I alone am the Honoured One!

"Hahaha..."

Inside a cozy room, a little girl with tan skin, short black hair, and green eyes is sitting on the floor, playing with flames in her hand.

The fire danced around her fingers, a reddish glow illuminating her wide, curious eyes as she experimented with each flick and spark, her control already beyond what most would expect of a child.

There are two other women inside the room who were smiling and looking at the child playing with the fire.

"Makena… already controlling the flames to such a degree at her age," one of the women murmured with a proud smile.

The other nodded, her gaze softening. "Hmm, she truly is the pride of the Hafsatu family… a prodigy. She'll lead us into greatness." Continue your journey at m_v--NovelBin.net

Hafsatu family, one of the four duke clans, directly serving to the King of Tapiwa.

Makena Hafsatu, a girl born to the duke clan, one known for their mastery of alchemy and fire cultivation.

From a young age, she was a prodigy, hailed as the clan's pride and their hope for greater influence in the High Star.

Her abilities blossomed rapidly, and her family made her train endlessly, pushing her to her limits in their ambition to strengthen the clan's standing.

She was given countless titles, praised as the "Hope of Hafsatu," the "Future Flame," and the clan's own "Star of High Star."

Her parents and elders constantly reminded her of her value, of her duty to them.

To outsiders, her life appeared perfect—a gifted girl in a prestigious clan, destined for greatness.

As Makena grew up, she was so happy because her people are relying on her and expecting great things from her.

But life in the clan was a gilded cage.

Her every moment was controlled, every friendship supervised, and every smile calculated.

She rarely left the grounds of the clan estate, her world limited to training halls, libraries, and the alchemical laboratories where she was forced to hone her skills.

Her life was a relentless cycle of expectations, and her value was measured only by her skill.

Her tutors, all handpicked by her father and clan elders, controlled every interaction she had.

Friendships were forbidden, and any social interactions were closely monitored, her companions chosen based on their "value" to her training.

No one saw her as Makena Hafsatu, a girl with her own dreams and fears; she was simply a tool, an asset of the clan.

In this cage, Makena grew up working tirelessly to keep up with their expectations.

Any weakness or hesitation was swiftly punished, ensuring she grew cold, focused, and ruthless.

But behind the walls of her clan, life was anything but nurturing.

The Hafsatu clan harbored a dark tradition: every prodigy was secretly bound to a blood ritual, meant to enhance their cultivation abilities in exchange for their freedom.

Makena Hafsatu was no exception.

Her entire life was dictated by the clan elders, who used her talents not only to rise in power but to enforce their rule mercilessly.

She became known as the clan's "Crimson Heir," a symbol of fear to their enemies, her hands stained red with the blood of those her family commanded her to kill.

Her fire not only has the purity to burn herbs, but it even has the purity to burn corpses...

Purifying corpses and extracting their blood essence to enhance their cultivation... this is the secret of the Hafsatu family.

Her flames no longer brought her joy; they had become a symbol of control, twisted into a force of destruction.

"Makena, you are the Hafsatu clan's greatest pride. But your loyalty must be proven not only in our stronghold but on the battlefield. There are enemies who dare to defy us, and your flames will purify them."

Makena felt her heart grow cold, but she nodded.

She had no choice.

The Hafsatu clan's thirst for control eventually led them into conflict with the Thando clan, another powerful duke.

But this war was not over resources or honor; it was a brutal feud driven by ancient grievances and old, bitter hatred within the Tapiwa kingdom.

Knowing that they can't win, Makena Hafsatu's own father struck a dark deal with a evil sect, promising them her loyalty and soul if they aided him in decimating the Thando clan.

Makena is an important asset to their clan, but what is she worth if the clan itself is going to be destroyed by the Thando family?

And the evil sect was also very interested in Makena's fire, which could purify even corpses, so it was perfect for them.

Makena Hafsatu was given no choice but to comply, manipulated with a potion created by her father that eroded her will, making her a tool of destruction.

And soon, the war between the two clans began...

As the war progressed, Makena was forced to unleash horrors upon the battlefield.

She created powerful potions that caused plague and diseases across the battlefield.

Her purifying flames burn the corpses of the soldiers to cinders, turning their blood to essence to feed upon by the evil sect.

She watched as her enemies fell before her, screaming in agony.

She fought without mercy, her soul growing emptier with each death, knowing that her actions were not her own but dictated by a father who saw her as nothing more than a weapon.

...

As Makena Hafsatu stood amid the battlefield, her once-bright green eyes dulled by the horrors, her heart felt as cold and hollow as the corpses strewn around her.

The stench of death hung thick in the air, and her flames danced ominously, fueled not by her spirit but by the twisted will of her father and the pact he had made.

She had become the "Crimson Heir" her family had always envisioned but at a cost so deep that her own spirit felt caged and suffocated.

Her father, Duke Hafsatu, watched from afar, eyes gleaming with a chilling satisfaction as Makena's flames burned through the bodies of Thando soldiers, reducing them to smoldering heaps.

Each corpse purified by her fire left behind a crimson essence that was greedily gathered by the evil sect, their cloaked figures hovering at the edges of the battlefield, taking the life force she unwittingly extracted from the dead.

As she looked at the corpses, her eyes moistened and a tear slipped past her eyes as her mind flashed back to when she was a little girl, sitting on the floor of her family's hall, laughing as she played with her flames.

But even the tears themselves evaporated into steam by her flames "Even my tears don't belong to me... I want to go back."

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I hope you guys liked this chapter!