The flight westward was silent.
Not out of tension—but reverence.
Even Karasu refrained from speaking as the plane soared toward the Pyrenees, the place Rei had once glimpsed in dreams. It was neither wholly Europe nor entirely spiritual plane—it was fractured existence.
The system didn't have a name for it.
But the world whispered one:
The Ghost Border.
Arrival – Outskirts of Andorra
The small country nestled in the mountain range had become a paradox—villages caught in stasis, trees blooming in reverse, snowflakes that never landed.
System Prompt:
[Fragment Arc Node #4 – Location Verified]
[Domain: Interstice of Oblivion]
[Sovereign Presence: Manifested, Classification Incomplete]
Mireille pulled her coat tighter. "There's no time here."
Eirenne checked her gear. "Correction: there's too much time. Layers of it."
Noira drew her blade. "We're walking into death's waiting room."
Rei closed his eyes. "And we're not the first."
Within the Fold — Echoes That Never Died
They entered a chapel built from candlelight and silence.
Inside: countless people, suspended mid-prayer, mid-scream, mid-breath. None alive. None dead.
Karasu flitted across the rafters. "This isn't stasis. It's grief made physical."
Rei's system flared:
[Entity Detected: Sovereign Classification – Morvae, Warden of Unwritten Ends]
[Warning: Emotional Overload Risk High]
[System Resilience Check: Passed]
The room darkened.
And Morvae emerged.
A feminine form draped in mourning shrouds, eyes void of time, voice the whisper between sobs.
"You are not meant to be here," she said. "But you carry pieces of ends that never were. That makes you dangerous."
Trial of the Warden – Faces of Finality
Each member faced a possible ending they had not lived:
Mireille: Alone, betrayed by all, her loyalty having cost her everything. A spirit consumed her from within.
Eirenne: Executed as a traitor, accused by those she once commanded. A pyre that never forgave.
Noira: Slain by her own brothers of faith, praying even as the blade pierced her.
Rei: Lived a life without meaning. No rebirth. Just old age, with nothing but an empty name.
Each one fought not with weapons—but with resolve.
"I chose to live," Mireille cried.
"I deserved my second chance," Eirenne said.
"I broke my chains for others, not for revenge," Noira whispered.
"I earned this fate by living after death," Rei roared.
The Border Collapses
Morvae knelt.
"You have accepted the ghosts of what might have been. You may now shape what will be."
System Prompt:
[Fragment Acquired: Sigh of the Dying Flame]
[Effect: Spirit Evolution Path Unlocked – Deathbound Class Available]
But Morvae did not fade.
She stepped forward, and offered Rei a sealed urn.
"In the end, this will be your only weapon. Not power. Not memory. But mercy."
Rei took it—and felt the border tremble.
Mireille looked at him. "Where to next?"
He answered without hesitation.
"To where truth burns—Vatican's Hidden Vault. The next Sovereign awaits beneath the holiest lie."