Galactic Exchange: The Merchant Sovereign-Chapter 97 – Celestial Embers and Forgotten Flames

Smoke and shadow hung low over the shattered remnants of the Tenebris Citadel.

Ruins sprawled beneath Leon’s boots as he stepped cautiously over a pile of scorched obsidian. What had once been the proud heart of the Obsidian Order was now little more than fractured spires and collapsed corridors, charred by orbital bombardment and the desperate backlash of forbidden sorcery.

Behind him, the Black Fang Enforcers scanned the ruins in silence, wary of lingering residual energies. Even now, whispers of dissonant voices swirled in the air—echoes of the Order’s final ritual before their downfall.

"Sir," Colonel Derven muttered, his visor flickering with alert markers, "I’m detecting void flux saturation. It’s unstable."

Leon’s eyes narrowed.

They weren’t here to scavenge. They weren’t here for glory.

They were here because something ancient had awakened beneath the Citadel—and the entire sector was holding its breath, waiting to see who would claim it first.

The Golden Hegemony had already dispatched a scouting fleet, though Leon’s strike team had arrived earlier thanks to the Timefold Drive brokered through the Celestial Bazaar.

"Keep the perimeter locked down," Leon said. "No one enters or leaves without my authorization."

As Derven moved to relay orders, Leon turned back toward the central pit.

It wasn’t just a crater.

It was a wound—torn through the planet’s crust by celestial fire, and in its heart, he could feel it pulsing. A rhythm older than stars. A thrum of chained power. The Forgotten Flame.

Hours earlier, before the mission was launched, Leon had stood before the [System Console] in his private quarters aboard the Sovereign Vault.

A new transaction had arrived. Unlisted. Encrypted.

High-Risk Opportunity: Forgotten Flame of the First Ember — Coordinates Enclosed.

Buyer Interest: Multiple (Obsidian Order remnants, Stellar Mandate cultists, Hegemony warlocks).

Initial Market Value: ∞ (unquantifiable pre-activation). 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

System Suggestion: Acquire and negotiate later.

For once, the System hadn’t tried to price it.

That alone was enough to raise alarms.

But it was also a chance. A gamble with stakes far beyond ordinary trade.

"What exactly are you?" Leon whispered to the pulsing blue-gold interface. "Another weapon? A relic? A soul?"

He’d accepted the mission.

And now he stood at the threshold of something even the cosmic traders feared.

Descending into the pit was like walking into the throat of a dying god.

The stone was molten glass in places, warped from energies not meant to exist in the current age of the galaxy. Runes shifted and mutated across the surfaces—glyphs from ancient tongues not even the System could translate.

Each step felt heavier than the last.

"Vital signs spiking," said Sarai over comms. "Are you sure you want to go in alone?"

Leon replied calmly, "If this is what I think it is, it won’t speak to a group. Only a trader."

And then he reached it.

At the center of the pit, nestled in a cradle of cracked obsidian and glowing marrowstone, was a flame. No larger than a candle at first glance—yet it consumed no fuel, emitted no heat.

It hung in space.

Alive.

A memory of fire.

He extended a gloved hand toward it.

The moment his fingers brushed the corona of its light, a rush of images exploded into his mind—entire civilizations rising and burning in golden conflagration, empires born from sparks and reduced to ash by their creators. He saw Traders of old—Eternals with fire in their eyes—striking deals not for coin, but for destinies.

He saw the First Ember: a remnant of the original cosmic forge, capable of burning through dimensions, unlocking gates long sealed, and forging contracts written not in ink, but in soullight.

The Forgotten Flame wasn’t just a relic.

It was a tool to rewrite the laws of Trade and Power.

And it was choosing him.

"System," Leon whispered, his voice hoarse, "can I bind it?"

[Warning: The Forgotten Flame exceeds the Standard Market Parameters.]

[Risk of system corruption: 72%.]

[Override option available. Do you wish to initiate Trade Contract: Primordial Tier?]

He hesitated.

And then, like so many times before, he said, "Initiate."

The flame flared.

Reality cracked.

And for a heartbeat, Leon was no longer in the pit—but adrift in a sea of fire and stars, seated across from a being wrapped in solar chains and twilight flame.

Its voice, when it came, echoed across eternity.

"Trader. You would bind me?"

Leon didn’t flinch. "I would offer a deal."

"Then bring your price."

The System manifested as a spinning web of assets, debts, and karmic balances. But this being—this Ember—it didn’t want credits. It didn’t even want souls.

"Bring me a legacy."

Leon blinked. "What kind?"

"One that can change the outcome of a dying galaxy. One that won’t be forgotten when stars fall. Bring me that, and I shall burn for you once more."

In other words: earn it.

The vision snapped back to reality.

Leon staggered, flames dancing across his arm but not burning him. The Forgotten Flame was no longer floating. It had embedded itself in a new relic—a brand etched into the back of his right glove, flickering gently with golden sparks.

He had bound it.

And now the countdown had begun.

Back aboard the Sovereign Vault, Sarai stared at the scans in disbelief.

"You... absorbed it?"

Leon sat quietly, nursing a mild headache and sipping from a nutrient-rich tonic. "Not quite. It’s dormant—for now. I have to prove myself worthy."

"Prove yourself how? That thing was pulsing with fourth-dimensional entropy and pre-celestial code. You shouldn’t even be alive."

Leon looked at her, eyes gleaming. "Then I suppose I’ll have to make history, won’t I?"

She sighed. "You’re impossible."

He smiled. "But effective."

Moments later, a System prompt slid into view.

[System Update: Primordial Trade Contract Initialized.]

[Objective: Establish a Legacy Tier Trade Empire within Five Star-Cycles.]

[Bonus Reward: Unlock the Celestial Archives.]

[Penalty: System Core Lockout and Consciousness Banishment.]

The stakes had never been higher.

But neither had the rewards.

Far across the stars, in a spire of mirrored crystal orbiting a dying red sun, a pair of eyes opened. Old eyes. Watcher eyes.

"They’ve activated the Ember," the Watcher rasped, robes billowing with starlight dust. "The game has changed."

Another voice replied—gravelly, angry.

"Then we’ll crush the Trader before he takes his next step."

The Watcher shook his head slowly.

"No. We watch. We wait."

"Why?"

"Because we were there when the first flame was kindled. And now it burns anew... in a sovereign soul."