The battlefield sang with fire and memory.
Minwoo stood in the center of the Hollow Nexus, surrounded by pulsing Forgebrand pylons. Around him, the Revenant Choir screamed in dissonant harmony—seven-winged horrors of forgotten divinity, each woven from undone prayers and the breath of dead stars.
But the Forge answered.
And so did the flame.
Wave One: The Silent Hymn
They came without footsteps—hovering wraiths of glass and breath, each one shaped like angels whose halos had been broken. They struck with blades of memory, trying to pierce into the minds of the defenders.
Kael held the western front, his solar lances illuminating the air with rapid, blinding flares. "They're not attacking bodies—they're cutting history!"
Lira shouted from the high perch: "Then shoot them before they rewrite us!"
Minwoo surged forward. The Riftblade flared, not in aggression—but creation. He slashed the air—and rebuilt what they tried to erase. The flame flickered into the outline of Jin, who had just been struck and flickered from view—
Forgebrand Echo Activated: Jin's Afterimage Reforged
Jin blinked back into reality, panting. "They tried to write me out like I was a footnote."
Minwoo's eyes burned. "Then let's rewrite them."
Wave Two: The Dirgebringers
Floating monoliths carved from Sovereign scripture. They opened like flowers and sang with voices that caused weapons to melt and bones to forget how to fight.
Tarn struck first, his voidbow piercing the nearest monolith. The arrow phased through—but where it passed, time unraveled.
"You can't kill them," Yassa called, eyes glowing. "You have to unlisten to them."
Minwoo held up the Crown, its resonance pulsing.
And then—
New Ability Unlocked: Flamewright Sigil – Unwrite
Target an enemy bound to scripture, prophecy, or fate. Temporarily remove their existence from the current cycle.
Minwoo pointed at the lead Dirgebringer. The Crown hummed with defiance. "Not today."
And the creature vanished—its hymn cut off mid-note.
Wave Three: Wings of Reversal
Six enemies. Each moved in reverse—as if reality was a loop they had already won. Every strike they made had already happened unless intercepted by will.
Kinro roared overhead, chasing two of them through a sky full of gravity shards. Minwoo and Jin moved together, blades spinning like mirrored flame.
Selene activated Chrono-Surge.
"You wanted time?" she growled. "Here's a storm of it."
New Combo Skill: Riftbreak Synchrony – Selene & MinwooTemporal blades lock enemies in Now. All reversed movement negated. Echo paths severed.
Within seconds, three of the reverse-walkers dropped, convulsing as time caught up to their immortal flesh.
Wave Four: The Choir of One
They merged.
Seven became one.
A titanic figure made of ash and memory, towering above the Hollow Nexus. A single wing on its back—not feathered, but made of shattered cycles.
It reached toward the Heartforge Beacon.
Minwoo knew what it was after.
The flame.
"Minwoo," Varya called over the rising storm, "If that thing touches the Forge—you won't just lose your power."
"You'll lose the origin of it all."
Minwoo closed his eyes.
And lit the sky.
ULTIMATE ACTIVATED: Phoenix Foundry
The battlefield reformed.
Fallen allies stood again, not reborn, but re-remembered.Burned ground turned into mythsteel.The Choir's hand froze.
Minwoo raised the Riftblade—and pointed it at the giant.
"You want the fire?"
"Then burn in the truth of what you made me."
The Phoenix above the battlefield screamed—not in pain, but in defiance.
And it descended.
Wave Five: Sovereign Echo Detected
As the Choir staggered—
—A new figure arrived.
Clad in Sovereign warplate, forged from folded timelines.
Xereth the Chrono-Architect.
"You were not meant to live past your first breath," he snarled. "You are not heir. You are an accident."
Minwoo stepped forward, eyes glowing with Crownlight and flame.
"I'm not an accident."
"I'm the answer."
⚔️ Boss Battle Begins: Minwoo vs. Xereth the Chrono-Architect
Objective: Survive Timefray Assault (3 cycles)
Bonus: Trigger the Forge's hidden memory
Failure: The flame will fracture
The sky darkened. Time cracked.
Xereth raised his Chronoscourge.
And the First War began again.