The night broke.
Not with sunrise.
But with a fall.
A figure descended from the bleeding rift in the sky — an outline of burned gold and bleeding ash, its fingers stretching toward the earth like a falling god.
The Forgotten Hands had sent their first emissary.
And it had come for Maximilian Kriegswald.
Stormfront: City Under Siege
Flammensang's defenses screamed.
Cataclysmic wards, ancient relics, even forbidden prayers — all activated at once.
The sky turned molten with light.
But it wasn't enough.
The Ashen Hand, the entity that fell from beyond the stars, crashed into the University Quarter with the force of a dying sun.
Buildings vaporized.
Entire squads of War-Singers turned to dust mid-chant.
A single breath from the Ashen Hand sent shockwaves that tore flags from their poles and peeled stone from walls.
The Grandmasters rallied their forces, but fear ate at them.
For the first time in recorded history, divinity itself was walking among mortals once again.
Maximilian's Stand
Maximilian stood alone at the mouth of the crater where the Ashen Hand landed.
The Starfire Remnant pulsed wildly against his chest, both a beacon and a curse.
He could feel the Ashen Hand reaching for him — not with claws, but with whispers that scraped along his mind:
"Come to Us. Return to the Song of Ash. Forsake your flesh and rise."
But Maximilian smiled grimly.
He had already made his choice.
He would kneel to no one.
Not gods.Not remnants of a broken age.
He activated the Starfire Domain—a 500-meter sphere of stellar gravity bent around him.
The world inside the Domain warped, the sky darkening to a velvet black, the stars within it swirling like embers caught in a hurricane.
The Ashen Hand recoiled.
Screamed.
The duel began.
Cosmic Battle: Mortal vs Ashen Remnant
➤ Maximilian struck first, summoning Stellar Spears that curved through dimensions, targeting the weak points of the entity's fragmented soul.
➤ The Ashen Hand countered, pulling broken memories from the ruins and weaving them into chains of burning sorrow to bind him.
➤ Maximilian bent gravity, collapsing the Ashen Hand's constructs into singularities, shredding them before they could reach him.
The battle raged across the University Quarter, tearing the city apart.
Thousands watched in awe and terror — seeing for the first time that Maximilian Kriegswald was no mere student.
He was something... more.
Something that even gods had reason to fear.
Character Development: Lirael's Gamble
From the shattered towers above, Lirael watched.
She held an ancient relic—a sigil from the Flamekeepers, capable of sealing Divine entities.
But using it would come at a price.
It would mark her as a traitor to every established power.
Still, she chose.
When Maximilian faltered under a barrage of ash-blades, Lirael leaped.
She activated the relic.
Chains of pure fire lashed outward, entangling the Ashen Hand's limbs, dragging it backward just long enough for Maximilian to recover.
He looked up — saw her silhouette framed against the burning sky.
And something unspoken passed between them.
Trust.Shared doom.
Hope.
Lore Drop: The Ashen Hands' Purpose
➤ Once mortal kings and queens, the Ashen Hands sought to transcend mortality by binding themselves to Stellar cores.
➤ They failed — their minds shattered, becoming vast but broken things.
➤ Now, they seek vessels to remake the cosmos in their ash-born image.
➤ Maximilian is seen as the Perfect Vessel — untouched by Divine Chains, bound only to the stars themselves.
Thus, he is both their prize and their enemy.
Item Profile Update: Starfire Remnant (Evolved Form)
➤ State: Evolved Symbiosis – Stage 2/7➤ Effects:• Stellar Domain radius increased to 750 meters.• Reality Shear — passive ability to weaken nearby constructs of Divinity.• Nova Surge — once per battle, release a 10-meter burst of pure Stellar energy.
➤ Drawback:• Mental fragmentation risk increased.• Manifestations of Stellar Echoes may now occur around user (phantom images, anomalies).• Divine Detection unavoidable — hostile attention from cosmic entities.
Climax: Chains of Fire and Stars
Together, Maximilian and Lirael launched the final strike.
➤ Maximilian summoned the Stellar Lance, a weapon made of compressed supernova plasma.➤ Lirael wove a Flamebind Curse, locking the Ashen Hand in a binding cycle.
The lance struck.
The Ashen Hand's form cracked, then shattered, collapsing into burning fragments scattered across the crater.
But as it died, it laughed—a sound like a broken music box.
"You are seen now. You are named. And the others... the others will come."
The winds carried the ashes upward, disappearing into the broken rift.
The sky above Flammensang darkened once more — not with the ash, but with the gathering of unseen eyes.
Watching.
Waiting.
Aftermath: A City Forever Changed
Flammensang lay broken.
Hundreds dead.Thousands injured.
The Council, battered and divided, declared a state of Eternal War — the first in ten millennia.
And Maximilian?
He stood atop the ruins, the Starfire Remnant glowing brighter than ever.
No longer just a student.
No longer just a hidden talent.
He was now the Starbearer.
The Herald of a coming war between forgotten gods, corrupted divinity, and something far greater stirring beyond the veils of existence.
The first move had been made.
The board was set.
The stars awaited.
End of Chapter 36: When the Ashen Hand Falls