The sky didn't just crack. It shattered. Like glass slammed by the force of a soul that refused to remain buried.
Above the Sanctuary, where the heavens once held steady and the clouds moved like whispers through time, a jagged red wound tore through reality. The breach pulsed like a heartbeat. And from it, a figure descended—limbs too long, bones outlined beneath pale, silvery flesh, eyes made of burning void.
It was Liam.
Or rather, something that wore his face.
But the women who stood below knew better.
Lyra was the first to react. She didn't scream. She didn't freeze. She simply moved—grabbing Yui by the arm and yanking her backward into the shade of the inner tree, shielding her as the Spiral-spawned Liam descended.
"You see it too," the creature said. "Don't you?"
Its voice was Liam's. Not just in tone—but in cadence. The same softness. The same inflections. But hollow. Twisted.
"You see what he could've been. What he still is. Buried somewhere beneath that oh-so-noble self-sacrifice."
Artemis appeared next to Lyra in a blur, blades drawn, eyes narrowed. "He's not you."
The creature grinned. Its teeth were too sharp.
"I was the first," it whispered. "The original. You're all living in his lie."
Lightning split across the breach above, striking one of the outer white trees. It didn't burn. It bled.
Yui shivered in Lyra's arms. Her fingers clutched the fabric of Lyra's jacket like a drowning girl grabbing a rope.
"He's inside me," she whispered. "Still. I can feel him laughing."
Liam's voice—his real voice—broke through the system, speaking to all of them at once, echoing through the soulbond like a wave of heat and cold.
"That's not me."
But even his voice trembled.
The thing floating above them wasn't a mere imitation. It was a part of him—what remained from the Liam who had surrendered to the Spiral in one of the many fractured timelines. It had survived collapse, hitched a ride through Yui's soul, and now stood on the edge of freedom.
"I offered peace once," the creature said, hovering lower. "You rejected it. You ran. You fought. You killed me. And what did it earn you?"
It looked directly at Lyra now.
"Another war."
Then it smiled at Artemis.
"Another betrayal."
Then Ava.
"Another broken promise."
The women didn't flinch.
But each of their bonds vibrated with tension, with unspoken pain, with memories that refused to die.
Naomi stepped forward, her broken wrist still bound in temporary synthbone, the bloodstains on her clothes not yet washed.
"You're just a shadow," she said. "A memory we didn't ask for."
The creature tilted its head. "And yet… here I stand. Whole. Beautiful. Stronger than ever."
Then it descended further—its bare feet touching the Sanctuary ground.
And the grass beneath it withered.
Echo snapped her fingers once.
Every defense protocol activated.
Turrets emerged from the perimeter wall, glowing blue. Spiritual wardings surged to life, forming layered domes of translucent energy. The trees bent backward, forming a barrier around the heart of the Sanctuary.
But the creature didn't even blink.
"I've already been here," it said. "Since the moment Yui arrived. You're not defending yourselves… you're burying yourselves alive."
It raised its hand—and the soul-lantern above the center tree shattered.
A scream tore through the spiritual link.
Liam's voice vanished.
Everything turned cold.
Too cold.
In the silence that followed, it was Yui who spoke.
Her voice was quiet. Raw. Laced with something ancient.
"You killed all of them in my world," she said. "Even the ones who didn't resist. Even the ones who loved you."
The creature turned to her.
"I loved you, too," it said softly. "That's why I chose you. To carry me forward. So I wouldn't be alone in the next world."
"I'm not yours," Yui said. "I never was."
"Liar," it replied. "I raised you. I fed you. I saved you from the Spiral. And now you'd rather die with these broken ghosts than return to my embrace?"
Artemis threw the first blade.
It sank into the creature's chest—and vanished.
No wound. No blood.
But it paused.
Then smiled again.
"Still sharp," it said. "But predictable."
Echo launched a sonic destabilizer. Vira hurled a spear of molten iron forged from the White Tree's rootstone. Naomi discharged a pulse cannon laced with anti-Spiral resonance. Ava summoned six overlapping barriers around the creature, trapping it within a sealed dome.
It let it happen.
And then…
It laughed.
One by one, each barrier flickered—and shattered.
The creature stepped forward.
The Sanctuary shook.
Yui screamed.
And then she collapsed.
The soulspace opened again.
And Liam stood alone.
Not the fractured, dying presence they'd seen before. This time, he was whole—clad in a spectral version of the armor he wore in life, his eyes glowing with defiant gold.
And across from him stood the other.
The shadow.
The God Seed.
Their faces were the same.
Their bodies mirrored.
But one burned with conviction.
The other with corruption.
"You always hated yourself," the shadow said.
"I forgave myself," Liam replied.
"No. You ran. Hid behind your harem. Your sacrifices. Your tears. But you still dream of power. Of domination. Of control."
Liam said nothing.
The shadow stepped closer.
"You and I were never that different. We both craved love. We both hated failure. We both did what we had to."
"But you gave up," Liam whispered.
The shadow tilted its head.
"No. I evolved. I accepted what you still deny. That love is weakness. That these women will never understand what it takes to survive eternity."
"They already do," Liam said. "They chose me."
The shadow smiled.
"Then let's see how many of them are still standing when this is over."
Yui awoke in the Sanctuary's inner chamber, surrounded by the harem.
She sat up, blood running from her nose.
"He's severed Liam from the link," she gasped. "He's going to overwrite him."
Lyra was pale, her hands covered in blood from trying to stabilize Yui's pulse moments before. "We won't let him."
"You can't stop him physically," Yui said. "You have to fight him from the inside."
Echo's eyes flickered. "Dream link protocol."
Ava nodded. "We can inject ourselves into the shared soulspace."
"It's never been done with this many people," Maya warned.
Lyra stood.
"Then let's make history."
Seven women.
Seven bonds.
They entered the dream together.
And arrived in a place none of them recognized.
A spiral garden.
Dark trees.
Ash instead of grass.
And two Liams locked in a battle of will and memory.
They rushed toward the real Liam, forming a ring of light around him.
The shadow hissed.
"So many hearts," it whispered. "So many anchors. All ripe for plucking."
Then it struck.
But this time, they fought back.
Not with blades.
With memories.
Lyra poured the warmth of her first kiss into the air.
Artemis, the night she nearly died and Liam whispered her back to life.
Ava, the moment she first realized she could trust him.
Naomi, the pain she let him see.
Vira, the laughter he brought.
Maya, the hope he gave her.
Echo, the name he gave her when she had none.
Each memory slammed into the shadow like a hammer.
And it began to crack.
But then it screamed—and lashed out with its own memories.
The night it watched his entire harem die.
The moment he sacrificed a child to preserve time.
The time he begged a god for power—and was laughed at.
The spiral twisted around them all.
And the link began to tear.
Then Yui stepped forward.
She stood between both Liams.
And said nothing.
She simply reached out.
And touched both of them.
And for a moment…
The shadow stopped.
Its face softened.
Its body dimmed.
It looked at her—and something behind the void shimmered.
Then…
It shattered.
Into thousands of fragments.
Gone.
Silence.
Then Liam opened his eyes.
Whole.
Awake.
Returned.
Back in the real world, the breach above the Sanctuary closed.
The sky healed.
The white trees straightened.
And Yui collapsed into Lyra's arms, weeping.
"I let him in," she whispered. "But I chose you."
Lyra stroked her hair. "You're one of us now."
Liam's voice returned—loud, clear, warm.
"Thank you."
Then he laughed—real, pure, human.
And for the first time in weeks…
They all breathed again.