ARC II — "THE FALL OF THE FALSE GODS"
The world had become soundless.
When the ritual began, the color drained from everything — the sky, the ground, even the blood on Kurotsume's hands turned gray.
It wasn't the world anymore. It was a mirror of the lie.
He stood at the center of a floating circle of runes, suspended in darkness.
Vorak floated above him, arms outstretched, a calm smile on his face. The symbols from the Book of Lies spun around them like stars, rearranging themselves into chains of light that wrapped around Kurotsume's chest.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"* Vorak's voice echoed through the void.*
"The truth unveiled at last."
Kurotsume didn't struggle. His eyes stayed half-open, his tone flat. "If this is truth, it's dull."
Vorak's smirk widened. "Still pretending."
The demon hissed within him, "He's binding us! Fight back!"
Kurotsume looked up slowly. "No. Let him finish."
Vorak's aura pulsed once, and for a moment — the illusion deepened.
The gray turned to visions.
Kurotsume saw a boy — himself — reading the Book of Lies. His mother's face, terrified. Soldiers storming their home. The same words Vorak had spoken — about being a vessel, a fragment, a creation.
"See?"* Vorak whispered. "It was always written. You were never free."*
The demon's voice faltered. "Kurotsume, he's… he's inside your mind."
Vorak's tone turned almost gentle. "You were mine before you were born."
And for the first time — Kurotsume blinked.
The ritual chains pulsed brighter. His heartbeat slowed. The runes around him grew louder, whispering, reshaping.
Siel's distant voice screamed his name from the outside world — she couldn't reach him. The space around his body was locked beyond time itself.
Then—
The demon went silent.
The chains cracked once.
And Kurotsume's voice, colder than the void itself, broke the silence:
"If this is your truth…"
A flash of light tore through the illusion. The runes shattered into shards of glass.
"…then I'll destroy it."
Vorak's confident smile faltered. "What—?"
Kurotsume's aura erupted, but it wasn't silver anymore — it was pure white.
Time stilled completely. Every fragment of the illusion froze midair. Even Vorak couldn't move.
The demon's voice returned — but warped, layered, calm.
"He broke it… he broke the mind chain."
Kurotsume's eyes opened fully now — twin rings of silver and white spiraling endlessly, like galaxies collapsing in reverse.
He raised his hand slowly, and the illusion reacted to him — the symbols bending, kneeling, rearranging into a pattern of his own design.
Vorak snarled, trying to reassert control. "Impossible! That power doesn't exist—"
Kurotsume's voice was quiet. "No… it didn't."
A faint smile crossed his face — no rage, no effort, just inevitability.
"You wanted to awaken me. You just didn't realize…"
He stepped forward, and the illusion cracked like glass under his feet.
"…you gave me the key."
The demon's tone grew reverent. "The dormant one… you've awakened the [REDACTED] form."
Vorak staggered back, his eyes wide. "That can't be… you can't access that power—!"
Kurotsume tilted his head, his voice a whisper. "Your lies made me stronger. That's the curse of truth — once you twist it enough, it becomes mine."
The ritual collapsed, the void splitting open — and the real world returned in a burst of light.
Rain poured again, but it evaporated the moment it touched him.
Vorak stood across the field, his armor fractured, aura flickering.
He realized too late — his spell hadn't subdued Kurotsume. It had unlocked him.
Siel stared from afar, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
"What… what are you now?"
Kurotsume looked over his shoulder, his eyes glowing faintly through the smoke.
"Not what he made me."
He turned back toward Vorak, calm and terrifyingly composed.
"I'm what comes after."
The demon whispered with a satisfied grin. "Rebirth complete."
And as Kurotsume took a step forward, the earth cracked beneath him — his presence alone bending gravity, burning away the remnants of Vorak's ritual.
Vorak whispered under his breath, "He broke reality itself…"
Kurotsume's faint smirk returned.
"You should've read your own book more carefully."
The battlefield trembled once more — the war had truly begun.