The riverbed was dry. Cracked earth spread beneath Rei like scars on old skin. He sat cross-legged in the dirt, sweat sliding down his temples, his chest heaving as if he'd swallowed fire. His hands trembled as he pressed them over his sternum.
The fragments of God Enso weren't quiet. They tore through him like shards of lightning, jagged and relentless. One moment his veins burned hot, the next they froze like ice. His teeth ground together. His head pounded.
But he stayed still.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Every time the shards flared, he forced his body to stay calm. His muscles begged him to lash out, to scream, to punch the earth until it broke apart under him. But rage was what had betrayed him before. Rage made him reckless. Rage made his power unstable.
So he fought the storm with silence.
Minutes became hours. Hours bled into the day. The sun crossed high overhead, shadows shifted, the air thickened with heat. Still he sat, holding back the chaos in his chest, forcing it to pulse in rhythm with his heart.
By nightfall, the fragments had steadied. They hadn't healed...they were still broken, still incomplete...but they weren't tearing at him with every beat anymore. They pulsed like embers instead of fire.
And beyond that wall, he felt Raga. Waiting. Silent. The presence of death lingered like frost on the back of his neck.
Rei's jaw tightened. His fists curled until blood smeared his palms.
"I don't need you."
No answer. No laughter, no mockery, no threat. Only silence. Somehow worse than words.
He rose. His legs wavered, his body swayed, but he didn't fall. He picked up the Blade of Resolve and strapped it to his back. His shoulders ached under the weight, but he didn't care.
The climb up the cliffs was slow, each step biting into his muscles. His body screamed for rest, but rest was no longer part of him. His lungs burned with every breath, but he forced air in and out, steady, unshaken.
At the top, he reached the edge. The land stretched wide beneath him—dark forests, silent plains, rivers catching the faint glow of the moon. The sky hung endless above, stars scattered like shattered glass.
Rei lowered himself onto the rock. The blade rested across his lap. His arms ached, his back stiff, his knuckles split open. He didn't close his eyes.
The training hadn't been for the Elders. Not for their blades. Not for their tricks. It was for this: to build a body that wouldn't collapse the moment he carried his true power. To make sure when the Black Sun came, his body could hold the weight of destruction.
His voice was low, but steady enough to cut the silence.
"I'll wait here. Come. All of you. I'll destroy you."
The wind pushed against him, cool and sharp, but he didn't move.
The stars wheeled above, and Rei sat at the cliff's edge with the Blade of Resolve across his knees, refusing sleep, refusing rest, staring at the sky.