The next sign of the Broken Gods came not through maps or whispers—but in dreams.
Takeshi's rest was broken by a vision: a field of glass stretching into infinity, where fire flickered across mirrors that reflected not light, but memory. At the center stood a statue cloaked in ash, weeping molten tears.
He awoke covered in frost, despite the still-burning embers of their campfire.
Selene had felt it too. "The next Broken God… dreams through the mirrorlands. If we follow the ash winds, they'll lead us there."
Guided by Niraxis and Varron, the group traveled through a realm of quiet desolation—forests turned to glass, rivers flowing backward, skeletons of titans wrapped in vines of soot. The further they went, the more Takeshi felt his memories slipping. He clung to the Codex, writing down faces, names, moments.
Then, they found it.
The Mirror Sanctum, a ring of towering reflective spires that pulsed with echoing whispers. In the center stood the third god—Ashkaris, the Memory-Furnace.
He was not asleep.
Ashkaris stood with no eyes, his face a mask of smoldering cracks. His voice boomed, not aloud, but within:
"To tame me is to forget yourself. Will you offer memory in exchange for power?"
One by one, each companion was tested.
Fyria forgot her name. Elira forgot her father's face. Haiku lost all his poetry.
And Takeshi? Takeshi was offered a choice: forget his world, or remember and lose all bonds formed in this one.
He did neither.
He wrote. On his arm, on stone, in the Codex. He anchored himself with words and ink.
"I don't have to choose. I remember for them."
Ashkaris stepped forward, placing a burning hand on Takeshi's forehead.
[New Pact Formed: Ashkaris, Memory-Furnace – Bound Form]
As the others' memories slowly returned, Ashkaris collapsed into a glowing core. Takeshi cradled it in his hands.
"Three gods now walk with you," Selene murmured. "But the last does not sleep, dream, or weep. He waits."
Above, the skies cracked with thunder.
The Fourth was waking.