The Spiralheart was gone. But its echoes remained.
As Rei and his companions emerged through the gate opened by Azazel, the sky was unfamiliar. This wasn't Earth—not the one they left. Stars hung like slow-moving thoughts. Mountains floated sideways. Oceans breathed in silence.
Azazel stood beneath a fractured obelisk, arms crossed, cigarette half-lit.
"Welcome to the Aftermargin," he muttered. "A pocket realm that formed the moment Spiralheart collapsed. Technically, it doesn't exist. But here we are."
Mireille scanned the Codex. "This realm is made of... unresolved narrative threads."
Karasu hissed. "Loose ends. Final consequences."
Rei looked up. In the sky, fragments of Sovereigns—not as enemies, but questions—floated like spirits without homes.
Noira frowned. "Are they coming back?"
Eirenne replied, "No. They're waiting."
---
Sanctuary Within the Rift
They found shelter in the ruins of an inverted cathedral called Farsong Bastion, where every wall whispered futures that never arrived.
Inside, Rei met with Azazel.
"We bought time, not peace," Azazel said. "There's something worse than Velstra forming. Not a Sovereign. Not even a god."
"What then?"
Azazel crushed his cigarette. "An idea—unshaped, unclaimed. The world without you."
Rei raised a brow. "You mean...?"
"Someone's trying to restart the spiral. Using your flame."
---
Codex Update: Narrative Anomaly Detected
> "Thread Signature: Nullborn. Category: Anti-Conceptual Entity. Intention: Rewrite genesis using Rei's Sovereign Flame."
Mireille nearly dropped the Codex. "This entity wants to use Rei's threads to remake reality from zero. It's a sovereign without memory, built from silence."
Karasu murmured, "We erased Velstra too well. Something worse grew in the vacuum."
Rei turned to his team. "Then we don't rest. We rise."
He lit the Spiralheart Flame. Not as a weapon—but as a signal.
In the far edge of Aftermargin, the Nullborn stirred.
---
Dream-Walk: The Memory That Wasn't
That night, Rei dreamed. He stood in a city with no streets, surrounded by people who never were. A woman approached. She wore no face, but her presence was familiar.
She said:
> "I was the world you never chose. The life you forgot. But I remember you."
She placed her hand on his chest. A warmth spread—not from flame, but remembrance.
"You've touched gods, rewritten laws, defied Sovereigns. But do you know why you began?"
Rei opened his eyes. "I didn't want to die forgotten."
"And now?"
"I don't want the world to forget what it means to hope."
She smiled without lips. Then faded.
> [Codex Upgrade: Origin Thread Unlocked — Rei's flame is now connected to every narrative spark born of human will. Sovereignless Influence Acquired.]
---
The Final Prelude Begins
As dawn broke—if it could be called dawn in this realm—the Codex glowed.
> [Final Arc Initiated: "Null Spiral." Arc Type: Existential Reclamation. Objective: Prevent the Nullborn from rewriting all narrative cores using Sovereign Flame. Estimated Completion: 10 chapters.]
Rei stood before his team. "We end this not with power—but with meaning."
And behind him, across the realm of fragments and afterthoughts, Sovereign echoes began to rise—silent, watching.
They were no longer enemies. They were witnesses.