the raging inferno before them.

  Kazuki stood in the heart of the blaze, his presence radiating power unlike anything they had ever seen. His hair, wreathed in flames, glowed like a burning crown. The embers didn't consume him; they became a part of him, flickering in harmony with each breath he took.

  Lumi shielded her face, sweat dripping down her temple. "We can't get any closer! The heat is too intense!"

  Sonnet gritted her teeth. "At this rate, we won't even be able to talk to him!"

  Andreas clenched his left fist, the veins in his arm pulsing with power. "I'll handle it."

  Raising his hand, Andreas began to absorb the flames. The fire bent unnaturally toward him, spiraling into his palm like a whirlpool of energy. The temperature around them dropped slightly as the path ahead cleared.

  Step by step, they advanced toward Kazuki.

  But something was wrong.

  Lumi narrowed her eyes. "His stance… his aura… has he lost control?"

  A sinking feeling gripped them. The raw, untamed chaos swirling around Kazuki—it was unlike anything they had ever seen before. Was this truly their friend? Or had he been consumed by the very force he sought to control?

  Then—

  Kazuki moved.

  In an instant, he vanished from where he stood, a shockwave of fire bursting behind him.

  He was rushing straight toward them.

  The group braced themselves, ready for the worst.

  But...

  Instead of attacking, Kazuki skidded to a halt right in front of them, his eyes shining with excitement.

  "I DID IT!!!" he shouted, grinning ear to ear. "GUYS, I FINALLY ACTIVATED MY ABILITY!!"

  The group, still on high alert, just stood there,speechless.

  "…Huh?"

  The air was thick with tension, but Kazuki? He was too busy jumping around like an overexcited kid.

  "I figured it out! It was so simple! I just had to call out 'LEO!' and BAM!magic circle, flames, power-up!LOOK AT ME!!" He spread his arms dramatically, the embers around him sparkling like stars.

  Andreas, who had just absorbed a ridiculous amount of fire to protect the group, sighed heavily. "You almost gave us a heart attack, you idiot."

  Lumi wiped the sweat from her forehead. "We thought you went insane."

  Sonnet crossed her arms, looking unimpressed. "You could've warned us first before pulling an apocalypse-tier awakening sequence."

  Kazuki laughed nervously. "Oh… yeah. My bad."

  The heat around them finally settled, and for the first time, they could actually breathe.

  Kazuki clenched his fists, staring at the flames still flickering around him. His power was real now. It was his.

  And this was only the beginning.