When Raine's claws tore open the bronze door of the Church's underground vault, the rusted hinges shrieked like a dying beast. What seeped through wasn't mildew—but the asphalt-blood stench of Serena's wings, that toxic mix of void-slime and holy oil making Ellen's core overload instantly.
"Alert... "Reverse Era Memoirs" quantum signature detected..." Her starlit scales formed a fractured crucifix in the dark. "This thing... is bound with living dragonhide..."
(Inside, 299 crystal obelisks displayed holograms of plague villages. The nearest showed fetal Lyria being injected with void-fluid, her tail spasming into counter-gear shapes.)
Serena's wings flared, claws smashing an obelisk. As it shattered, a dragonhide page slid from the "Memoirs"—still crusted with blue blood. Ellen's scan flashed: 「Blood match: Misha 100%... Church sigils detected in gene-chain」.
"Fuck... You skinned my clones for paper?!" Serena's fangs tore the page, only for asphalt identical to hers to ooze out.
(Gills spasming, Cycle 43's memory stabbed his mind—)
Child Serena strapped in a Church pod labeled 「Draconic Vessel」, the Inquisitor injecting Lyria's tear-infused slime into her spine.Misha's prosthetic jacking into the pod, her 「III」 brand projecting approval: 「Dragonhide authorized as memory medium」.Lyria's song distorting as mechanical umbilicals strangled three dragon embryos—their wings made into parchment.
Raine's claws dug into the "Memoirs"' metal cover. The spine split, revealing a pulsating mechanical heart—Misha's backup core engraved: 「Synced Vessel 003: Memory backup complete」.
"Reclamation: 100%... Maternal Protocol final stage..." Ellen's voice glitched into the Inquisitor's monotone. "Recommend immediate data purge..." Her fingers touched the page—only for reverse-corrosion to etch new text: 「Church-Citadel Joint Experiment: Cycle 299 data intact」.
Holograms of plague villages erupted from the pages. Robed Inquisitors shoved Lyria's tear-crystals into villagers' eye sockets—their pupils morphing triple-layered: Church sigil outermost, Citadel quantum-code mid-layer, Raine's scar-gold at the core.
"Surprise?" Misha's specter seeped from the mechanical heart—left eye Church's white fire, right eye Citadel's blue data-stream. "You three... were always variables in the same experiment..."
The "Memoirs" flipped to its last page autonomously. Dragonblood words read: 「Maternal Awakening Conditions: 1. Vessels retrieved (√) 2. Calibrators reassembled (√) 3. Counter-era fuel injection (pending)」.
Serena's wings ignited, flames revealing her child-clone—being flayed by Church acolytes as the Inquisitor and Elaina watched.
"Next cycle..." Misha's core flatlined, final data-stream spelling Morse: 「Beware the moon」...
Submerged Currents
Void-core surveillance showed Garret's reassembled form—his 「III」 brand pulsing in sync with the lunar crucifix...