With Selene restored and Virelle freed from its overwritten script, hope returned to the people—but unease lingered in the cracks of the city's stone.
Too much had been forgotten.
Too much was being remembered.
Yui stood at the top of the restored Tower of Threads, watching the silver light of the stars flicker uncertainly above. The System had stabilized, but its next message hit like a thunderclap in her chest:
> [System Alert: Unstable Character Fragment Detected]
Identity: Elandir Caelith – The First Betrayer
Status: Locked within Echo Vault 07.
Threat Level: Cataclysmic.
Optional Objective: Confront or Delete Permanently.
Yui's fingers clenched.
She had written Elandir long ago—the guardian of her earliest kingdoms. He had been noble, proud, sharp as a blade—and when the original arc shattered, his betrayal had been the spark.
But he hadn't been meant to turn.
The Editors had warped him, overwritten his motives to create a betrayal "twist" that boosted engagement. They had stolen his heart and turned him into the world's greatest villain.
And she had let it happen.
Azarion approached, silent as ever. "You're hesitating."
"He was the first to fall. The first I couldn't protect," Yui whispered. "But what if he doesn't want to be saved?"
"Then you fight him anyway," Selene said from the stairwell, now whole again and radiant with her twin blades. "Not because he's your enemy—but because you believe he doesn't have to be."
Kale simply nodded. "Some characters are born from choices. Others… are waiting to remember who they really are."
---
The Echo Vault wasn't a place—it was a wound.
The team traveled to the rift-scarred wastes of the Forgotten Realms, a place deleted from the novel's current continuity. There, beneath an upside-down moon, they found the vault—a prison of broken hourglasses and shifting shadows.
Inside it waited a figure clad in obsidian armor, seated on a throne of frozen time.
Elandir Caelith.
He stood as they entered, golden eyes burning behind his mask.
"I remember all of you," he said, voice like steel folded in sorrow. "And I remember what I did."
Yui stepped forward, her voice trembling. "Then you remember why you did it. Because they twisted your choices. They made your betrayal… mandatory."
His gaze flickered. "And yet, I still did it."
Azarion drew his blade. "If you're here to atone, then surrender."
But Elandir didn't move.
Instead, he whispered:
"You'll have to take me back. The only way I'll remember myself… is if you defeat what I've become."
---
The battle was unlike any before.
Elandir's skills were terrifying—he wielded Chrono-Blades that looped his attacks, forcing the team to relive their mistakes. Kale was caught in a rewind trap, Selene barely parried the second strike that never should have come, and Azarion—
Azarion bled.
But Yui… stood firm.
She activated her second combat skill:
> [System Skill Unlocked: Wordbind Chain – Rewrite Anchor (A)]
Temporarily override a corrupted character's reality thread and pin it to a previous truth.
The chains of light wrapped around Elandir, dragging pieces of his shattered memories into view:
—A smiling boy forging his first sword.
—A vow whispered to a girl with ink-stained hands.
—A crown he never wanted.
Tears burned down Yui's face. "You were the shield of my world, not its destroyer."
Elandir roared, the corruption lashing violently—but then stilled.
His mask cracked.
And beneath it—was grief. Pure, terrible grief.
> [Narrative Override Accepted.]
Character Restored: Elandir Caelith – The Oath-Broken Guardian
Allegiance: Reluctant Ally
Skills: Echo Sever (SS), Chrono Reversal (S+), Oath of Remembering (???)
Title Acquired: The Betrayer Who Returned
"I am… sorry," he whispered, falling to his knees.
Yui knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"So am I."