Beyond the Hollow Sun, the path descended and continued to descend. Obsidian replaced brass. The sky turned to smoke. The Abyss was now memory, coiled and waiting, not just layers of beasts and forgotten things.
Raen took the lead.
His footsteps were too loud.
They weren't by themselves.
Ember Vow held her sword close. Jester Wyrm had become unusually silent, hovering over them like a flame-sensing moth. Despair Maw's breathing was shallow and alert, and even its steps were cautious.
This was different from the past.
Here, the Abyss did not snarl.
It observed.
Raen saw a fresh alert blink.
[Entry into the Divine Zone: The Blind Cathedral, Layer 18]
[Warning: Divinely Rank Entity Found]
[Name Unknown: "The God Without Eyes" is an alias]
"This bothers me," Ember whispered. "Just pressure, no sound, no wind."
Raen gave a nod. "Like being inside someone else's head."
The trail led to a cathedral up ahead. Not a house of worship, though. A prison constructed in honor of a god that nobody wished to remember.
Stitched from the bones of creatures too big to understand, it rose impossible in height. Where sunlight never touched, thousands of broken panes of glass glistened. In the middle was a circular altar. All around it were pillars with hollow, gouged-out eye sockets carved into the stone.
It was an obvious message.
Intentionally, this god had been blinded.
Raen entered the cathedral's center.
The world's breathing ceased.
"You abandoned me here."
There was no echo in the voice. Like a blade against bone, it echoed inside him.
Behind the altar, a tall figure appeared.
No eyes. No mouth. Not a face.
Its head was featureless, with a violet-burning crown of thorns.
Raen was aware of it, though.
His hand became icy. The notifications on the system briefly became hazy.
[Recognized Entity:???]
[Emotional Remainder Found: Love | Guilt | Betrayal]
[Bond Type: Prohibited — Death Severs Former Link]
"You were," Raen murmured.
A finger was raised by the figure.
Time broke once more, but not in the same way. No loop. Not a go-back.
His vision was filled with a memory.
—
As the commander of the last legion of the empire, Raen stood in gold armor. A boy, not human, knelt before him. God-blooded. eyes that shine. thin body. A mortal manifestation of a divine weapon.
The boy had begged, his voice shaking, "Don't send me there."
Raen had responded, his blade trembling, "I have no choice."
"Raen, they will forget me. They'll rip my name out of existence.
Raen turned his head away.
and issued the directive.
The boy was restrained. hauled off.
and departed into the Abyss.
—
The memory jolted.
The hand of the faceless god fell.
Raen stumbled.
He was caught by Ember. "What was that?"
Raen muttered, "I... betrayed him." "I cherished him." And in order to win the war, I gave him up.
With wide eyes, Jester Wyrm hovered. "That wasn't a beast. Wasn't that your brother?
Raen remained silent.
The voice of the god reappeared.
"You selected them. Not me.
"I had no idea they were going to erase you—"
"You were aware."
The cathedral started to tremble.
Not with authority. with sorrow.
Despair Maw let out a low howl that sounded almost like tears.
Once more, the faceless god held up its hand.
Thousands of masks featuring various incarnations of Raen's face appeared from the walls. Joyful. chilly. Horrified. dying.
The god declared, "You were all of them." "And I was not selected by any of them."
[Trial Started: Betrayal Echo]
[Goal: Be Unmade or Accept the Price of Memory]
Raen didn't engage in combat.
He got down on his knees.
"You should be angry with me."
The god froze.
Raen's voice broke. I'm worthy of it. However, I'm not a commander here. as your sibling.
He pulled out the Clockmaker's treasure, the Core Gear of Reversal. presented it as a sacrifice.
"I'll revise it. A single second. One injury. One name at a time.
The god shuddered.
And then—Raen noticed a tear.
Not on a face.
However, in practice.
The god's hand went to the equipment.
One last murmur: "Remember me."
[Rekindled Bond: Elyon's Name Recovered]
[Aspect of the Forgotten Flame Added to Arsenal]
[Reforged God of Memory]
The god remained.
He also knelt.
at the feet of Raen.
Reconciliation, not submission.
The cathedral fell silent.
One piece of stained glass remained, and sunlight filtered through it—real sunlight.
Wyrm, the jester, whistled. "So... Are we now gathering gods? That is novel.
Ember gave a small smile. It's appropriate. Raen's regrets always took the lead.
Raen looked around at the others.
"No more forgetting," he declared. "No more abandoning people."
[Complete Memory Integration.]
[Warning: Entity Aware of Raen's Actual Death Inhabits Next Layer]
Raen turned to face the dim walkway outside the cathedral.
"We continue."
Even if it meant confronting the one secret he was most afraid of:
Who was the first to kill him?