Chapter 10: The Day Reality Bled
It started with a scream.
Not human.
Not beast.
But something between.
The sky split.
Like someone tore open a wound across the clouds.
Dark light spilled from above.
Students froze mid-step.
Some pixelated.
Some shattered into data.
Some bled... backward.
We ran to the rooftop.
Airi stood there—arms spread—
hair floating, eyes glowing with mirror-light.
But something was wrong.
Too perfect. Too still.
Not Airi.
"She's been replaced," Ishigami muttered.
"That's not Airi. That's a memory wearing her face."
The real Airi lay behind her, unconscious—
her heartbeat flickering.
Then she spoke.
The fake-Airi. The voice of Reina Akasumi.
"I am the future you rejected."
"So now, I will erase tomorrow."
The school trembled.
Reality bent.
Classrooms floated in the air like islands.
Desks flew. Students levitated mid-scream, frozen in moment-loops.
The Void opened fully.
A sea of black tendrils surged upward.
And from the rift...
a creature stepped through.
Ten wings of ink.
A crown of hollow time.
Its name burned across the sky:
"The Unwritten King"
[Void Titan-Class Entity – Threat Level: EX-Ragnarok]
Nolan's voice pierced my mind.
"You have one choice left."
"Unlock the final seal—Void Level Four."
"But the cost is your name, your soul, and your place in this world."
I looked at Airi.
She stirred. Eyes fluttered.
Tears slipped down her cheek.
She whispered, "Don't leave me, Hiragi…"
I had no time.
Either I lost everything to destroy this thing—
or I saved her and risked the world.
I made my choice.
I sprinted forward.
[Void Pulse Eyes: Full Sync]
[Black Vein Shift: Reverse Overflow]
[Void Form: Soul Reclaimer – Stage 2]
But I didn't open the final seal.
Instead—
I focused my power into Airi.
Light burst.
Her body levitated.
The real Airi awakened—and she screamed.
[Voidborn Counterbalance: Dual Core Awakening]
She and I fused our resonance.
Two hearts. One pulse.
Together, we attacked.
I targeted the Titan's shadow.
Airi struck its soul-echo.
Suguru rode in on a flying rice cooker, screaming.
Ishigami reprogrammed the sky into a bomb.
Final impact.
The Titan shattered—screaming in reverse.
Reina's echo disintegrated.
And the void...
Closed.
Aftermath.
The school was gone.
Only a crater remained.
Only we survived.
I stood in the ruins.
Airi leaned on me, whispering:
"You didn't become a monster."
I looked at my mark.
The final seal still intact.
Nolan's voice, distant now, spoke one last thing:
"Good. That means your story isn't over yet."
Arc 1: Complete