Chapter 70: Kindling The Undying Sun

Jet stared at the final notification until the white-gold light surrounding the name Ilios faded into the usual crimson glow of the Red Moon System.

For days, the nine sealed Divine Runes had existed as little more than unreachable names on his Status, reminders of the power his body had failed to contain during the Second Red Moon.

The System had never offered a method for releasing them, and Jet had deliberately avoided assuming that simply becoming stronger would eventually solve everything.

Now, for the first time, one of those sealed Runes had responded to his progress. He focused on the words Release Conditions Available, and the interface expanded.

[Divine Rune Release Sequence]

[Next Eligible Divine Rune: Ilios — The Undying Sun]

[Rank: SSS]

[Current Status: SEALED]

[Primary Authority: Sun | True Flame | Divine Fire ]

[Associated Concepts: Sun | Vitality | Endurance | Restoration]

[Release Conditions:]

[Condition I — Vessel: Reach 2-Star Awakener.]

[Condition II — Kindling: Obtain and absorb a sufficiently powerful Fire-aligned Origin Treasure.]

[Condition III — Ignition: Survive the awakening of Ilios within the heart.]

[All conditions must be fulfilled before the Divine Rune can be safely released.]

[Warning: Forced release prior to satisfying the required conditions may result in catastrophic Mana pathway collapse or destruction of the heart.]

Jet’s expression tightened as he read the conditions again, slower this time. They were demanding, but they weren’t vague. More importantly, none of them depended on luck alone.

Reaching 2-Star was already part of his progression. A Fire-aligned Origin Treasure would be difficult and expensive to acquire, but the Palladium expedition had just proven such treasures were real resources that could be found, traded and fought over.

The final requirement was the one that bothered him most because it wasn’t something he could prepare for with money alone.

Survive the awakening of Ilios within the heart.

Jet lowered his gaze toward his chest. Beneath his shirt, the tattoo of Ilios occupied the center of his chest directly over his sternum and heart, the blazing sun positioned exactly where he had instructed Jin Kuze to place it.

At the time, the location had been part of the design’s Conceptual Weight. The Undying Sun belonged over the heart, while Ouroboros encircled his abdomen below it and Thanatos rested farther down, creating the vertical sequence he had designed around life, eternity and death.

He hadn’t known the Red Moon System would interpret that placement quite so literally.

His attention returned to the second condition.

"Fire-aligned Origin Treasure," Jet murmured, resting his elbows on his knees.

The System hadn’t demanded something specifically connected to the sun, nor had it provided a grade. It only required sufficient power. That flexibility helped, but not enough to make the requirement easy. Origin Treasures were already rare. Finding one with the correct affinity narrowed the field considerably.

For a moment, his thoughts naturally drifted toward the Palladium Fruit hidden among his belongings. Grade Three. Valuable enough that twenty-nine people had accepted a Red Seal over the tree producing them.

Yet the idea died almost immediately. Palladium Fruit wasn’t Fire-aligned. Its value came from helping an Awakener standing at the peak of a Star Rank push toward ascension without the usual instability, contaminated Mana or harmful residue.

That could become extremely useful for satisfying the first condition when Jet eventually approached the peak of 1-Star, but it couldn’t serve as Ilios’s kindling.

That distinction told him something useful about the Rune release process.

The System wasn’t asking him to gather arbitrary expensive objects and feed them into sealed Runes.

The requirement reflected Ilios itself. If another Rune became eligible after Ilios, its conditions could be entirely different. Ouroboros might demand something connected to cycles, continuity or regeneration.

Thanatos could require a resource associated with death. Samsara might have requirements Jet couldn’t even begin to predict. Unlocking all ten was beginning to look less like climbing a single ladder and more like completing nine separate journeys while simultaneously strengthening the body expected to carry them.

Jet leaned backward, feeling the soreness across his shoulders from Asura’s advancement.

The first condition made even more sense when viewed that way. He was still only a 1-Star Awakener.

The night of the Second Red Moon had already shown what happened when ten SSS-Rank Divine Runes attempted to exist through that foundation simultaneously. His body had begun collapsing almost immediately. Muscles failed, Mana pathways broke down and even his soul had become unstable. The System hadn’t sealed nine Runes to punish him. It had prevented his own preparation from killing him.

Reaching 2-Star would strengthen the vessel before Ilios entered it.

The Fire-aligned Origin Treasure would provide the kindling.

Then came ignition.

Jet tapped the third condition, hoping the System would provide additional information. A smaller panel opened beneath it.

[Ignition]

[Upon fulfillment of all preliminary requirements, Ilios — The Undying Sun will attempt secondary Divine Rune release.]

[The Divine Rune will establish an active connection with the Vessel’s Mana network and ignite its initial Divine Flame within the heart.]

[Survival is required for successful stabilization.]

[Success probability cannot be calculated prior to fulfillment of Conditions I and II.]

Jet stared at the final sentence. "Of course."

At least the System wasn’t pretending there was a guaranteed outcome. Even if he reached 2-Star and obtained the correct Origin Treasure, he could still die during the actual unsealing.

That changed how he needed to approach the process. Meeting the minimum conditions wouldn’t necessarily mean he should activate Ilios the instant they were complete.

If he could strengthen his physique, improve his Mana pathways and push his 2-Star foundation farther before attempting Ignition, every additional advantage might matter.

Asura Physique suddenly became even more valuable.

Stage II’s Retained Adaptation could gradually improve the body carrying his Runes. Weapon Master would broaden his combat development.

Asura Arms gave him another tool to train, and Asura Mask offered dangerous access to greater physical and Mana output when necessary. Everything he had unlocked tonight could contribute indirectly toward making him a better vessel for the next Rune.

Jet dismissed the Ignition explanation and studied Ilios’s entry again. Primary Authority: Sun, True Flame, Divine Fire.

That interested him more than the associated concepts beneath it.

Sun, vitality, endurance and restoration were significant, but Sun stood above them as the Rune’s true Authority. Ilios wouldn’t merely allow him to produce ordinary flames. An SSS Divine Rune built around the concept of an Undying Sun had to represent something far beyond what a normal fire-type Rune could accomplish.

How much of that concept would be available immediately was another matter. Asura had demonstrated that even an SSS Rune began restricted by Stage and Synchronization. Ilios would likely be the same.

Jet preferred it that way.

Ten fully developed SSS Runes dumped into his hands overnight would have been power without understanding. He was already discovering that Asura contained enough depth to occupy years of training by itself. Adding Ilios meant learning an entirely different Authority while continuing to develop the first.

The thought made Jet look again at the nine sealed names. Only Ilios carried the white-gold flame now. Rakshasa, Yama, Ouroboros, Lucifer, Kitsune, Samsara, Thanatos and Primal Yin-Yang remained completely unresponsive.

That answered another question.

He wasn’t choosing the order.

Whatever calculations the Red Moon System used, Ilios was currently the only sealed Rune his progression had made eligible for release. Jet couldn’t decide that Lucifer sounded more useful and substitute it. Nor could he jump directly toward Primal Yin-Yang simply because he had designed it as the central balancing piece of the entire network.

For now, the path was clear.

Reach 2-Star.

Find the right Fire-aligned Origin Treasure.

Prepare his body well enough to survive Ignition.

Jet closed the release panel and looked toward the remains of the Monster Cores scattered across the bed. Hours earlier, his immediate concern had been getting more from the Eight-Armed Asura.

Instead, he had ended the night with three new abilities, an evolved physique, an Innate Trait and the first actual path toward releasing another SSS Divine Rune.

He rubbed a hand across his chest where Ilios rested beneath the fabric.

The tattoo remained cold.

For now.