The shrine wasn't there.
It wasn't hidden.It wasn't locked.It wasn't even part of the map.
It was... waiting.
Kazuki felt it the moment Seravex fell.
A system pulse, echoing from nowhere:
[FINAL SHRINE INITIATED][Location: You]
He found the entrance inside himself.
Literally.
The moment he said "/open", the world folded inward.The trees disappeared.The dirt vanished.
He was standing in a space made of echo light and pure potential.
Before him stood a door.Simple. Wooden. Cracked down the middle.Held together by guilt.
He stepped through.
And there he was.
Not glowing.Not broken.Not rewritten.
Just... Kazuki.
As he would've been.
If he'd followed the rules.
The other Kazuki looked up, sitting on a bench like he'd just been waiting for this meeting since Volume 1.
"You're late."
Kazuki laughed softly. "I was busy punching God."
Other-Kazuki nodded. "He deserved it."
They didn't fight.
They sat.
And talked.
About what could've been.
What should've been.
What was.
"You were supposed to be the failsafe," the clean Kazuki said. "Not the firestarter."
Kazuki looked away. "Failsafes don't work when the system is already broken."
Other-Kazuki stood.
"You're a threat now."
Kazuki didn't deny it.
"I know."
Other-Kazuki held out a hand.
A file. Not digital—pure story. Unwritten chapters. Potential timelines. What would happen if Kazuki reset it all right now.
"I could help you fix it. You just have to undo the Rewrite."
Kazuki took the file. Read the endings.
Peace.Order.Safety.
And loss.
All of it... built on silence. On obedience. On things never questioned.
Kazuki handed the file back.
"I'd rather burn."
The final shrine shattered around them.
The world shook.
System broadcast across all planes:
[FINAL SHRINE: DELETED][CYCLE: TERMINATED][REWRITE: IN PROGRESS]
Outside, across cities, dungeons, temples—every screen blinked red:
"Kazuki has deleted the Final Shrine.""There is no reset now.""There is only what comes next."
Kazuki stepped out of the void, alone again.
The ground felt lighter.The sky looked tired.Everything was a little bit too quiet.
And far away, the Loopless stood on a rising tower of abandoned code.
Kazuki.exe smiled.
"He did it.""Now the world can die properly.""Let's begin."