Eclipse of the Spirit: The Reincarnated Flame

In the hours that followed the assimilation of Azeron, Rei did not speak.

Not to the harem who watched in solemn silence.

Not to the spirits that once pulsed vibrantly within him.

Even Karasu remained muted—perched atop a shoulder that now radiated more than mere heat.

It shimmered with the weight of erasure—

Of memory burned into stillness.

The Nullfire Echo was not simply power.

It was absence turned into form.

When he walked, the air forgot to move.

When he breathed, even time seemed to hesitate.

---

Noira followed him through the snow-slick slopes of the Caucasus descent.

> "Are you still Rei?" she asked.

He paused.

> "I am," he answered. "But I remember what shouldn't be remembered."

---

Grigori HQ — Observation Room Theta

Azazel rewatched the flare signature again.

The spike from Rei's fusion with Azeron had caused every recording crystal in the Vatican to fracture.

Every digital record had rewritten itself into blank hymns.

> "What the hell did you do now, kid…" he muttered.

Shemhazai entered, expression grim.

> "The Choir has issued a soft ban on any intervention in Caucasus airspace.

They claim a 'divine cleansing' is in process."

Azazel frowned.

> "They're scared.

We all are."

He turned toward a floating slate.

> "Still… we may need to prepare for diplomatic contact.

Because if Rei's Nullfire mutates into… something worse…"

He didn't finish the sentence.

Some doors, once reopened, rewrite the house.

---

Shrine of the North Wind — Later That Night

Rei returned.

Footsteps lighter than silence.

Eirenne was the first to approach.

> "Is it done?"

He didn't respond immediately.

His eyes looked to the sky—

No longer searching,

But remembering something it had not shown.

> "Yes," he said at last.

Mireille looked pale.

> "I ran scans while you were out.

You're no longer bound to the Sovereign Threadweb.

You exist outside the map."

> "Not outside," Rei corrected. "Underneath."

He sat, folding his legs beneath the starlight.

> "There's more.

Azeron was not the first.

There are others.

Echoes of flames unrecorded.

Some were rejected by the Sovereigns.

Others never sought them.

But they exist."

Noira grimaced.

> "And now you want to find them?"

Rei closed his eyes.

> "No.

They'll find me."

---

> System Notification

[Nullfire State Achieved.]

[New Module Unlocked: Chronomnemesis]

Function: Interaction with Echo Fluctuations Across Temporal Divergences.

Warning: Not all echoes will be passive. Some will seek dominion.

---

Karasu finally broke his silence.

> "They'll come in different forms.

Some will wear your face.

Others will try to rewrite you from the inside."

Rei opened his palm.

A black-glass flame hovered there, unmoving.

> "I know."

He looked at each of his companions.

> "If you stay with me, we won't just face enemies.

We'll face the forgotten truths of this world—and beyond."

Eirenne nodded without hesitation.

Mireille whispered:

> "Truth is better than ignorance."

Noira smirked, blade resting on her shoulder.

> "I didn't sign up for peace anyway."

Then Rei stood.

And for the first time since the beginning of this journey—

He said not a single command.

Because the world had already begun to bend toward him.

And the next flame to awaken…

Would have no name.