The Black Flame didn't die.

It should have. Every law governing essence and transformation said that when a being's consciousness failed, their power dispersed. When a seraph fell, their flame extinguished. When defiance met absolute certainty, certainty won.

But the flame flickered.

Weak. Barely visible. More memory of fire than actual combustion. But present. Still burning because somewhere in Azrael's shattered consciousness, something refused to acknowledge extinction.

The Goddess felt ...