The night was thick with mist as Lee Sung made his way through the ruins of an abandoned shrine on the outskirts of Solspire. Every step he took echoed faintly in the hollow, crumbling halls. The journal Akane had left him was tucked safely against his chest, and in his other hand, he gripped the Sigil of Warding tightly.
It pulsed with a faint blue glow — a constant reminder that he was hunted.
The Sigil was no mere trinket. It was a defensive artifact, ancient and powerful. Woven into its design were runes older than the current pantheon of gods. When activated, it could create a temporary barrier that resisted divine magic — even the sun-blessed power of Helios. But it came at a cost. Every use drained Lee Sung's own life force, leaving him weaker for hours afterward. It was a weapon of last resort.
He was going to need it soon.
---
Lee Sung stopped in the center of the shrine, sensing a shift in the air. A soft warmth, like a memory of sunlight, brushed against his skin. He turned — and there she was.
Akane's spirit hovered before him, ethereal and glowing, her features soft but sad. She wore the battle-worn cloak she had died in, but there was no blood now — only light.
"Lee Sung," her voice was a whisper and a cry all at once. "You're running out of time."
He staggered back, his heart pounding. "Akane... is it really you?"
She nodded solemnly. "I cannot stay long. The barrier between worlds weakens — chaos is coming faster than you realize."
Lee Sung stepped closer, clenching his fists. "Helios. He's behind it all."
Akane's face twisted in grief. "Not just Helios. There's a bigger web, Lee Sung. The gods are using us... mortals are just pieces on their board. The Solar Dominion is only the beginning."
She gestured, and images flashed before his eyes: factions vying for favor with different gods, secret meetings in gilded halls, and councils of powerful summoners choosing sides like pieces in a deadly game.
Helios's faction, The Solar Dominion, had seized power in the major cities. Political assassinations were sweeping the countryside. Neutral summoners were either forced into allegiance or slaughtered.
"The summoner war is coming," Akane warned. "Helios plans to unite the factions under his rule... and the gods backing him want complete dominion over this world. If he succeeds, free will will vanish."
Lee Sung's jaw tightened. "Then we stop him. We tear it all down."
Akane smiled faintly, pride flickering in her ghostly form. "You must survive first. And trust no one, Lee Sung. Even those who offer help."
Her form began to flicker, as if the very fabric holding her together was weakening.
"One last thing," she said urgently. "The Sigil of Warding... it can protect you against the god-blessed assassins, but it can also reveal the spies among you. When the sigil's light touches one who carries divine corruption, they will be exposed."
Lee Sung's mind raced. That knowledge could change everything.
"Use it wisely," Akane whispered. "And when the time comes... do not hesitate."
With those final words, she vanished, leaving the shrine cold and silent once more.
---
Lee Sung stood in the darkness for a long time, digesting what he had seen.
He now knew why Helios had moved so aggressively: he wasn't just trying to dominate the world; he was trying to purge it — to make it a clean, obedient realm ready for the gods' absolute rule.
And Lee Sung was perhaps the last real threat in his way.
His fingers brushed over the Sigil of Warding, feeling its thrum against his palm.
Trust no one.
The political landscape was more treacherous than ever. Alliances were no longer about loyalty or honor — they were about survival, power, and playing the gods' game.
If Lee Sung was going to win, he couldn't simply fight harder — he had to fight smarter.
---
That night, he returned to the hidden safehouse he had established among a few remaining free summoners. They were a ragtag group — some outcasts, some rebels, all dangerous in their own way. None fully trusted one another, but they understood the greater threat.
At the fire's edge, he gathered them.
"We make our move soon," he said, voice low and even. "Helios is consolidating power. If we don't act, he'll crush the last pockets of resistance before we can blink."
A grizzled woman named Malka, once a respected scholar before the Dominion purged her university, spoke up. "We don't have the numbers, Lee Sung. And the people are scared. They see Helios as a savior... a bringer of order."
Lee Sung nodded grimly. "Fear is his weapon. But chaos is our ally. We don't need to match him in strength. We make the people see the cracks in his mask."
He pulled out the Sigil of Warding, letting its faint blue light shine.
"This," he said, holding it aloft, "can reveal the corrupted agents among us. I'll root out Helios's spies first. Then we'll strike."
Murmurs of unease spread through the group. No one liked the idea of being tested. But after a tense moment, Malka stood and stepped forward.
"Do it," she said.
One by one, Lee Sung touched the Sigil to each of them. When the blue light passed over them, it flared briefly — pure and clean. No corruption. No spies.
Yet.
He would have to remain vigilant. Politics had a way of turning even the best intentions to ash.
---
Later that night, as he sat alone at the fire's dying embers, Lee Sung opened Akane's journal once more.
Its last pages spoke of something deeper still — the Heart of Sol, a mythical artifact said to reside within Solspire's innermost sanctum. An artifact capable of severing the gods' influence over the mortal world entirely.
It was a dangerous hope.
If Lee Sung could seize the Heart of Sol, he wouldn't just defeat Helios. He would free humanity from the gods themselves.
But Helios surely knew about the artifact too.
Their final battle would not just be for territory or power — it would be for the very soul of the world.
Lee Sung clenched his fists and stared into the darkness beyond the firelight.
It was time to start a war.