The night breathed cold across the ruined altar, but the fire burned strong.
Adexander stood apart from the others, staring into it. Shadows moved along his face—not from the flames, but from something older coiling behind his eyes.
Kaien was the first to speak.
"You gonna tell us what's happening now, or should I guess again and say 'evil sky heartbeat'?"
Adexander didn't smile.
Didn't blink.
He simply spoke. "The silence is over."
Velessia stepped forward. "You said that already. What does it mean?"
Adexander turned.
"The world is starting to remember."
Kaien tilted his head. "Remember what?"
"That it was built on a lie."
Raik frowned, arms crossed. "You're speaking like a villain again. Which one of your past lives did this lie come from?"
Adexander stared at the stars. "Not mine."
The ground trembled slightly.
Naru gasped, turning toward the horizon. "The sky look!"
Far in the distance, clouds began folding inward, collapsing into a spiral like a black hole inverted. Something was pulling—no, drawing in—the boundaries of reality.
From within the spiral, a rain of silver ash began to fall.
Adexander whispered:
"…Ash in the vein. The world's blood is changing."
[System Update Detected]
> Warning: Foreign Dimensional Influence Incoming.
System Lockdown in progress…
Resynchronizing Root Protocol: Ashbreaker-Class Authority Detected.
Bloodforge Evolution: Pending.
Soul Fracture Detected.
Fragments Remaining: 3.
[Engage or Delay?]
He turned to Igris.
"I'll need you for the next part."
"I was never gone," Igris replied, voice as hollow and cold as the void he walked through.
Suddenly, Raik doubled over—his body flickering with strange blue light.
"W-what the hell?!"
Kaien grabbed him, eyes wide. "Raik?!"
The light pulsed once, then stabilized.
From within him… a voice echoed. Deep. Broken. Familiar.
"Let me out…"
Adexander's eyes narrowed. "A fragment."
Kaien backed away. "Inside Raik?"
"No," Adexander said darkly. "Raik is one."
Raik looked up, eyes half-glowing.
"…And you knew?"
"I was waiting," Adexander replied. "Now the countdown has started."
They left at sunrise.
Behind them, the world's edge cracked.
Ashfall now drifted like snow, and in its wake, monsters not born of mana began to awaken beneath the earth. Ordinary beasts… twisted. Changed.
Children of a new era.
The group made for the Valley of Cradle Mirrors, an ancient place where the first version of Adexander had sealed a memory so cursed, even the gods refused to name it.
When they arrived…
A monolith stood there, cracked, humming with forgotten voices.
Igris fell to one knee, blade trembling.
Velessia gasped. "This place—it's bleeding."
And Kaien simply whispered:
"Why do I feel like we're about to meet the devil?"
Adexander placed his palm on the stone.
It shattered.
And from its center…
A man stepped out.
Not cloaked in power. But wrapped in chains.
His face? Adexander's.
But not like a mirror.
More like a warning.
The chained version of him looked up with red eyes and whispered:
> "Finally… you've come to kill me."