“I needed to see blood.”

The Steel Citadel, Vigo,stood as the Empire’s most sacred vault, a sanctuary chosen and sanctified by the very power that ruled the continent. Within its depths slumbered the Empire’s most prized relics, treasures drawn not merely from wealth but from legend.

The Armory housed weapons that once danced in the hands of emperors long dead and heroes who had left their mark on the annals of history. The Magisterium was said to contain ancient spells and rituals, predating even the founding of the Empire itself,sorceries woven in the forgotten tongue of the world before. And then, the Treasury, a place where treasures of incalculable worth lay entombed in silence.

But most formidable among them all was the Archives,a vast and towering library that held within its walls the accumulated wisdom of centuries. Philosophy, art, and fiction were preserved there, their worth measured not by allegiance to the Empire but by the sheer gravity of their insight. Even writings that contradicted the Empire’s dogma found sanctuary there, for the power of knowledge was too great to be silenced by ideology.

Some of those records were so ancient, so shrouded in dust and time, that not even their names were remembered. They spoke of an era before the birth of nations, before the Empire an age of mystery, miracles, myth, and gods. In that primal dawn, knowledge was not confined to ink and paper. It was etched into the wind, sung by rivers, imprinted on the land itself, and even whispered into thought and will.

“You stand before a colossal power that shall alter your fate. It seeks not your allegiance but your surrender.”

The force he then faced, the arcane phenomenon known as Fate Devouring, may well have originated in that lost age. And yet,no truth rang clear through the haze of wonder and pain, thats was not the first.

His initial encounter with mystery had come in another time,when he masqueraded as the false emperor and wandered the citadel’s hidden corridors. he remembers the night vividly; an assassination attempt drove him into the shadows, and in his desperate flight, he stumbled upon my first miracle.

“You have obtained the First Heart of the Flame Emperor’s Codex.”

The Flame Emperor’s Codex.

A secret bound to Ironia’s first sovereign, the one who founded the Steel Empire,Chiron Ironia, the Flame-Steel Emperor. Within it lay a mystery older than empires, pulsing with the same fire that once beat within his chest.

By claiming it, He had reclaimed the lost root of an Empire. Even though he was but a pretender, it lent him the dignity of a ruler. The nobles who once sought his head stayed their blades, intimidated by the majesty that clung to him.

But this time,this life would be different.

Even as fire licked at his skin, he felt no fear. This was the same force that, in his past life, had restored my authority even after tyranny spread across the land like a plague. Now, though he was still only a powerless prince, with no real claim,he  held the Empire’s root in my hands. And with that foundation beneath him, he would rewrite everything, for this was the power said to bend fate.

As the flames slowly receded, he prepared to step forward. But then,without warning,they surged back, this time from deep within me, a violent burst.

The fire that had vanished now flared upward, roaring from his gut as though it had never been extinguished.

“The fate you attempt to devour is too vast. Misfortune activates,its power surges in reverse!”

A sensation he has never known in my past life. Then, it had been nothing more than a gentle flame tucked into the heart. But now…

No time for questions. The fire spread like a plague across his  body,from his feet to the crown of his head,an inferno from within. The agony was unspeakable. Aziel almost fell to his  knees…Almost, instead, a twisted laugh rose from his throat.

“Heh… heheheh…”

Aziel’s spine straightened.Defiance. Arrogance. Pride. Vice. The refusal to yield,those very emotions became my armor. his body ignored the pain, defied the blaze.he still did not understand everything unfolding before him , but one truth crystalized in the heat of it all,

“You think that hurts me?”

Even a fate as immense as this one would not bring him to his knees. He was a prince marked by madness and tyranny,what force could ever tame him ?

To outsiders, he must have looked deranged, possessed. Perhaps they would have called him mad,and perhaps he was,but it was that very madness that helped him see clearly.

The fire responded to his blood.

That was the key,the difference between his previous life and the one he lived then. In that past existence, the prince’s body lacked the true blood of Ironia’s royal line. The mysteries had only partially awakened,but now,this body bore the genuine lineage of emperors. The flame recognized it. The mystery responded. Fate erupted forth.

Though his past life and that diverged one , the power he wielded remained the same. In truth, it was better this way.

“Burn brighter,” He thought. “Let’s see what your true majesty is, now that you’ve tasted royal blood.”

Even as fire wrapped around him , his posture remained proud. His lips curled into a smirk. his eyes, glowing with feverish madness, shone beneath platinum hair…How long he endured…He does not know.

But the moment came,the moment when knowledge began to flood into the Prince.

The blaze whispered its secrets. How to master the Mad Flame. How to control it. Every second of pain was like turning a page in some sacred, burning tome.

In his past life, Aziel has never even opened the book. Now, he reads it line by line, and yet, he was no humble scholar. Submission had no place in a tyrant’s heart.

“The mystery shall obey its master,” He declared. “You will not burn me.”

Arrogance bled into every syllable. Madness dripped from his tongue. He was a prince who would sooner die than yield.

The fire roared back.

“Lesser fates Rebellion, Arrogance, Self-righteousness, and Vice do not yield.”
“By the blessing of misfortune, a new fate is born!”
“Within the noble bloodline, you awaken the trait that devours mysteries.”
“You forcibly devour a power too vast to contain.”

The tyrant’s fate consumed the mystery whole, the pain, which had once seared like molten iron driven through flesh, began to wane. The fire converged, retreating to the center of Aziel’s chest. Then came the final agony, an iron rod branding his heart.

“Ghh—!”

Even Him , in all his madness, could not help but groan through clenched teeth, but that was all. His will, and the tyrant’s madness within this body, were too immense to be broken, the mystery gave in. It curled around his heart, forming a perfect ring of fire.

“Thump. Thump. Thump.”

Even through the haze, He heard the beat. The fire now encircled his heart, its rhythm echoing in his ears. With it came understanding of what the power was, how it functioned, and how to wield it.The pain had carved the knowledge deep into him.

This flame was not merely power,it was also record, memory, legacy. A living text.Unlike before, Aziel, had now devoured both fire and its truth.

[Lesser fate Misfortune: You have surpassed death and consumed fate itself.]
[Lesser fates Rebellion, Arrogance, Self-righteousness, and Vice: You have forged a noble mind and consumed fate.]
[Transformation Score: +500]
[Total Score: 600]
[You have inherited all the abilities of the First Heart, having endured the fire.]
[By encountering the Flame Emperor’s Codex, your noble bloodline begins to blossom. A new fate is born.]
[A power this tremendous shifts your entire destiny.]

Once again, The prince’s fate turned. He does not yet know where it will lead. But one thing is certain,

“Soon, a storm will break,fate, crisis, or both.”

A thousand storms may come.But now that He carries this flame within Him,           the world will change, and once He masters how to wield it, He’ll find a place worthy of being set ablaze.