As Raizen prepares to confront the Endbringer, he calls upon the spirits of those who have fallen throughout his journey. The souls of fallen allies provide him with strength, wisdom, and the hope needed to push forward.
The world had fallen silent in the wake of the final war drums. The stars above no longer shimmered — they waited, unmoving, as though holding their breath for what was to come. Raizen stood alone atop the obsidian cliff that overlooked the abyss, the place where the Endbringer would soon fully awaken.
Below him stretched nothingness: a dark sea of swirling void, rippling with the remnants of broken time. Even the air felt old here — like it belonged to a different age, a forgotten one. His companions were gone, scattered across the torn seams of the world to protect what remained. But Raizen knew he would not face this moment truly alone.
He closed his eyes. The Crown of Shadows, now dormant at his side, pulsed faintly, not with power — but memory. Raizen touched it.
And the souls came.
One by one, they appeared from the folds of light and shadow, like lanterns igniting in the dark.
First came Ayra, his childhood friend, whose laughter had once made the darkest days bearable. She smiled, her form shimmering, not with sadness — but pride."You were always meant to carry us," she said. "But not without us."
Then General Kaen, his first great enemy turned greatest teacher. His armor clinked softly as he knelt beside Raizen."I fell trying to stop you. Now I rise to help you end it."
More followed — dozens. Then hundreds.
The exiled priestess who died protecting the map to the Hollow Throne.The rebel pirate whose dying wish was to see the stars again.The silent swordsman whose final strike had saved the crew once long ago.All those who had fought beside him, and even those who had fought against him, but had in their hearts sought the same truth: freedom.
They came from every shadow, every memory, and stood beside him — not as ghosts, but as legacy. As truth.
Raizen dropped to one knee, overwhelmed by their presence, the sheer emotional weight of what they had given, what they still offered.
"I failed so many of you," he whispered.
"No," Ayra said, stepping forward. "You carried us. Now let us carry you."
And then, something changed.
The Crown of Shadows lifted into the air on its own. Not dark, but radiant — for the first time in its cursed history. It glowed not with the hunger of power, but with the warmth of purpose. The souls flowed into it, not to be consumed, but to empower. To become the light within the dark.
Raizen rose, his body bathed in a gentle brilliance, a contrast to the yawning chasm before him. His scars faded. His burden did not. But it was shared now.
The Endbringer stirred. The void pulsed. It was coming.
Raizen looked into the abyss, and the abyss — for the first time — looked afraid.
With the voices of the fallen behind him, he took his first step into the final descent. Not as a god. Not as a tyrant.
As the last soul still standing.
END OF CHAPTER2