The Vault changed.
Not visually. Not structurally.
The change came in the air — a tension that pressed against thought, memory, and instinct. The Seed pulsed harder now, like it recognized something nearby had made a choice.
The Warden raised one hand.
Not in aggression.
But in grief.
"If you touch the Seed," it said, "he will remember."
The Rotkin Alpha's claws flexed.
"Then let him."
The Warden moved.
No warning. No burst of speed.
Just… gone.
Then reappeared behind the Alpha, palm extended, striking across its echo rings in one perfect motion.
The Alpha staggered — not from pain.
From memory.
[Rotkin Trait Disturbed: Echo Pattern Fractured]
[Veilbound Warden – Class Unknown | Technique: Echo Phase Interruption]
[Warning: Entity Can Sever Connection to Origin Thread Momentarily]
The Alpha recovered instantly. It spun, rotlight spiking outward in a flare that melted the air between them.
The Warden didn't block.
It split.
Its form broke into three afterimages — Elian's face in each one, young and broken, smiling with sadness.
"I remember his first death," they said in unison.
"He begged the system to erase it."
"And when it refused… he erased himself."
The Alpha lunged.
One afterimage vanished on contact — a hollow shell.
The second struck from behind — fingers slipping into the Alpha's back, pulsing with system rejection.
"He was kind once."
The Alpha roared.
"He isn't now."
It retaliated — a whip of rotlight lashing outward, carving into the second form, ripping it in half.
The third did not run.
It stood in front of the Seed.
"He will curse you for this," it said.
"Not because you failed…"
"But because you succeeded."
The Alpha paused.
Then drove its claw through the Warden's chest.
[Entity Breach: Veilbound Warden – Core Compromised]
[Memory Anchor Unstable]
[Seed Pulse Spiking – Elian Connection Re-established]
The Warden staggered.
Still standing.
Still bleeding.
And smiled with Elian's first face.
"I held this for him…"
"Because I knew what he would become."
It collapsed.
Ash. Thread. Memory.
Gone.
The Alpha turned to the Seed.
Stepped forward.
Touched it.
And the world…
shook.
Far from the Vault, standing at the Rotwrought Beacon, Elian gasped.
Not from pain.
From something worse.
A memory not triggered…
Returned.
[Devil's Core Reacting]
[Soul Echo Sync: 53% → 56%]
[Origin Layer Link: Reconnected]
[Seed Retrieved: Personal Fragment (1/7)]
Elian fell to one knee.
And whispered a name no one had heard in years.
Not his.
The name he had before the system rewrote him.