For a moment, the fight paused.
Nullaria shimmered—splitting into six forms, each mirroring one of Leon's allies.
But not as they were.
As they might have become if he failed them.
Milim, enraged and berserk.
Roselia, broken and silent.
Naval, twisted into a memory tyrant.
Roman, cold and dead-eyed.
Liliana, void of harmony.
Even Leon himself—lifeless, crown shattered.
He stood in the center.
One heartbeat.
And closed his eyes.
"I've seen these futures," he whispered. "But I chose a different path."
He struck the air.
Wrote the Third Bar.
[3rd Bar Written – Memory Threaded Anchor, Bound by Chainbreaker Logic]
The illusions vanished.
And from the stave, a melody began to play.
A real one.
Nullaria screamed—a soundless, fractal rage.
Its entire form unraveled, then condensed into a singularity of temporal collapse, surging toward Leon with intent to erase his final bar from existence.
Leon reached deep—into his true rhythm.
Not power.
Not technique.
But choice.
