The silence before the storm came not from peace—but from reverence.
As dawn cracked over a fractured Tokyo, Rei's team stood atop the Shinjuku Tower Ruins, overlooking a city caught between flame and oblivion. Spirit constructs floated mid-air—frozen in recursive loops. Civilians wandered as echoes, reliving memories not their own. Above, Sovereign symbols flared like constellations defying logic.
> [Codex Update: Domain Instability — Tokyo Sector. Cause: Residual Flame Imprint of Sovereign Bellatrix. Status: Siege Barrier Detected.]
Eirenne clicked her tongue. "Siege magic. But this isn't warfare. It's containment."
Noira squinted at a dome of translucent light miles wide. "That's not a shield. It's a terrarium. Someone's studying us."
Rei's flame pulsed with agitation. "Then we give them a spectacle."
---
Inside the Dome — Reality Sync Threshold
As they entered, the air grew thicker. Not with heat, but expectation.
Buildings whispered questions. Time repeated minor details. And then—she appeared.
A woman dressed in glass-threaded robes. She walked barefoot on nothing, leaving trails of unmade thought. Her name came unbidden:
Bellatrix — Sovereign of the Soundless Moment.
Her voice was the absence of one. Instead, reality bent to convey her will:
> "You are the Catalyst. And I am the Observer's Punishment."
Rei stepped forward. "You're testing us for Him?"
She nodded once. Then lifted a single hand.
And Tokyo vanished.
---
Battle Phase — Silence Field Construct
The team floated in a void filled with moments stolen from reality.
A laughing child.
A falling star.
A goodbye that never happened.
Bellatrix attacked by removing sound itself, making Eirenne's blade miss its rhythm, Noira's footing stumble, Mireille's incantations fail.
Karasu screeched—but it echoed into nothing.
Only Rei stood, burning quietly.
And then—he did the impossible:
He silenced his flame.
In that moment, he synchronized with Bellatrix's domain. Not by overpowering it—but by understanding it.
> [New Trait: Silent Sovereign Synchrony. Effect: Nullifies reality anchors within harmonic fields. Duration: Temporary.]
Rei took a single step. And time fractured.
His flame carved through Bellatrix not as an attack, but as acknowledgment.
The Sovereign bowed.
"I was not meant to be beaten. But you didn't fight. You listened."
She dissolved, her essence merging with the Codex.
> [Thread Gained: Momentless Truth. Trait: Passive Chrono-Balance — Reduces destabilization from paradoxes by 40%.]
---
Aftermath — Reclaiming Tokyo
The dome collapsed. Reality stitched itself together. The people blinked—alive once more.
Azazel arrived via projection. "Hell of a light show. We intercepted EXE scouts five miles west. They're not testing us anymore. They're deploying."
Rei turned to his team. "Then we beat them to the next flame."
Mireille opened the Codex, revealing coordinates far south.
"Next target: Vatican. Time-space inversion. And Sovereign-class echoes reported."
Eirenne loaded her blade with spectral oil. Noira grinned.
Karasu spread his wings. "To the Church, then. Let's see if Heaven remembers how to fear."
Rei smirked.
"Let's rewrite revelation."