The canyon that housed the Sixth Fragment lay beneath a veil of broken constellations, where the stars themselves wept light that never reached the ground. The terrain here was warped—not by natural decay, but by emotional resonance too heavy to be carried by ordinary space. As the group approached, even the Spirit Threads in the air trembled.
Rei paused at the canyon's edge.
Below, a fire burned.
But not red.
Not gold.
It was blue—an ethereal blaze so cold it distorted time. The Sixth Fragment pulsed within, encased in a cocoon of frozen fire.
Mireille adjusted her cloak, face grim. "That fire… it's alive. It's remembering something."
Noira narrowed her eyes. "It's not just a memory. It's a punishment."
Eirenne stepped forward, hand outstretched. Her expression was softer—almost reverent. "I can hear her. The Sixth Spirit. She's been weeping for centuries."
[System Alert: Fragment Six — 'Serapha, the Cold Flame of Reversal' Identified.]
[Emotion Profile: Regret. Undoing. Eternal Pause.]
Karasu's voice came quietly. *"Serapha is unlike the others. She did not fight, she did not break. She begged to be forgotten. And in doing so, she became the keeper of what should not be remembered."
They descended into the canyon.
Every step felt like walking through echoes of decisions they hadn't yet made. Images flickered—possible futures, alternate fates. Rei saw himself alone, crowned in ash, a god in exile. Another version saw him dead in Mireille's arms, Noira and Eirenne consumed by spirit backlash.
Eirenne's voice broke through the hallucinations. "Stay grounded. She's testing us."
Rei clenched his fist. "No. She's reminding us what we're fighting for."
When they reached the blue flame, it parted.
A figure stood at its center.
She was draped in icy robes that shimmered with thousands of names. Her eyes, closed at first, opened slowly—revealing irises like shattered mirrors. Her presence was not overwhelming in power, but in sorrow. It pulled at the soul.
"Who stands before the Reversal Flame?" she asked.
Rei stepped forward. "Rei Kazenari. Flamebearer. Echobound. Spirit Crowned."
She tilted her head. "And what do you seek?"
He didn't hesitate. "Your truth. Your power. Your pain."
A pause.
"Then endure what I endured."
The flame surged, and the world blinked.
They were somewhere else.
A battlefield, yet no one moved.
Thousands of corpses—angels, devils, humans, spirits—all frozen in mid-destruction. Serapha walked among them, her feet never touching the ground.
"I tried to stop this war," her voice echoed. "But my silence became my sin."
She turned, her gaze piercing. "Will you be different?"
Rei did not answer with words. He knelt.
"I will not repeat your silence."
The world cracked.
Flames swallowed the illusion, but not Rei.
Not Mireille.
Not Noira.
Not Eirenne.
They stood within the blaze—together.
Serapha's form drifted downward.
"You have seen it. Then take it."
[Spirit Pact Initiated. Serapha Joined — Resonance Level: 46%.]
A shard of frostfire drifted into Rei's core. The chill brought tears to his eyes, not from cold, but from remembering too much, too fast.
Karasu whispered, "Six now. And yet each one breaks you open."
Rei stood, breathing heavily. "Then let me break until I become whole."
As they exited the canyon, the world felt different.
Not larger.
But heavier.
The sky rippled, and for the first time, the Dimensional Gap opened voluntarily. A rift in the fabric of existence appeared before them. And from within, a presence stepped out—cloaked in shifting metal, feathers of gray, and eyes of unnatural blue.
A voice spoke.
"Rei Kazenari. You carry what was sealed. You tread where only failed gods walk."
Mireille raised her staff. "Who are you?"
The being bowed. "I am a Warden of the Void Protocol. And your next step… is under judgment."