The sky cracked.
It was faint—a whisper of thunder that didn't belong. The world shifted like a painting melting around the edges. Something ancient had stirred… something watching.
Riku sat alone at the edge of the ruined crater where Drogall had fallen. His sword had vanished. The Origin mark pulsed quietly, like a second heartbeat beneath his skin.
He wasn't tired.
He was thinking.
"You've surpassed them."
Valen's voice broke the silence. She walked toward him, her usual confidence now tinged with caution.
He looked up. "I don't feel like I've won anything."
"You defeated a Warden-class Reborn. You didn't even die. That shouldn't be possible."
"I'm not supposed to follow the rules."
"Right…" She hesitated. "You think the gods will just watch you do this?"
Riku didn't answer.
That night, while the others slept in the hollowed-out sanctuary of an old battlefield tower, Riku walked alone—guided by a strange pull in his soul. A whisper. A dream. Or maybe… a memory.
The wind carried a strange tune, and then—
He saw himself.
A figure stood beneath a dead tree, cloaked in shadow, wearing a smooth white mask etched with spiraling runes—the same Origin mark on Riku's chest. His presence didn't trigger threat or fear. It felt… familiar.
Riku reached for his weapon—but the figure raised a hand.
"Don't."
"I am not your enemy. I'm what you used to be."
Riku narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you?"
The masked one tilted his head.
"I am your soul… before the goddess touched it."
Riku's breath caught.
"Impossible."
"No. You were not summoned here randomly. You were chosen because your soul broke the system long before you died the first time."
"They tried to erase me—but you carried the echo."
The wind howled. The world flickered around the edges again.
"You weren't given the Origin Path, Riku. You are the Origin Path."
"The goddess didn't create your potential. She feared it."
Riku stepped forward. "Why tell me this now?"
The masked one stepped closer too—until only a blade's length separated them.
"Because something beneath this world is waking. Something the gods sealed to keep souls like ours from ever truly awakening."
"It's called the Sealed Core. The heart of the system. The source of all death-power cycles. It's calling to you."
"And once you find it… you won't just break the rules."
"You'll rewrite reality itself."
Lightning split the sky.
The masked figure vanished, leaving behind a single item: a fragmented crystal, cracked but glowing with the same Origin spiral.
Riku picked it up.
It pulsed—once—then sank into his palm.
From the tower above, Valen called out. "Riku! Something's wrong! A new portal just opened!"
He looked up.
In the sky: a vertical slit of violet light opened like an eye. From it, a voice roared:
"ORIGIN DETECTED. CLEANSE INITIATED."
Three massive forms descended—cloaked in gold and storm.
The Celestial Sentinels had arrived.
End of Chapter 10
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Chapter 11 (Preview)
— Riku faces the first Sentinel and begins to feel the unlocked functions of the Sealed Core crystal? Or want to explore the backstory of Lirith and why she summoned Riku specifically?