POV: Mereoleona
The sound of steel clashing rang through the training grounds.
Mereoleona roared, her greatsword ablaze, cleaving through three training dummies in a single, flaming arc. Sparks showered the earth like falling stars. The recruits watching her dropped their weapons in awe.
> "Get up!" she barked.
"If that's your best, then demons won't even need swords to kill you!"
The soldiers scrambled to their feet.
She stood before them—tall, scarred, wild.
Hair like fire. Eyes like fury.
And the weight of a forgotten friend burning quietly in her chest.
---
[The Kingdom of Solaris]
After the summoning, she and Kevin were taken to Solaris, one of the mightiest human cities on the continent of Indravan.
Kevin had accepted his role as the "Chosen Light."
He was crowned First Guardian, living in polished temples and giving hope to the people.
Mereoleona?
She chose the barracks.
> "I wasn't summoned to wear robes," she'd said.
"I was summoned to burn every damn demon that breathes."
They called her the Crimson Flame.
Some even whispered: The Goddess of War incarnate.
But at night, when the fires cooled…
She thought about him.
---
[Flashback: Guhan in the Temple]
> She remembered how he stood behind them—quiet, awkward, out of place.
The priests didn't even glance at him.
> "He's an extra," they'd whispered.
"Ignore him."
But she had known better.
She remembered how Guhan's eyes never left them. How he didn't argue. How he left without a word, while everyone else bickered over thrones and titles.
And that silence haunted her.
---
[Present – Barracks, Midnight]
She sat by a torch, sharpening her blade. The steel screeched under the whetstone.
Kevin entered.
> "Still awake?" he asked.
> "Flames don't sleep."
Kevin sat beside her. "I've been having dreams… about him."
> "Guhan?"
Kevin nodded. "Like he's still alive. Watching. Waiting."
Mereoleona stopped sharpening.
> "He is alive," she said.
> "How do you know?"
> "Because we didn't summon a shadow. We summoned a storm—and it's not done yet."
---
[Sudden Disturbance – Alarm Bells Ring]
A soldier burst into the barracks.
> "Captain! A demon force is approaching the eastern wall!"
Mereoleona rose instantly, flames coiling around her fists.
> "How many?"
> "Just one."
She raised an eyebrow.
> "One? You sound nervous."
> "Because it's not a grunt. It's… a general. Knife-user."
Her eyes narrowed.
> "Ravan."
---
[Final Scene – City Wall]
Atop the walls of Solaris, torches flickered.
From the forest emerged a lone figure—tall, draped in blood-soaked rags, knives glinting at his belt.
Ravan, the demon general of knives.
Face expressionless. Eyes like a corpse.
Mereoleona cracked her neck.
> "You picked the wrong kingdom, freak."
Ravan didn't speak.
He threw a single knife.
She caught it mid-air with her flaming hand.
> "Nice trick," she smirked.
"Let me show you mine."
And with a war cry that split the sky, Mereoleona charged into battle, flames roaring behind her.