The Consort Threads page hung open in the sky like a wound that would not close.
Six empty slots floated under the heading:
PRISMATIC EMPEROR — CONSORT THREADS
Two were already marked.
LING XUEYAO — CROSSED OUT.[UNKNOWN] — CROSSED OUT.
Qi Shan Wei stared at the second slot.
His face stayed calm.
But his Prismatic Heart ring beat harder, like it was angry that the name was hidden.
The Ice Phoenix spirit hovered near him, wings trembling. "That second slot… it should not be blank," it whispered. "If the Record is showing the slot, the name exists. It is only being covered."
Shan Wei nodded slightly.
"Covered by Bell law," he thought. "Then I remove the cover."
He lifted one hand and drew a new glyph in the air, slow and clean. It was made from two things fused together:
Prismatic resonance.
And the stolen Bell system proof Yuerin's shadow-self had delivered.
The glyph looked simple.
But it was sharp.
THREAD AUDIT: FORCE REVEAL.
He pressed the glyph toward the sky.
The Consort Threads page trembled.
The second crossed-out slot shook like it was being pulled open.
A single pale letter began to appear.
Just one.
A thin line, like the start of a name.
The sky chimed.
Not loud.
But warning-heavy.
A bell sound like a judge tapping a table.
Then the Silent Bell monk's voice returned, gentle and cold at the same time.
"You are digging into forbidden pages," it said softly. "Stop."
Shan Wei's eyes did not move away from the slot.
He answered in a calm voice.
"You crossed them out," he said. "So you do not get to call this forbidden."
The monk's voice sighed, almost sad.
"You are stubborn," it said. "Then let me offer you mercy."
The Record shifted slightly.
A new line of pale law text formed above the six slots:
OPTION: THIRD SLOT CORRECTION.PRICE: ONE CONSORT THREAD REMOVED.
Yin Yuerin's blood turned cold.
"No," she whispered. "He's threatening to cross out a third slot to break him."
Xuan Chi's hands shook. The frost moon behind her flared, then calmed again. Frozen law scars crawled across the ground like white veins.
"They want to make him choose," Xuan Chi whispered. "Choose who to lose."
Zhen's forbidden Sentinel frames clicked softly as they strained. His core light flickered in his chest, dull and tired, like a heart that was breaking but still trying to beat.
Drakonix lifted his head and growled. The pale chains around his wing tightened again, biting deeper.
His eyes were burning.
He looked up at the six slots and made a small, furious sound—like a child beast angry at the sky.
The monk's voice continued, still smooth.
"Submit your Name Anchor," it said, "and we will stop. Refuse… and we correct a third slot."
The Record waited.
The world waited.
Qi Shan Wei did not move.
He did not look at any slot like it was "more important."
Because in his mind, this was not a game.
This was theft.
So he answered the threat like an Emperor.
"I do not bargain with thieves," Shan Wei said.
His voice was quiet.
But it hit the tomb like a hammer.
The monk's tone hardened slightly.
"Then you choose pain," it said.
Shan Wei's eyes narrowed.
"I choose truth," he replied.
Then he moved.
Not with a sword swing.
With a formation.
He placed his Heavenpiercer Ruler on the ground and drew a circle again—bigger than before—then added a second circle inside it, then a third.
Three rings.
Three layers.
Three meanings.
OUTER RING: PROTECT THREADS.MIDDLE RING: REVERSE BELL COMMAND.INNER RING: REVEAL HIDDEN NAME.
The rings lit up in seven colors.
The Ice Phoenix spirit trembled.
"That's not normal," it whispered. "He is building a law room inside the tomb."
Shan Wei's calm voice answered the spirit without looking.
"I'm building a court of my own," he said.
Then he pressed his palm to his chest.
His Prismatic Heart ring pulsed.
A prismatic wave spread out again—not wide like before, but focused, like a spear made of meaning.
It struck the Consort Threads page.
The second crossed-out slot shook harder.
The pale letter trying to form became clearer.
It looked like an "M."
Yuerin's breath caught.
Xuan Chi's eyes widened.
"An M…" she whispered. "Who starts with M?"
The monk's voice turned colder.
"You will not see it," it said.
A bell sound rang.
The third slot correction line began to glow.
A third slot—empty until now—started to form a faint outline, like the Bell was choosing a target to erase next.
Yuerin's hands clenched.
She looked at Shan Wei.
She wanted to tell him to stop.
But she knew he would not.
Because if he stopped, the Monastery would keep erasing.
Forever.
So she did what she always did.
She moved first.
A Thousand Masks assassin flashed in from the side, trying to strike Shan Wei's allies while the sky threat distracted them.
His blade aimed at Xuan Chi's back.
Not fair.
Not honorable.
Just a murder hidden in chaos.
Xuan Chi did not turn.
She didn't see him.
But her Lunar Frost scars felt the contract's movement.
Her moon line rose on its own, like a silent guardian.
Xuan Chi's hand twitched.
The moon line cut.
It did not cut flesh.
It did not cut bone.
It cut something else.
The assassin's contract.
A clean white line passed through the air and sliced the glowing contract ink wrapped around the assassin's wrist.
The assassin froze.
His mask tilted like he was confused.
Then his blade dropped.
Not because he wanted to.
Because the contract that gave him "permission" to kill had been cut away.
For one breath, he was just a man again.
A man full of karmic debt.
The debt rushed back into him like a flood.
He screamed.
His body shook.
He fell to the ground, coughing black smoke.
Xuan Chi's voice trembled, but she spoke clearly.
"I… I cut the rule," she whispered.
Yuerin stared at her, stunned.
"You just did something the Monastery hates," Yuerin murmured. "You cut law without their bell."
Xuan Chi swallowed hard.
Her frost moon behind her stabilized again.
A little more.
Drakonix growled, proud and angry.
Then he snapped at the wing chains again.
He didn't break them.
But he refused to be still.
Zhen's Sentinel frames clicked louder.
His core flickered.
A warning line flashed across his chest:
CORE CRACK: EXPANDING.TIME REMAINING: LOW.
Yuerin's throat tightened.
"He's breaking himself for us," she thought.
She swallowed the pain and forced her voice calm.
"Zhen," she whispered, "hold for a little longer."
Zhen answered, blunt, half asleep.
"HOLDING."
Then he shifted one step forward like a wall that could not choose to fall.
—
Inside the Silent Bell title chamber, the monk watched the Record flicker.
The second slot's letter "M" had formed.
His gentle mask slipped again.
Because this was not supposed to happen.
He lifted his bell bracelet and whispered.
"Third slot. Now."
The bell chimed.
The third slot on the Consort Threads page began to glow, as if a hidden hand was about to write a new crossed-out mark.
But before the mark could land, Shan Wei's Name Anchor formation flared.
The stolen proof inside it lit up like a blade.
Shan Wei's eyes sharpened.
He spoke one calm word.
"Reverse."
The Bell Echo Reverse glyph burned.
The pale command line in the sky trembled.
Then, for one breath, it read itself backward.
The third slot correction stalled.
The monk's voice snapped, sharp now.
"You dare!"
Shan Wei's voice stayed quiet.
"Yes," he said. "Because you showed me the rules."
Then he pushed his Force Reveal glyph again.
Harder.
The Consort Threads page shook like it was being ripped open.
The second crossed-out slot flickered.
The "M" became brighter.
Then a second letter started to appear.
Just a thin curve.
Like an "e."
Me—
Shan Wei's Prismatic Heart ring slammed like a drum.
His eyes widened slightly.
A memory flashed inside him—soft and warm—like the smell of spring flowers.
A girl's hands shaking over a furnace.
A gentle voice saying, "I'll try again."
His jaw tightened.
His voice stayed calm, but colder than ice.
"Mei…" he whispered.
The monk's voice turned deadly.
"Stop," it said.
Shan Wei lifted his eyes to the sky.
"I won't," he said.
And at that exact moment, Drakonix let out a hard, wounded roar.
Not a long roar.
A short one, like a beast biting pain.
A tiny prismatic feather burned out of his wing—more like a spark than a feather.
It floated into the air, glowing.
A small "wing key."
The wing chains trembled as the feather touched them.
For one breath, one link loosened.
Drakonix's eyes widened.
He felt it.
A way out.
But the price was clear.
His wing bones glowed hotter.
He was bleeding flame from the inside.
Yuerin's eyes narrowed.
"Little menace," she whispered, "don't kill yourself."
Drakonix made a tiny angry sound, like he was saying, I decide.
The sky trembled again.
The Consort Threads page flashed.
And the second crossed-out slot suddenly tried to show the full name.
But the Bell system fought back.
The slot glitched.
The letters broke.
The name twisted.
And a new line appeared under the slot:
ERROR: MEMORY SEA BLOCK.SOURCE: SILENT BELL MONASTERY.
The Ice Phoenix spirit shuddered.
"They sealed her name inside a memory sea," it whispered. "A place where names drown."
Shan Wei's eyes turned cold as death.
He understood the cruelty now.
They weren't only crossing names out.
They were hiding them in places where even love could forget.
He looked at the six slots.
Then he spoke one calm vow that felt like a blade being sworn.
"I will open their Memory Sea," he said. "And I will pull every name back."
The Record chimed once, heavy and deep.
Like it heard him.
Like it was afraid of him.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.