When Rei looked up, the stars blinked—like eyes opening.
It wasn't a metaphor.
Constellations shifted in real time, forming sigils decipherable only through spirit cognition. The ten flames within him pulsed in erratic waves—no longer merely reacting to the world, but now responding to something above the world.
Eirenne stood beside him, her face pale.
"They're watching."
Rei didn't ask who.
He already knew.
"The Sovereigns?" Mireille guessed.
Karasu landed on Rei's shoulder, wings draped in silence.
"No. Older."
Noira crossed her arms.
"We're being scouted by something beyond the system."
And from the sky, three lines descended—one golden, one silver, and one black.
They weren't beams.
They were choices.
Each radiated an aura of destiny:
The gold pulsed with authority.
The silver shimmered with harmony.
The black radiated entropy—but not malice.
Mireille ran an analysis.
"These aren't from the Sovereign Code or Velstra's network. These are raw threads—pre-thread. They predate formation itself."
Rei stepped forward.
He reached toward the black line.
Eirenne grabbed his wrist.
"Are you sure?"
"I've never been," Rei replied. "That's the point."
And he touched it.
System Interface Breach Detected
[Initiating Thread Selection Protocol — Designation: Flame Sovereign]
[Warning: This decision cannot be reversed. Path divergence: 87%]
Thread Acquired: The Obsidian Line — Choice of the Unnamed Architect.
Rei's surroundings vanished.
He stood on a black plain filled with memory echoes—not his, not the spirits', but of creation itself.
A figure approached.
Cloaked in mathematical light, faceless, yet walking with the weight of civilizations.
"You have assembled ten flames," it said. "But you walk without a blueprint."
Rei met the figure's gazeless stare.
"Blueprints imply limits."
The figure tilted its head.
"Then build with intent. Not just reaction."
From the ground rose ten mirrors—each one showing a different version of Rei:
Tyrant.
Savior.
Wanderer.
Monster.
God.
"You must choose which face the world remembers," the Architect intoned. "Or the world will choose for you."
Rei looked into the mirrors.
Then he shattered them.
"I'll be all of them," he said. "And none."
The Architect laughed.
[New Path Assigned: Sovereign Without Mask]
[Initiating Post-Fragment Alignment Phase. Thread Ratio Shift: 12%]
"You walk where law is written," the Architect whispered. "So write wisely."
Then the Architect vanished.
Shrine Grounds — Present Time
Rei awoke.
His team stood in shock.
"You were frozen," Noira said. "Gone for five minutes. Then your flames started humming an old creation song."
Mireille held up her slate.
"You altered the root protocol of the Sovereign Flame system. You're no longer bound to the Flame User class tree."
Eirenne reached out, resting her fingers against Rei's chest.
"You don't feel like fire anymore."
Rei's voice was soft.
"I feel like foundation."
Karasu whispered from his shoulder.
"You've stepped outside the loop."
Rei turned toward the western horizon.
"Then let's make sure it was worth it."
In the distance, new lights flickered.
The Second Convergence had begun.