In the vast cavern filled with softly drifting white lights, I narrowed my eyes, gazing at the translucent figure before me. She was a girl made of light, who had introduced herself as Grace.

“I was under the impression that Grace died a long time ago,” I said.

“That’s true. Strictly speaking, I’m not her. I’m merely a fragment of the soul she left behind, a remnant soul.”

“Then why would the remnant of Grace come looking for me?” I asked.

“Because I sensed the aura of the Seven Eyes within you.”

She was probably referring to the aura from the blessing Iris had bestowed upon me before I entered the ruins.

However, I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. “That can’t be the only reason.”

The first time I had seen that white light was last night, when I was walking with Yurina. It didn’t speak then, but it hovered around me for a while, circling as if studying me, before disappearing.

Moreover, if it were really after the aura of the Seven Eyes, it would have gone to Iris, not me. After all, Iris had entered the ruins with me. The fact that it had sought me instead of her could only mean one thing. There was another reason.

Grace nodded without hesitation. “You’re right.”

She slowly raised her hand and pointed at my chest. “The reason I sought you... is that you carry within you the power that extinguishes fire.”

“The power to extinguish fire?”

Suddenly, I remembered what Professor Baldwin once told me: “There are two, two immense powers dormant inside you, Dale. Not one, but two.”

One of the two powers that dwelled within me, which even I didn’t fully understand, was the power that suppressed the Primordial Flame.

“What do you mean by ‘the power to extinguish fire’?” I asked.

Grace shook her head softly. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I told you, didn’t I? I’m not the real Grace, I’m just a remnant of her soul. I don’t know the exact nature of the power inside you.”

She continued, her voice carrying a quiet sorrow, “However, there’s one thing I do remember. That power is the key to fulfilling my mission.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What is your mission?”

“To extinguish the Ember that lies beneath this tomb. Or rather, beneath this entire ruin.”

“The Ember?”

“The Primordial Ember. A fragment of the Demon God’s power is sealed within it. My mission is to guard this place until that ember burns out completely.”

A long-standing mystery whispered among heroes crossed my mind: Why did Grace choose such a gloomy place as her tomb? Grace wasn’t born or raised in the Termal region. In fact, she had faced fierce opposition when she insisted on building her tomb here.

I finally knew why. She had chosen this place to seal something buried beneath it. Just as she once offered up a divine relic to save a single child, even in death, no, even beyond death, she had offered her soul to hold back the Primordial Ember. She had done so for five hundred long years, alone in this vast, silent darkness.

I immediately bowed toward her.

“What’s that for? Why did you suddenly bow?” she asked.

“It’s my way of showing respect to a great hero.”

Grace folded her arms and let out a small scoff. “Hmph. Save it. I’m not the real Grace anyway.”

“No.”

Even if she was only a fragment, even if she had been eroded and worn down by time, she was not a fake.

I continued, “No matter what, you’re still one of the Great Five Heroes, Grace, the Light of Life.”

The white light forming her body rippled gently. She blinked at me in silence before a faint smile curved her lips. Then she drifted gracefully through the air, almost as if she were dancing. “Thank you.”

“So then, you want me to extinguish the Primordial Ember that lies beneath this place?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

“Hmm.”

I didn’t even know that something like the Primordial Ember even existed. In this world, the one I came to after my regression, the Primordial Flame had yet to manifest. The true Primordial Flame, the one that now resided within me, hadn’t been born before the Demon God’s resurrection.

I wondered if I could find and extinguish all of these Embers? If the Embers were what preceded the flame before its birth, could I prevent the Demon God’s return? The Primordial Flame was the essence of the Demon God’s power. Without the Demon God, the Flame couldn’t exist, and vice versa.

I shook my head immediately at that thought. It was too early to assume anything. I had no idea how many Embers there were or how powerful they were. It would be best to see one with my eyes first.

“Alright. Take me to where this Primordial Ember is,” I said.

Clearly surprised by how quickly I had accepted her request, Grace stared at me. “You’re agreeing that easily?”

“Weren’t you the one who asked me to extinguish it?”

A flicker of hesitation crossed her face. “Well, yes, but...”

After a moment of silence, she spoke again, her voice grave. “You don’t seem to understand what the Ember really is. Even if it’s just a ‘spark,’ the power sealed within it is immense.”

Her tone hardened. “Just a fraction of its energy was enough to heat the entire land around here.”

A thought hit me like lightning. “Wait. Don’t tell me... the reason Termal is famous for its hot springs is the Primordial Ember?”

“Exactly.”

“Haaah!”

The abundance of hot springs here wasn’t caused by volcanic activity after all. It was because of the Ember buried beneath the land.

“What about the other hot spring regions across the three nations?” I asked.

“No. As far as I know, Termal is the only place where a Primordial Ember has had such an effect.”

“Really?”

I clicked my tongue. So much for hoping this could help me track down where the other Primordial Embers were hidden. That was just wishful thinking.

“Don’t take it lightly just because it’s only a hot spring. The Termal region alone spans a massive area. Just a fraction of the Ember’s power was enough to turn the entire land into a volcanic zone,” added Grace.

Her expression grew somber, as if she were trying to intimidate me. “Even if you possess the power to extinguish fire, one wrong move, and you could burn alive.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

It seemed she didn’t like how casual I sounded. She kept warning me about how dangerous the Ember was. “I’m not joking.”

It looked like she didn’t know I had the Blessing of Resurrection.

I chuckled inwardly and nodded. “I understand. But if the Ember remains, you’ll be trapped here forever, won’t you?”

Grace frowned, clearly bewildered. “You. Are you fearless, or just stupid?”

“I’d say the person who dragged me here to extinguish the Ember isn’t in much of a position to ask that.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Well, that’s true, but still.”

Her worried expression didn’t fade. Watching her, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Even now, she was more concerned about someone else than herself. It looked like those old legends about Grace weren’t entirely lies after all.

I said to her, “You don’t have to worry about me. Like you said, I’ve got the power to control fire.”

I raised my hand, summoning a spark of Ashen Flame. A gray flame danced above my palm.

Grace’s eyes widened in shock. “T-that’s... the Primordial Ember? How? How could you have that?”

Technically, it wasn’t an Ember; it was the Primordial Flame itself. But explaining that right now would just complicate things.

“So? Do you believe me now?” I asked.

Grace fell silent, staring at the flame in my hand before slowly nodding with a grave expression. “Alright. I’ll take you to the Ember.”

She floated upward and drifted toward the statue, the same one that stood with its hands clasped in prayer. A white radiance enveloped the statue, and moments later, a familiar white gate, identical to the one I had used to enter this place, materialized before us.

“Follow me.”

Grace’s spirit slipped through the gate. I followed close behind, stepping into it, feeling that strange, weightless sensation again.

Fwoooosh!

A wave of searing heat washed over me. The air burned against my skin, but I couldn’t see anything that looked like an Ember. “Urgh! Is this the place?”

“No. We need to go deeper.”

Grace drifted down a long, narrow passage, and I followed her.

As we moved along, she said, “Before we reach it, I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“The girl who blessed you with the Seven Eyes, the current Saintess, is she doing well?”

“If you’re talking about Iris, she’s doing just fine. No need to worry.”

Grace smiled softly. “Really? That’s good.”

“Are you worried about her?”

She brushed her fingers lightly near her eyes as she said, “Of course. She may not be connected to me by blood, but we’re bound by divine blessing. In a way, she’s like a daughter to me.”

So, in other words, she’s basically my mother-in-law. Great. Now I feel bad for being so casual with her earlier, I thought.

She looked so young and girlish that I had naturally spoken casually with her, but now that seemed like a mistake. However, speaking politely now would just make things awkward.

While I was still figuring out how to handle this new level of awkwardness, Grace asked me, “What exactly is your relationship with my child?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, you call the Saintess by her name so casually, and the blessing on you carries strong emotion. I don’t think you two are just acquaintances.”

I debated whether to tell her or not. After a moment of hesitation, I decided to come clean. “Iris and I... are lovers.”

Grace’s eyes went wide in surprise. “L-lovers? Oh. I see. Well, I suppose there’s no rule saying a Saintess can’t fall in love.”

Her expression softened into one of tender relief. “That’s good. I’m glad to hear it.”

Maybe it was because she thought of Iris as her child, but Grace looked genuinely overjoyed, smiling brighter than ever.

As if she were reminiscing, she continued, “Ah, that reminds me. Speaking of lovers, do you know what that scoundrel Reynald was like back in the day?”

Her expression darkened as she dove into her memories. “He used to spout nonsense like ‘I can’t hurt the women who love me’ while juggling two or three lovers at once! Can you believe that? Crazy, right?”

I kept my mouth shut.

“Don’t you think so?”

“Uh, yeah.”

My throat went dry under the intense “mother-in-law” energy radiating off her.

“Of course. Totally insane,” I added.

“Hah. Men, honestly.” Grace sighed. She then warmly smiled at me. “Still, you seem different. That’s a relief. I think I can entrust my child with you.”

One thing was certain. If she ever found out about the truth, I would die.

Feeling a bead of cold sweat slide down my back, I followed Grace deeper toward the resting place of the Primordial Ember.