---
They fell without sound.
The Redactors—clad in smooth, seamless robes of uninked parchment—descended from the blank sky like falling silence.
Each carried a different weapon:
Scissors forged from severed timelines.
Erasers shaped like hollow cubes that devoured conversation.
And worst of all, lances wrapped in threadbare reality, designed to pierce a memory and delete it.
They didn't attack randomly.
They targeted what mattered.
---
> [World Alert: Redaction Phase Initiated]
Entity Focus: Axis Null (Takumi Arata)
Priority Targets: Shared Memories, Anchor Bonds, Key Milestones
Defense Option: Narrative Weaponization Enabled
---
Lisette shouted from the courtyard wall, "They're heading straight for the bakery!"
Takumi's heart jumped. Not because it was strategic—
But because it mattered.
That bakery was where they first shared food. Where she laughed with him after he broke a mop handle trying to "clean like a samurai." That place wasn't a building—it was a moment.
And the Redactors were about to erase it.
He sprinted.
---
He reached the bakery door as one Redactor stepped inside. Its eraser-blade whirred softly—humming with the intent to remove.
It raised its hand.
The shelves flickered. The smell of cinnamon began to fade.
But Takumi stood still.
He didn't draw a sword.
He drew a sentence.
---
> [Narrative Forge – Combat Clause: Active]
Input 1 Memory → Convert to Weapon (Duration: 5 minutes)
Memory Selected:
"Lisette laughing in front of the bread oven."
---
He whispered:
> "A laugh left behind isn't just sound. It's proof I was here."
And in his hand—
a blade formed.
It wasn't steel.
It was light and ink and warmth.
A weapon made from shared presence.
He lunged.
And slashed.
---
The Redactor reeled back, cloak unraveling.
Its weapon vanished.
And the air around the bakery solidified—the smell returned. The shelves reappeared. Time caught its breath.
---
> [Redactor Neutralized]
Memory Secured: "Lisette's Oven Laughter"
Weapon Expiration in: 4:37
---
Outside, the city screamed.
Redactors dropped by the dozens—cutting names off signposts, silencing alleys. A statue crumbled—not by explosion, but by being forgotten mid-scene.
Lisette fought beside two illusion mages, shielding refugees from being snipped. Every slash of the enemy's blades unwrote a detail—hair color, favorite drinks, old birthdays.
She looked to the sky and shouted, "We can't protect the city with swords! Only with stories!"
Takumi jumped onto the wall beside her.
"We don't need to fight them all. We just need to anchor enough to outlive the edit."
---
They turned.
Back to back.
She touched his shoulder.
He closed his eyes and whispered:
> "Write with me."
---
And together—
they forged a memory.
---
> [Dual Narrative Clause: Activated]
Input: "First time we saw the stars from the old tower."
Weapon Form: Paired Arcblades – Memory-Tethered
---
Twin blades formed—curved like crescent moons, glowing softly with remembered starlight.
Together, they leapt from the wall.
Takumi slashed through a Redactor's mask—exposing the void underneath.
Lisette cut its arm and whispered:
> "We watched the stars here. You can't erase that."
The Redactor cracked.
Then collapsed—into torn parchment and a sigh.
---
> [Redactors Defeated: 12]
Halrion Concept Stability: 87% → 91%
Status: Holding
---
But then, the wind shifted.
The sky tore open again.
This time… they didn't fall.
They rose.
A single entity.
Ten stories tall.
Wearing every scrapped page Takumi had ever denied.
> [Entity Detected: The Archivist]
Title: Keeper of All Forgotten Versions
Status: Final Redactor Class
Speech Detected: "Takumi Arata. You write too slowly. Let me end your draft."
---
Lisette grabbed his arm.
"You're not ready for that thing."
Takumi didn't answer.
Because in his heart—
He was terrified.
The Archivist wasn't trying to erase him.
It was trying to finish him.
And that… was far, far more dangerous.
---
🔹 End of Chapter 22