A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5812

"Yes." Reiner's answer slipped out on a sigh, carrying the wistful echo of a glorious past.

He drew a breath, eyes reflecting flickers of invisible flame. "Lucas was born unbridled," Lennox said. "Straight as a sword, crooked as a storm. Rules bored him. He chased the power inside fire—the madness that destroys everything, then plants the first seed of something new."

"To reach that truth, he set his own flesh alight again and again, dancing along the razor edge between life and annihilation until he forged the awe-inspiring Demonflare Art. When he strode out as the Fire Demon Lord, worlds trembled. Demons knelt, immortals whispered his name with fear."

"Flegel, though, was warmth itself," Reiner continued, his tone gentling. "He heard in every ember the promise of light, comfort, and renewal. To him, fire was the cradle of civilization, the lantern that keeps despair at bay."

"His Blazewraith Technique could purge corruption and nourish barren lands. In time, he was hailed across the star-fields as the Fire Spirit Lord, steward of a whole constellation, worshipped as the very source of hope's first spark."

A tight, bitter smile pinched Reiner's mouth. "And I possessed neither Lucas' savage insight nor Flegel's boundless grace. I stood beside twin suns and understood only enough to feel my own smallness. Their brilliance forced me into the cracks, where I groped for a path that was half sword, half flame. Each step felt slower than the one before."

He exhaled, shoulders sinking beneath the weight of private regret.

"Worse," Reiner went on, "once our master laid the foundation for us, he sensed a higher calling beyond the universe's rim, whispered farewell, and vanished among the cosmic walls. Lucas and Flegel—bright meteors—kept soaring without him. I remained behind. I chose to guard the Blazefire Secret Realm—this shard of primordial fire Lucas reshaped before he left. He called it a refuge for me. He also warned that, in the wrong hands, its core could birth catastrophe."

Reiner paused, rubbing ash-scarred fingers together, as though feeling the centuries slip through their grooves.

"So I stayed," he murmured. "I studied the notes Lucas left, the few counseling Flegel sent across the stars, and the endless tide of flame-essence that breathes inside this realm. Thousands of years bled away while I forced sword and fire to marry, until at last the Sky Scorching Sword Art was born. That, and the laughable title the world has now given me. The Flame-Sword Venerable."

He turned toward Jared, candor shining in his eyes, yet a faint shadow of loneliness drifted behind the light.

So this is the tangle of fates that forged the Blazefire Secret Realm.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify