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Shadows in the Ruins
The old battlefield was silent.
No grass grew here—only stone, ash, and bones bleached by time. Serian stood at the edge of the crater, the wind pressing against him like a weight.
This was where the three souls had once clashed in another life.
He saw it now—not just through visions, but as if he had been there. Because he had.
> "This was our grave," he whispered. "And our beginning."
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Fragments of Memory
He stepped forward, and the air shimmered.
Suddenly, the world warped—time peeled back. He stood in the memory of a past war. His younger self, the original Hero, raised a blade against the Demon Lord.
She didn't look like the clone.
She looked… scared. Betrayed.
And behind her, in chains, was the Third Soul—bound, silent, tears streaming down her face.
> "Don't do this," she had whispered back then.
But he had.
Serian collapsed to his knees.
> "I was the villain…"
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Back in the Present
He jolted awake in the ruins, gasping. Blood ran from his nose.
Lira grabbed him by the shoulders.
> "What happened?"
He looked at her—not as Serian, not as the clone of a god—but as a boy terrified of the truth.
> "I killed her," he whispered. "I loved her… and I killed her."
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Meanwhile: The Hero Clone Hunts
At the edge of the capital, the Hero clone and his party faced a monstrous chimera.
He was reckless. Brutal. And his companions noticed the change.
> "You're not yourself," one whispered.
He didn't respond.
Because every beast he slayed, every swing of his sword—it was to silence the screaming in his mind.
And still, her voice echoed:
> "You're not real."
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Demon Lord Clone's Rising Faith
In the orphan city, the Demon Lord clone knelt before an altar made of obsidian.
The children lit candles.
A vision had come to her in a dream: the Third Soul bathed in moonlight, speaking her name with affection.
> "My flame. My sword."
She knew then—this was her mission.
Not to become the Demon Lord.
But to bring back the Forgotten Queen.
> "The time is near," she told the orphans. "When she rises, so shall we."
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The Third Soul Watches
From the mountain's peak, the Third Soul stared down at the continent.
Her power pulsed through the air.
She saw them all.
> The Hero clone—cracking.
> The Demon Lord clone—devoted.
> Serian—awakening.
She smiled.
> "Let the second war begin."
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