Rei awoke to the sound of breathless silence.
The Vaults of Witness had settled into a muted glow. What once held the echoes of lost names now hummed with a low, resonant stillness. Something had changed—not in the world, but in him.
He touched his chest. No longer just flame. There was weight now. History. Sorrow. Choice.
Mireille approached, her cloak tattered from previous clashes with Sovereign echoes. "You've crossed the edge of remembrance."
Rei replied, "And yet I still forget what matters."
Eirenne stood beside a runic fountain, watching spirit water defy gravity. "The moment you touched the truth of the Nullborn, something in the leylines shifted."
Noira drew her blade and inspected its edge. "We're not just resisting anymore. We're writing back."
---
Codex Update — Null Spiral Forecast
> Status: Unstable Predicted Convergence: 72 hours Entity Formation Detected: [Designation: Echo-Rei]
Karasu flapped above, carrying a message from Azazel:
> "He's begun moving his pieces. If you're going to answer, do it with a scream the gods can't ignore."
Rei folded the note. "Then we scream through ink and flame."
---
Interlude — The Sovereign Flame's Burden
Later that night, Rei stood before the fractured mural of Velstra—the First Sovereign Spirit—depicted mid-fall, her hand reaching toward a light no one else could see.
He whispered, "Why didn't you warn us it would feel like this?"
But the mural offered no comfort. Only a reminder: Sovereigns weren't meant to endure. They were meant to burn, brilliantly and briefly.
And yet he was still here. Still choosing to remain.
---
The Hollow Pilgrim Appears
The quiet was shattered by the arrival of a new presence—vague, cloaked, moving as if time resisted it.
It bore no face. Only reflection.
Rei stepped forward. "Who sent you?"
The figure lifted its arm. A burning sigil identical to Rei's spiraled across its wrist—but reversed, with the flame curling inward.
> "You did," it said. "I am what you left behind to become who you are."
The group tensed. Karasu whispered, "He's a narrative echo. A fragment you burned to stand here. And now it wants to be real again."
Rei gritted his teeth. "I left you for a reason."
The Hollow Pilgrim spoke again. "And I am that reason. Every memory you sacrificed, every truth you bent—I am their reckoning."
With that, it vanished. Leaving behind only silence.
---
Preparation for the Descent
With time collapsing, Rei and his allies made camp at the Shrine of Forgotten Threads, a place where spirit threads gathered like snow.
There, Rei addressed his harem:
"I may lose more of myself. The closer we get to the Spiral's heart, the more it'll cost. If I forget who you are—"
Mireille stopped him with a hand on his chest. "We'll remind you."
Eirenne kissed his cheek. "Even if you forget love, I won't."
Noira held his hand tightly. "Even if you burn away... I'll still be waiting in the ashes."
Rei's heart burned with warmth—aching and fierce.
---
Codex Trigger: Final Descent Protocol
> [System Entry: Final Descent into Null Spiral Initiated] Countdown: 72 hours All optional quests locked. Primary Directive: Resolve Echo-Rei. Confront Nullborn. Protect narrative flame.]
Rei looked up at the collapsing stars above. His voice was steady.
"Then we walk the Hollow Path... together."