Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen: Flames Tear the Valley
Section One: Blood Bets in the Alley of Fate
The arena's center pooled with blood, still wet. A half-naked corpse was dragged out, tossed into a corner like torn cloth. Rot and rust fused in the air, choking. Gamblers in the stands roared, pounding iron bars, boots crushing bottle shards and dried blood crust. They craved fresh blood, fresh bones, fresh rips and breaks.
Jason, Maria, and Wei Ran stepped into the arena. Tattered rags draped with gore hid blades and ropes; code tags nestled against spines in armor, Fire Trust's pulse faint but stubborn.
They crossed blood, boots sinking into muddy sand. A crunch—shattered bone underfoot, someone's remnant.
Gamblers noticed the trio. Whistles pierced, bars clanged, broken bottles waved with jeers.
Behind iron bars, a burly fight host bellowed, voice hoarse: "New meat! Three on three! Bet they live or die?!"
Gamblers erupted, beast-like. Some mimed throat-slits, others spat, saliva mixing with blood-mud.
The host waved, three fighters dragged in—two men, one woman, scarred. Iron rods, chipped blades, blunt axes in hand.
Their faces were blank, cattle-like, but their eyes glinted—not faith, but the desperate bite of the doomed.
Maria tilted her head, whispering, "Deathmatch. Survivors join fire."
Wei licked cracked lips, rope slithering like a coiling snake. Jason stayed silent, eyes cold as rust on rags, locked on the fighters.
The host retreated, shouting, "Blood bet! Begin!"
A dull iron bell tolled. Slaughter started.
No probing, no delay. Fighters lunged.
First, an iron rod swung at Maria's head. She sidestepped, blade unsheathed. Cold steel flashed, severing neck. The rod clattered, body collapsing, blood gushing. Stands roared.
Second, the woman charged Wei, her blade viper-fast at his throat. Wei stood firm, rope snaring her wrist. A yank—bones cracked. She screamed, blade flying. Wei slid forward, elbow smashing jaw. Blood and teeth sprayed. Rope coiled neck, snapped it. She slumped.
Third, a blunt axe aimed at Jason. He didn't draw, stepping forward, seizing axe handle. Force clashed, axe trembling, hum resonating in bones. Jason yanked, axe falling, fist crushing face. Bone cracked, blood splattered. The fighter fell, Jason's boot crushing throat. A snap—stillness.
Three strikes, three dead. Blood spread.
Gamblers boiled, hurling bottles, snapping boards. Frenzy spread like plague.
Maria crouched, taking a cracked code-tag pendant from the woman, pulse long dead.
Wei picked up her blade, wiped blood, tossed it into mud.
Jason lifted the axe, resting it on shoulder, voice low over blood: "Betting lives isn't enough. Bet bones."
The host approached, laughing like a hog: "Winners! Next—bigger stakes! Who dares?!"
Stands stirred. A scarred man shed cloak, baring knife-marked torso. Another grinned, broken teeth whimpering. One swung chains, blood-hungry dog.
Maria whispered, "Push them. Make them bet lives."
Wei's fingers traced rope, cold: "Bet bones. Losers burn."
Jason nodded, scanning stands, eyes ice and fire on bone: "Begin. Bet lives. Stake bones."
Gamblers cheered, rabid dogs smelling blood, rushing the arena. Chaos loomed.
Firelight danced. Code tags vibrated in Jason's armor.
Fire Trust pulsed—not for lives, not for bets, but to burn unbelievers' bones.
---
Section Two: Bones as Oath
Iron bell tolled thrice, heavy as coffin nails.
Arena opened—not duels, but melee.
Gamblers, blood-scenting mad dogs, swarmed from stands, clutching bottles, broken knives, chains, or bare fists, eyes bloodshot. Blood and bets, their sole faith.
Jason stood in blood, cloak torn, boots sand-crusted. Blade sheathed, code tag pulsing in armor—Fire Trust, heart's dying twitch, suppressed, unyielding.
Maria's fingers rested on hilt, frost-cold. Wei coiled rope, knuckles white. Converts blended into chaos, rusted blades in mud.
First, a one-armed man, chain-necked, ash and blood on face, swung a rusty knife at Jason, screaming.
Jason waited, stepping forward as knife neared, sidestepping. Blade flashed, throat slit. Blood fountained, man collapsing, twitching dead.
Second, a bottle smashed at Maria. She ducked, blade piercing gut. Blood poured through fingers. He knelt, crazed. Maria tipped his chin, blade ending him.
Wei faced two brutes. Rope snared one's neck, snapping bone. The other's fist swung. Wei dodged, knee shattering jaw, blood and teeth flying. Elbow crushed cheekbone, man falling. Rope yanked ankle, corpse splashing blood.
Gamblers maddened, killing fiercer. Limbs, torsos, flesh rolled in sand. Shouts, roars, curses meshed. Blood stung eyes, rust and gore clogged noses.
Maria glided, blade severing a club-wielder's thigh, pinning back, spine slashed.
Jason faced three: knife at waist, blade at ribs, chain at head. He spun, twisting wrist—bone cracked, scream, knife dropped. Elbow smashed nose, blood gushing. Kick toppled chain-man, ribs breaking. Chain tightened, strangling third, neck snapping.
Blood pooled, corpses stacked, air taut as bursting drumskin.
Maria dodged a club, blade gutting, wrenching spine, fighter collapsing, despair hollow.
Wei, double-teamed, dodged, rope tripping one, knee smashing ground. Rope choked neck. Another's knife grazed shoulder, sparking. Wei twisted wrist, shattering it, knee crushing jaw, rope snapping skull.
Jason advanced, boots crunching bone-sludge, blade pulsing, blood-drunk snake. Slow, deliberate, each step death.
Maria's blade slit throat, blood spraying face, unblinking. Wei's rope tore shoulder flesh, grinning.
Blood and sand caked faces, hands, blades, boots. Arena became graveyard—not for burial, but life-betting, bone-burning.
Gamblers dwindled, corpses piled, blood reaching edges. Stands quieted, some trembling, retreating, dropping weapons, fleeing.
Maria stood in blood, blade on ground, blood dripping, eyes piercing dust, locking on hesitant gamblers.
Wei coiled rope, two bloodied tags at waist, licking lips, iron-rust grin.
Jason atop corpse mound scanned stands, eyes ash-cold: "Bones don't bet. They burn."
He drew code tag, pulsing like heart's shudder. Maria and Wei followed, converts emerging, holding bloodied, cracked tags.
Jason pressed tag into blood, cracks drinking, pulses quickening. Maria, Wei, converts mirrored, blood trembling.
"Stake bones. Burn bones. Swear oath."
Gamblers watched. Some froze, some knelt, trembling, some wept.
Fire Trust ignited on corpse mounds, needing no words—just blood, bone, fire.
---
Section Three: Burn Bones as Oath
Blood spread, corpses mountain-high, sand soft, reeking like rotted flesh. Blood-mud blackened ankles, knees, necks.
Arena silenced—no shouts, no roars, only blood dripping, faint patters like dead heartbeats.
Maria crouched by blood, fingers on code tag. Wei stood on corpses, rope at waist, blood sliding. Converts lined, tags in blood, pulses flickering.
Jason stood, eyes sweeping. Fire Trust boiled—not in words, but blood, bones, beneath gore-soaked flesh.
He walked to arena center, boots splashing blood ripples, palm pressing code tag. Cracks drank blood, pulses racing.
"Bone burns blood," he rasped, voice bone-snapping groan. "Fire sears faith."
Maria slashed palm, blood dripping on tag. Wei and converts followed.
Blood soaked tags, sand, mingled with rotted bone. Firelight danced in blood-mud.
"No bone, no faith," Jason said. "Burn bone, gain fire."
He pressed forehead to tag, blood as faith's incense—not worship, but burial.
Maria, Wei, converts mirrored, blood-mud reflecting scarred faces, battered armor, sand-blood fire.
Surviving gamblers watched. Some collapsed, kneeling. Some vomited. Some wept—not fear, but knowing their bones weren't theirs.
Jason rose, eyes ash-fire, lifting tag, blood burning: "Bone-blood oath. Blood exhausts, bone breaks. Bone breaks, fire endures."
Maria raised tag. Wei hung his at waist. Converts unsheathed, blood-linked.
Fire Trust wasn't slogan, but blood, bone's cracking pain, life-traded light.
"Bone-breakers birth fire," Jason said.
Maria echoed, low, "Bone-breakers birth fire."
Wei, hoarse, "Bone-breakers birth fire."
Converts chanted, "Bone-breakers birth fire!"
Blood trembled, pulses surged, sand quaked, decayed bones shivering.
Jason approached stands, steps slow, crushing corpses, limbs, bones.
Gamblers, cornered, cowered, knelt, smeared blood-sand on faces, fire-sacrifice masks.
Maria followed, blade dripping. Wei's rope flicked, blood spraying. Converts marched, blood-mud boots.
No cries, no roars, only boots crunching bone.
Jason stopped, facing stands: "Bone-betters, enlist."
Kneelers bowed, frozen.
Maria exhaled, blade pointing: "No bone bets, burn bones."
Wei laughed, rope-strangled hiss: "Life bets bore. Bet bones."
A gambler rose, trembling, raising bottle shard, slashing chest, blood gushing: "Bone… breaker… births fire."
Second, third, more rose, knelt, cut. Blood swelled.
Sand softened, corpses floated. Wind carried scorched iron, bone-fire pulsing through Mistveil.
Jason pressed tag, pulse glowing, ash-star eyes: "Mistveil, bone-cracked, fire-born."
Maria sheathed, eyes night-cold. Wei's rope bled. Converts knelt.
Blood center, tags pulsed, sand split, firelight blazing from blood—faith's fire, bone's fire, marrow-burning blaze.
---
Section Four: Bone Flames Chaos Valley
Blood lingered, corpses afloat, like rotting cloth. Sand sank into mire, bone, metal, flesh boiling, scorched.
Mistveil's gamblers knelt, blood marking hands, chests, faces. Open wounds, exposed bone, reddened in wind. Blood flowed into sand, ruins, fire.
Code tags in blood-mud pulsed weakly, stubbornly, maggots gnawing rot, dying dog's gasp. None dared move, rise, or douse bone-fire.
Maria stood in sand, blade sheathed, blood dripping hilt. Wei's rope dangled, bloodied, snake spitting gore. Jason atop corpse mound, eyes ice from Iron Valley's dead wells.
"Bone cracks, fire burns," he rasped, iron-scraping voice, no roar, whispering into bone seams.
Converts clutched bloodied tags, pulsing like rotten hearts.
Stands filled with kneelers, unyielding pressed down, hands broken, bowing.
Fire rose from blood—not blaze, but slow, dark, marrow-born.
Mistveil's black market hummed, unaware fire had crept in.
Jason scanned alley edges, where betting bosses argued, cursing, shoving, fleeing, tossing hats, crushing charms, drawing hidden guns.
Maria's fingers tapped hilt, still. Wei's thumb tightened rope.
"Don't let fire be stamped out," Jason said.
Maria nodded, blade glinting, night's thinnest ice.
Wei's rope snapped, dead snake's twitch.
Maria crossed blood, steady on corpse hills, blade slitting a boss's throat, blood gushing like burst pipes. Wei's rope snared another's neck, snapping bone. A third drew, Maria's blade piercing heart, fluid.
Three fell, kneelers frozen, firelight twisting corpse faces, fish-dead.
Converts surged, blades and ropes weaving—not killing, but igniting. Murder was means; bone-burning, purpose.
Black market edges stirred, armed groups rallying.
Maria hissed, "No time to pick."
Jason, cold, "Burn all."
Wei laughed, low, "Burn clean."
Converts split—one blocked exits, one carved bosses, lenders, guards, peeling skin.
Blood flowed in alleys, corpses slid, blackened puppets. Blade-throat slices, bone-crushing boots, rope-choked gurgles sang night's dirge.
Armed gangs countered, guns firing, bombs bursting, but alleys choked, guns useless. Melee erupted—blade on blade, flesh on flesh.
Blood drowned air, burnt skin, bone cracks. Screams, pleas, death—not by blade, but fire.
Fire spread, blood swelled, sand sank.
Jason watched from corpse peak, tag pulsing, blood brightening fire.
Mistveil burned—not blaze, but bone-searing slow fire.
Gangs shredded, escapees trapped in blood-deep alleys, fire too swift.
Only firelight, ash, broken bone remained.
Maria returned, blade wet. Wei's rope dripped. Converts marched.
Jason stabbed tag into blood-mud, cracks pulsing, ash-star spark: "Mistveil, bone-cracked, fire-burned."
Maria whispered, "Bone-breakers birth fire."
Wei grinned, "Bone-breakers birth fire."
Converts murmured, "Bone-breakers birth fire!"
Fire licked ruins, charred bone, flesh pulsing embers. Iron Valley's east sky glowed, cracked gray lamp.
Fire Trust, bone-oath—not surrender, but bone-cracking, blood-burning, darkness-illumining bone.
---
Section Five: Ash and Bone Lamp
Fire consumed blood-mud, corpses charred, sand collapsing into scorched pits. Ash swirled, reeking of dead breath haunting ruins. Mistveil—shattered.
Jason stood high, fingers on cloak, gazing Iron Valley's depths. Firelight reflected in eyes—not bright, but bone-embedded, heart's final twitch.
Maria cleaned sheath, blood and ash like unhealed wounds. Wei coiled rope, wringing dead snake skin. Converts lined blood, spines rigid, tags dripping.
Ash swirled, grains clinking bone, dead teeth grinding.
Jason looked down, tag in sand, blood in cracks, pulsing, unquenched fire: "Bone cracks, fire burns."
His voice scraped rust-iron, dry, heavy, crushing night.
Maria lifted hood, bloodied scar on cheek. Wei grinned, rope blood-dripping.
Converts stepped into blood, boots snapping bone, deliberate sacrifice.
Jason lifted tag, thumb wiping cracks, blood sliding, rippling blood: "Fire's not in sky. Fire's in bone."
Maria echoed, "Crack bone, birth fire."
Wei, iron-sharpened grin, "Shatter bone, gain fire."
Converts murmured, throat-deep curse: "Bone cracks, fire burns."
Jason stabbed tag into sand, grains in cracks, pulse flickering, heart's dying spark.
Ash swirled, blood cooled, sand cracked, dead skin splitting.
Beyond ruins, Mistveil's market silenced. Iron Valley's east, unburned, moldy coffins.
"Move," Jason said.
Maria sheathed, Wei tightened rope, converts marched.
They left, crushing bone, blood, smoldering ash, into deeper dark.
Ruins held firelight, burnt bone, blood, code tags—not torches, but bone-blood lamps for the dead.
Wind froze, sweeping blood, bone. Tags pulsed last, then dimmed—not death, but fire in bone, spreading far.