The Hollow Kin surrounded Yuto, silent and watching as he laid the Sovereign Core on the stone altar within the Vault.
It pulsed with a low, ancient rhythm—like a heart that forgot how to stop beating.
"We've handled cores before," said one Kin with an exposed brain case. "But this one… it's not dormant."
Yuto winced. His body still ached from the escape. He could feel the residual code-burns laced along his threads.
Nyx's tone was different. Quieter. Awed.
[Analyzing…]
[Sovereign Core Identity: Fragmented Consciousness Detected]
[Origin: "Seraphiel, God Candidate No. 17"]
[Warning: Conscious cores may attempt integration or override.]
"You're saying it's still sentient?"
[Affirmative. It remembers.]
The Core flared suddenly. Not in heat, but in presence.
Yuto stumbled back.
The world blurred.
And he was no longer in the Vault.
He stood in a silver field under a sky stitched shut with golden thread.
A single being hovered before him.
A shape of wings without body. Eyes without face. Sorrow without sound.
"Who dares steal my end?"
Its voice was genderless and vast, like an opera echoing across dimensions.
Yuto stood his ground.
"My name is Yuto. I didn't steal your death—I saved what was left."
"Lies. You came for power. Like all who come crawling to what remains."
Yuto's threads flickered in defense. But he didn't attack.
"Maybe I did. But I'm not like them. I know what it's like to be broken. To be cast out."
There was silence.
Then—
The Core-being, Seraphiel, drifted closer.
"A Final Boss… born from failure. How poetic."
It extended one glowing wingtip to Yuto's forehead.
[Synchronizing… Matching Code Traits… Anomaly Accepted.]
[Sovereign Core Integration (Partial) Successful!]
You have gained: "Core Whisper" – A mental link to Seraphiel's fractured mind.
You may access one Divine Trait at a time from the Seraphiel Archive.
Current Trait Accessed: "Light Rejection" – Become intangible to light-based attacks for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 90 sec.
Yuto gasped as he was jolted back into his real body.
The Hollow Kin leaned in.
"What happened?"
"You're glowing, trickster."
"It… it spoke to me," Yuto whispered.
"It chose to live. Through me."
Later, in the quiet of the Vault's edge, Nyx spoke again.
[Caution advised. You now carry a proto-divine echo in your code.]
[If the System detects Seraphiel's signature… they won't send Watchers.]
[They'll send Reclaimers.]
Yuto stared at the Core now floating near him like a ghost moon.
"Let them come," he said.
"I'm done hiding."
"If I'm going to be the Final Boss, I'm taking godhood by force."