The chamber's core glowed brighter now, humming with impossible frequencies. It wasn't just energy—it was memory, language, song. The four boys stood still, each facing a path branching in different directions of the crystalline archive. It had begun to separate, forming corridors of light tied to their threads.
"This is where we split," Ren said softly. "This place… it's not just a vault. It's a trial."
Core-3's voice echoed again.
"To awaken the Forbidden Thread, one must confront the truth they buried the deepest. Only then can your powers evolve."
They had no choice.
They stepped forward—each swallowed by their respective corridor.
Ren – Path of Wind and Regret
Ren's corridor opened into a towering arena of floating stone blades, all suspended in a windstorm. At the center stood a man: his father—once a general of the Ministry, long thought dead.
"You left us," Ren said, his voice shaking.
"I died protecting you from what you would become," the ghost replied.
They clashed—wind against memory, blade against bitterness. Every strike cracked the arena, every dodge chipped away at Ren's grief.
"Stop trying to be your father," the specter hissed. "Be what he feared."
Ren's eyes flashed. The wind changed direction.
A vortex of blades circled him like satellites, merging into a sword of spiraling air.
Thread Awakening: Tempest Edge.
Haru – Path of Fire and Shadow
Haru's corridor smelled of ash. He walked into a cathedral burning from the inside. Sitting on the altar was his mirror self—a boy laughing with demonic eyes, pistols identical to his resting beside him.
"You can't control fire, Haru. You are fire."
The demon double stood and aimed. So did Haru.
They fired. Flame twisted between them like serpents.
Each shot was a memory—of hiding his power, of being too afraid to protect, of watching others die because he hesitated.
"You think fire can be regulated?" his double snarled.
"No," Haru whispered, "but I can make it listen."
His pistols turned white-hot, runes glowing, forming a fire halo around his back.
Thread Awakening: Solar Reign.
Daiki – Path of Earth and Silence
Daiki walked into a garden of stone, where statues wept and vines grew from the cracks in their chests. At the center was a small gravestone.
His sister's.
"I promised I'd be strong," Daiki murmured.
The ground trembled. A massive demon with obsidian armor rose, carrying a hammer made of fossilized bones.
"Grief weakens earth," it boomed. "Let it go."
Daiki charged, fists cracking the ground, each punch turning sorrow into strength. His feet rooted, his skin hardened, and his will sharpened like a spear.
"She died protecting me. I'll protect everything else."
His body began glowing with living armor—veins of crystal and tectonic energy.
Thread Awakening: Gaia's Ward.
Icarus – Path of Vision and Chains
Icarus stood in a hallway of infinite mirrors. Every one reflected a different future—some with victory, others with death, betrayal, corruption.
In each, someone close to him died.
He stepped forward, and the mirrors cracked.
"You always see, but you never act," said a voice. It was his old master from the orphanage—whom he'd watched be executed for hiding Icarus's gift.
"Foresight is a curse if it leads to hesitation."
Icarus clenched his fists.
"Then I'll see everything... and choose."
Chains of light coiled around his arms, forming a clockwork halo above him. His eyes glowed with layered irises, ticking like a celestial timepiece.
Thread Awakening: Oracle's Chain.
Outside – Vatican's Assault
Above the catacombs, the desert split open. Cracks turned to chasms. Vatican warships arrived in silence, hovering with golden floodlights and banners bearing holy runes.
At their helm stood Cardinal Eva, alive and reborn—half-human, half-demon. Her armor bore the seal of Azaliel. She stepped off the ship, touching down like judgment itself.
"Capture the Threaded alive," she ordered her knights. "If they resist, purge the entire archive."
Inside the vault, Core-3's voice darkened.
"Foreign energy detected. Activating Bastion defense protocol."
The walls shifted. Guardians of stone and steel awakened—automata armed with plasma glaives and wings of obsidian.
The Battle Begins
The boys emerged from their trials, glowing with newfound power.
They stood side by side again as the roof above shattered, Vatican knights descending on wings of divine flame.
Daiki cracked his knuckles. "Been waiting to hit something."
Ren raised his blade. "We end this here."
Haru twirled his pistols. "Try not to die before the punchline."
Icarus closed his eyes, seeing every move before it happened.
"They're coming."
The battle ignited.
Wind clashed with holy lightning. Fire melted divine shields. Earth shattered sacred weapons. Time split moments into eternities.
This wasn't a skirmish.
It was the war's opening cry.