The world lurched.
The moment my hand touched the door, the alley vanished as if it had never existed. Space folded inward, crushing and stretching at the same time, and then—
Silence.
I stood in an endless void.
No ground. No sky. Only darkness pierced by countless floating symbols, ancient runes drifting like dying stars. Each one pulsed with a power so dense it made my chest feel heavy.
My breath caught.
"This… isn't a room," I whispered. "It's a seal."
[Authority Fragment accessed.]
[Guardian recognition in progress…]
A single rune blazed brighter than the rest, pulling itself toward me. Unlike the others, it was fractured, cracked along its edges as if broken apart by force.
The moment it came close, pain exploded behind my eyes.
I dropped to one knee, gasping.
Memories—not mine—flooded in.
A council of archmages chanting in fear.
A city reduced to nothing but white ash.
A spell circle collapsing as reality screamed.
And at the center of it all—
Fire.
Not red.
Not orange.
But black, swallowing light itself.
[Forgotten Spell identified.]
The system's voice was colder than before.
Forgotten Spell
Name: Ember of Oblivion
Rank: Forbidden
State: Partially Restored
Authority Fragment: 1/7 (Bound)
I clenched my teeth.
"So this is what you were hiding."
The rune slammed into my chest.
Agony tore through my body as the fragment fused with my core. My vision went white, then black, then—
I screamed.
Runes burned across my skin, appearing and disappearing in rapid succession. My mana surged wildly, threatening to tear me apart from the inside.
[Warning.]
[Guardian vessel unstable.]
[Initiating emergency suppression.]
Chains of light wrapped around the rune inside me, forcing it into dormancy. The pain receded just enough for me to breathe.
I collapsed forward, trembling.
"…Damn it," I rasped.
When I finally lifted my head, the void was changing. The floating runes retreated, dissolving into the darkness. The fractured rune that had fused with me was gone—its presence now a heavy weight deep within my chest.
[Authority Fragment successfully bound.]
[Guardian Body Reinforcement: Minor.]
[New permission unlocked.]
The blue system screen reappeared.
Authority Level: 1
Fragments Bound: 1 / 7
Guardian Body Status: Stabilizing
Active Spell Slot: 1
Unlocked Function:
▶ Spell Preview (Restricted)
I exhaled slowly, forcing my racing heart to calm.
"One fragment," I muttered. "And it nearly killed me."
If this was just the first, I didn't want to imagine what the last would feel like.
A faint glow appeared before me—an image, like a reflection formed from mana.
It was Ember of Oblivion.
A small, flickering black flame hovered in midair. It looked harmless. Fragile, even.
But I knew better.
[Spell Preview active.]
[Full activation still prohibited.]
I reached out cautiously.
The moment my finger brushed the flame, the void trembled.
A vision struck me again.
A single touch.
A person standing in front of me—faceless, nameless.
The flame brushed them.
And they vanished.
Not burned.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
No ash. No soul. No memory.
My hand recoiled violently.
I staggered back, my breath ragged.
"…That spell doesn't kill," I whispered. "It deletes."
No grave. No afterlife.
Nothing.
Cold sweat drenched my back.
If I ever lost control of that power—even for a second—
I shut my eyes tightly.
I can't use this. Not yet. Maybe never.
As if responding to my resolve, the black flame shrank, sealing itself away.
[Ember of Oblivion sealed.]
[Usage restricted until further authority restored.]
The void began to collapse.
Light stretched into lines, then snapped.
I gasped as I was thrown back into reality.
The alley slammed into existence around me. The old door before me crumbled into dust, scattering across the ground like it had aged a thousand years in a heartbeat.
I stumbled, barely catching myself against the wall.
My body felt… heavier.
Not in a bad way.
More solid.
I looked down at my hands. The faint runes beneath my skin pulsed once, then vanished completely.
[Guardian Body Reinforcement complete.]
[Threat Level updated: Low.]
I let out a shaky laugh.
"Low," I repeated. "After that?"
Footsteps echoed faintly from the far end of the alley.
I stiffened.
Someone was coming.
I pulled my hood lower, forcing my breathing to steady.
The door was gone. The seal was broken.
But the fragment was now part of me.
And somewhere in this city, others like it might still exist.
I pushed myself upright.
The first forgotten spell had awakened.
And with it, my fate had taken its first irreversible step forward.