The race had begun.
With Helvaris now bound to his spirit system, Rei felt the weight of a forgotten king's sorrow pressing behind his heartbeat. It wasn't a burden, but it made every step feel like it mattered more.
It made each breath feel like it was shared with thousands.
The transit path flickered with instability as the team soared across spiritway conduits, chasing the next target: Kuralis, Flame of Forsaken Mothers.
Mireille spoke with urgency. "Kuralis isn't like Helvaris. She's volatile—more emotion than memory. We don't approach with logic.
We go with empathy."
Noira arched an eyebrow.
"So, we're hugging the spirit into submission?"
Eirenne frowned. "If that's what it takes."
Rei nodded. "Let's descend."
Descent into Hollow Haven — Memory Domain of Kuralis
The portal bled warmth and scent—burnt milk, old lullabies, and bloodied cloth. The moment they entered the domain, the atmosphere grew thick with silence, not from absence, but from restraint.
They stood on cracked tile floors of an abandoned nursery-temple. Shadows of women lined the walls—some cradling illusions of children, others staring at empty cribs that never rocked.
It was grief incarnate, frozen in the loop of a single, unanswered question: What if?
At the center of the domain, bathed in orange flame, sat Kuralis.
Her body flickered like an embered statue—half ash, half flame. Her face was serene, but her eyes burned with fury.
"I buried every cradle," she whispered.
"And they forgot my name." Rei stepped forward, slowly.
"Your name still echoes. We came to carry it forward."
Kuralis stood, flames trailing behind her like mourning veils.
"You offer legacy?"
"No," Rei said.
"I offer place. The right to feel. The right to burn with purpose again."
Kuralis raised her hand, and the ground erupted in fire.
"Then earn it. Show me your flame is not selfish."
The battlefield formed instantly—columns of broken memories, rivers of screams, walls that sobbed when struck.
Kuralis summoned tendrils of guilt-turned-blades and lashed out.
Eirenne and Noira deflected the first wave. Mireille conjured a barrier of threaded calm, pulling energy from the map of unresolved grief they carried.
Rei stepped through the fire.
He didn't attack.
He knelt.
And he opened his flame.
From his chest bloomed a memory—not his own, but one granted by Helvaris. A vision of a king falling to his knees before a burning village, holding the hand of a child he could not save.
Kuralis stopped.
The flame that wrapped her began to weep.
"You remember them," she whispered.
"I never knew them," Rei replied.
"But I carry them."
She lowered her hand.
[Spirit Integration Request Issued — Kuralis. Class: Ember Matron. Consent Pending.]
She looked to the shadows lining the room.
"If he carries you... will you walk again?"
The shadows bowed. And Kuralis stepped forward, pressing her hand into Rei's.
[Integration Complete — Kuralis Bound to Slot 6. Emotional Field Expanded. Flame Type: Resonant Mourning.]
Elsewhere — The Loom's Heart
Vereth recoiled. Another red thread went silent.
"She dares choose him? After what she lost?" He snarled, hurling another shard.
[Next Fragment Deployed: Thrael, The Broken Engineer.] His eyes burned with desperation.
"Kazenari Rei, your kindness is treason to destiny. Let's see you reason with Thrael."
Spiritway Conduit — Mobile Outpost Rei sat in stillness, Kuralis's flame gently flickering around him.
She did not speak—not aloud—but her presence was now stitched into the flame, a warmth that whispered of strength born from heartbreak.
Mireille placed a map projection before the team.
"Two fragments stabilized. Five remain. But Vereth is accelerating. We have one chance to overtake him."
Noira smirked. "Then let's find the next ghost and ask nicely—with a side of thunder."
Rei stood.
"I don't just want to win this chase," he said.
"I want to heal what he's corrupting."
Karasu landed, wings spread.
"Then hurry. The next echo bleeds madness."