Veera and Aeren returned from the Rift of Zero.
In Aeren's hand shimmered the Shadow Crystal—
a dark fragment that pulsed with traces of all five elements…
and at its center, a strange, swirling black wave.
Veera's gaze remained fixed on it.
"This is the moment of judgment," she said softly.
"Either they will accept you…
or erase you forever."
The Elemental Council had reconvened.
High above the floating realm of Sankalan Sabha, the Great Hall glowed with elemental sigils.
Representatives of all four realms—Fire, Water, Earth, and Air—had gathered again, each bearing the weight of their people's beliefs.
But this time, a fifth figure entered.
One whose presence had been missing for years…
Queen Alaya of Flame.
Her arrival drew murmurs across the chamber.
Her hair was fire itself, writhing like living embers.
Her eyes—glowing with fury, layered with old grief and unspoken secrets.
She didn't sit.
She commanded the room the moment she stepped in.
"So," she said, her voice sharp, smoky.
"This is the boy who has awakened not only the fifth element…
but the sixth as well?"
Veera bowed slightly.
"Yes, Your Majesty. He is Crackborn, yes—but he is no longer a threat.
He is… the Master of Elements."
Aeren stepped forward.
His breath was steady, though the weight of judgment pressed down like stone.
He extended the crystal.
"This is the proof," he said.
"Oblivion—the sixth element—is real.
And all of you have denied it for far too long."
The council leaned forward, eyes narrowing, whispering among themselves.
Queen Alaya took the crystal in her palm.
Her eyes sharpened as the shadows within twisted and danced.
She smiled.
But the smile was poisoned with something venomous.
"We don't need a crystal, Aeren," she said.
"We need truth.
And the truth is this—you are destruction."
A murmur of shock spread through the council.
The High Priestess of Water rose to her feet.
"No! That is not true!" she said.
"If Aeren were a threat, the elements would not flow through him.
They protect him—for a reason."
The Earth Guardian added his voice:
"Perhaps we should grant him another trial. A test. He's come too far for us to act on fear alone."
But Queen Alaya's voice thundered above them all.
"No more trials!" she bellowed.
"Do you not remember? The day the fifth element fell…
my sister turned to ash!"
Aeren looked up sharply. "Your sister?"
Alaya's eyes flared crimson.
"Yes. She was the Guardian of the Ember Temple. The moment the fifth element awoke, she perished in its fire!
It was Crackborn who triggered that awakening.
It was you who doomed her!"
Aeren stood stunned. The flames in the room flickered with Alaya's rising fury.
"And now," she declared, stepping forward, "by fire and oath, I swear—
I will not let you live."
Suddenly, the council chamber exploded in fire.
Walls of flame erupted around the hall as fire-soldiers—guardians of Alaya's royal flame—materialized in full armor. The floor cracked, glowing red with molten anger.
Veera stepped forward.
"You broke the Council's law, Alaya!
No realm may bring arms into this space!"
Alaya laughed—a sound like wood crackling in a furnace.
"Laws exist only for those who fear consequences!"
she roared.
"I fear nothing anymore!"
Veera's expression hardened.
Behind her, Aeren closed his eyes.
Inside, he searched himself…
and felt all five elements circling in harmony.
And then—softly, silently—Oblivion began to flow.
It rose from within his palms.
It did not burn, or blind, or shake the world.
It simply… erased.
As Alaya's flames surged toward him, they touched nothing.
Aeren was no longer there.
The Fire Queen stumbled back.
Veera gasped.
"You… you made yourself forgotten?!"
The space where Aeren had stood was empty.
Only a whisper remained in the air:
"If I no longer exist…
how can fire burn me?"
Alaya growled. "You cannot hide him, Veera!
I am flame!
I reduce all to ash!"
Veera met her gaze without flinching.
"And I am a messenger of the skies.
I see all—
even the fear you try so hard to bury."
The fire dimmed. The room stilled.
Council members now exchanged uncertain looks.
The once-unified council had fractured.
Some leaned toward Aeren's side—believing in his power, in his balance.
Others turned toward Alaya—driven by fear, revenge, and the pain of the past.
And thus, in that moment of silence…
the spark of war was lit.