The divine sword fell from the sky like a sun carved into steel
The third Reaper caught it midair
Its cloak ripped apart by raw force
Wings of code and light burst from its back
Not feathers
Data
Each feather a line of judgment
The blade wasn't summoned
It was sealed
Until now
The Reaper fused with it
Body vanished inside the weapon
And the sword floated midair
Pulsing
Breathing
Then it spoke
A voice Azel hadn't heard since the first war
You abandoned me
Azel froze
Not fear
Recognition
I know that voice
The sword spun slowly revealing fragments of a face across its surface
Shifting memories stitched into crystal
A child
A teenager
A man
A monster
All the same person
Echo stepped beside Azel
Who is that
Azel's voice dropped
The first I trained
The one who was supposed to inherit everything
My bloodline
My legacy
Sera's hands trembled
Then why's he here as a weapon
Azel didn't blink
Because he died
Fighting me
The sword pulsed again brighter this time
You killed me because I chose power
And I came back
To finish what I started
The divine sword fired a single line of code
It split the earth in half
The Sovereign Core shook wildly
Cracks appearing for the first time
Azel moved fast
Caught the fracture midair and stitched it with a reverse rune
But the damage was done
This sword
This Reaper
This soul
It wasn't just here to delete him
It was here to replace him
The system doesn't want to erase Kael'Naros
It wants to overwrite him
Echo's face went cold
Then we cut the update at the source
Azel nodded
This isn't just survival anymore
This is memory versus manipulation
He stepped forward toward the sword
His blade spun once
Then locked into a reverse grip
Let's finish what we started
Old student
Old mistake
Old brother