WARRIOR OF LIBERATION

"Some fire doesn't go out.

It just forgets what it was lit for."

— Mina, Night Watch Entry

📍 Location: Sector D Outskirts – Ashgrave Canyons

The wind blew cold.

Ash scattered like falling snow through the ravines east of the city — once a battlefield, now a graveyard for forgotten souls.

But today…

The ground pulsed with flame again.

Unnatural flame.

ALERT: Corrupted System Traces Detected

System Revenants Active: Estimated 5–10

Warning: Direct combat may cause irreversible memory collapse of affected souls.

Sei and Mina arrived at the canyon edge, cloaked in silence.

They looked down into the fog, where flickering shadows moved like haunted echoes.

Sei's voice was quiet.

"Too many."

Mina gripped her arm. "These were all liberators once."

Suddenly, the fog parted.

Figures emerged.

Not zombies. Not monsters.

People.

Wearing old rebellion cloaks. Soulmark sigils burned into their backs.

Each held a weapon — broken, bent, rusted — but still burning.

And all of them chanted, in hollow unison:

"We burned for freedom."

"But freedom forgot us."

ENTITY GROUP: SYSTEM REVENANTS – ECHO CLASS (x8)

Status: High Memory Instability | Hostile if confronted with truth | Bound by Kaios's Flamebrand Loop Virus

One of them stepped forward.

A woman with a shattered helmet.

Her voice was sharp. Familiar.

Mina whispered, "That's Rae… I trained under her…"

The Revenant spoke:

"We died to break the world. And it stayed unbroken."

"So now, we burn you instead."

🔥 BATTLE ENGAGED: SEI & MINA VS. THE BURNED LEGION (Revenant Echo Class) 🔥

One charged. Fast.

Sei blocked the first strike — just barely.

It wasn't power.

It was memory behind every blow.

He saw flashes:

Rae training recruits.

Rae holding the line alone at Ember Bridge.

Rae bleeding out, whispering Mina's name.

Flame Sync Surge: Dangerous!

Enemy memory trying to overwrite system balance. Must counter emotionally or sever.

Mina dropped to her knees.

She was shaking.

"I can't fight them, Sei. They're real. They're her."

Sei planted his feet.

Not in anger.

In acceptance.

"Then we don't fight."

He let his flames rise.

Not as a weapon.

As a voice.

"You were not forgotten."

"You were not abandoned."

"You're not alone anymore."

Skill Activated: Soul Forgiveness (Lv. 1)

Targets: Multi-lock Enabled — Up to 3 Revenants

Emotion Link Stabilized: Rae, Duro, and Mika

Effect: Begin Cleansing Sequence…

His soulfire surged — not in a blast, but in light.

Three revenants froze.

Their flames began to change color — from red-black to pale silver.

One cried out:

"Why does it feel like sunrise?"

They dropped their weapons.

The other five screamed.

"TRAITORS TO FLAME! TRAITORS TO PAIN!"

They charged.

Mina stood up.

Wiped her tears.

Raised her hands.

"Then burn with me — but not against me!"

🔥 Flame Pulse: Cleanse Variant! 🔥

New Sub-Skill Learned: Memory Sealwave – Stuns corrupted revenants without permanent harm.

The two remaining revenants crashed into a radiant pulse — slowed, stunned, howling with static.

Sei ran forward and touched them both—

Soul Forgiveness: Critical Sync Triggered!

Flamebrand Virus Overwritten by Host Soul

All eight revenants collapsed.

Not dead.

Not erased.

Sleeping.

Restored.

Liberation Surge:

8 Souls Reclaimed from Revenant State

+1 System Integrity Bonus: Kaios Flamebrand Resistance +5%

New Passive Trait Gained:

Soul Shepherd (Lv. 1) – Revenants within 30 meters weaken by 10%. You gain emotional resistance to past-bonded flames.

Mina dropped beside him.

"They're gonna keep sending more, aren't they?"

Sei nodded.

"They think this'll break me."

He looked down at Rae, now unconscious but at peace.

"It won't."

Far away…

Kaios smiled from his flame-flooded throne.

"So… he heals now."

He raised a new file.

Project: Revenant Alpha – Former Heir. Soul Still Active.

Code Name: "EMBER TWIN."

TO BE CONTINUED…

🔥 Chapter 25 Tease: The Ember Twin

Kaios unleashes a new threat — not a corrupted rebel, but someone who once bore the exact same flame as Sei.

And this time… the face may be his own.