Dancing on the golden ashes

Her right arm ignites in red and black, a spiral of corrupted fire and infernal blood. It feels stronger than mine. Way stronger. Figures. Heh.

Let's go.

I move.

My wings launch me forward, a burst of chaos pushing me through the air—and we clash.

BOOM!

The moment we collide, agony detonates in my arm. I feel it vanish—no, burn away, reduced to ash from the sheer force of the sin power I can't fully control. But this time...

This time, I win.

My attack tears through her guard. The raw force of my sins overwhelms her and sends her flying like a bullet ripped from the chamber of a cosmic pistol. She crashes backward, spiraling through the sky, her body cracking and crumbling midair. Her eyes meet mine.

And she's terrified.

But then—

"DIE, LEE GAON!"

It's hot. Too hot.

My body—it's melting.

Shit… what did she do?!

I can feel my skin sloughing off, my bones groaning, my muscles screaming. I'm crumbling. Every cell of me disintegrating, one by one.

But my regeneration—barely—keeps up. Just enough to stop me from vanishing. Just enough to stay alive.

I drop to my knees.

The flames of the realm lick at my legs, trying to consume me from below.

Great. Just perfect.

"Why?! Why won't you die already, Lee Gaon?! Why!!!?" Kaelthira's scream rips through the air, raw and unhinged. Her body twists violently, bones cracking, flesh knitting itself together midair. She's regenerating fast. Too fast. Like a monster that refuses to fall.

She's been at the top of the world for so long. An emperor. A sovereign. Untouched. Invincible.

And I'm still just a king.

Not enough.

Still missing that last step.

"Perhaps you're right. But…"

But what?

"You'll see soon."

Her voice—my other self—it sounds amused. Amused?! What the fuck? We're dying, damn it. Bleeding, burning, breaking—and she's calm?

"Gaon!" A voice. From behind. Familiar. Deep. Strong.

Seong-hoon.

A shiver shoots through my spine like lightning. If I still had a heart, I swear it would've skipped a beat. Everything inside me tenses. Warms. Reacts.

"What the hell is going on here?! How dare you touch her?!"

His voice explodes across the realm, wrapped in a fury that makes even the flames recoil. His aura ignites like a second sun—except darker, crueler. It shouldn't comfort me… but it does.

It scares me, yes—but also reassures me. It shields me. It claims me.

It's mine.

"Darkness dragon, consume my enemy. End this world for the one I want to protect. Let the world burn. Let the universe bend to me. I shall end everything—for her."

His words echo like a final oath. A curse. A promise carved in blood and shadow. And then it happens—draconic power explodes across the battlefield. The entire realm trembles as his sword transforms into a colossal black dragon made of howling void and crackling stars. Kaelthira screams in fear.

I watch, wide-eyed, as Seong-hoon unleashes his attack.

This… this power… it's overwhelming. Beyond divine. Like a final judgment raining down from above.

He's strong.

Too strong.

How? Where is all that power coming from?

All for me?

It makes no sense.

"I told you. He is your key. Stop running from it. Drop this coldness of yours already," the eerie voice urges, threading herself through my mind like smoke. "It's okay. It's okay to let yourself feel the need. Let it bloom. Let that feeling develop. We both know you want it. You crave it. So go. Go to him!"

And then—blackness.

The darkness from Seong-hoon's blade crashes through everything, slashing across the battlefield like a judgment from hell. Kaelthira is cleaved clean in two. No resistance. Just a perfect slice of obliteration.

But it's not over. Not yet.

Not that simple—not when your enemy is an emperor.

Her bisected body doesn't fall. Doesn't die. It turns black. Fluid. Voidlike. Slimy and watery and wrong. I watch in horror as it bubbles and starts to stitch itself together again. Stronger. Wilder.

Shit.

"GO!"

The push inside me comes again, more urgent now. Something ignites. Especially when I see his face again.

His eyes—red, glowing, draconic. His white hair like snow in the chaos. His lips—soft, parted, waiting. How? How could I have been so blind?

He was always there.

By my side.

Waiting.

This fool. This idiot. This beautiful fucking idiot.

I laugh, even as my chest cracks with pain.

I let my broken wings carry me to him. And he moves, too.

"Big sis, are you okay—?!"

"Shut up already…"

My voice is barely a whisper. But I'm already crashing into him.

It's warm.

It's wet.

It's him.

His lips. His heat. His arms. All of it—on me. Around me. For me.

"I love you… my idiot…"

The moment our lips touch, something stirs. Not just inside my body… but deeper. Beneath it. Beyond it. Within the void where my heart should be, I feel warmth spread—not sudden, not overwhelming, but steady. Slow. Certain.

A flicker. Purple:

Pride.

My first sin. My oldest sin. The one that saw everything and ignited the beginning of my journey. It reignites in my chest like an ancient star remembering its name.

Then—Green:

Envy.

The one that saw through others and wanted what they had. The one who helped me reunite with Jeong Soo-ah—and lose her. It flickers, hums, coils around Pride like ivy clinging to a tower.

Crimson follows:

Wrath.

The pure flame of all my rage. It pulses, violent and vengeful, beating like a second pulse beneath my skin. All those I fought, all those I lost… All those I killed... it surges for them.

Then comes Gold:

Greed.

Golden and terrible. The hunger I bore to keep fighting. To take. To never let go of what was mine. To want more than the world could ever give. It helped me break free from the shackles of the system. It crackles like lightning under my ribs.

And then… Orange:

Gluttony.

It doesn't roar. It devours. It wraps around all the others like a beast that's never satisfied, never full. It swells, bulging inside me, consuming everything that dares to hold me back from growing stronger. It's been with me for a long time—silent, ravenous, feeding on the souls I've left behind.

Blue follows soon after:

Sloth.

Cold and quiet. Like still waters hiding monsters beneath. It has accompanied me in silence, when my emotions were gone—when my heart was sacrificed for those I love. It doesn't fight—it waits. But now it moves. A tide finally rising. My weakness, my weariness, my years of numbing silence… it awakens too.

And at last… Pink:

Lust.

The final sin. The one that is not just want—but need. Not depravity—but desire. The desire to live. To love. To feel. The sin that should've been my first—but waited until I was ready. Until I was whole.

They spin.

All of them. A cyclone of sin and soul and self. They don't fight each other. They unite. They spiral in harmony, in madness, in beauty. The hollow inside my chest fills—not just with energy, but with meaning. It becomes something new. Something divine.

My chest glows like a newborn sun. That small orb I once felt has grown into a cosmos. A private universe spinning inside of me.

And I—I am crowned.

A brilliant crown of seven lights wraps itself around my soul. Each sin, each desire, each fragment of who I am… becomes a jewel. The cloak follows—woven from threads of every battle, every scream, every tear. I am no longer fractured. No longer hollow.

I am real. I am whole.

And in that moment, I feel his voice. Not out loud, not shouted.

But a whisper. So soft. Like a feather.

"I had always loved you too, Gaon."