The silence in the hall seemed to suffocate everyone.
Celestine stared at the First Inquisitor.
He remained standing before the door, holding the small golden blade.
— You gave the order to kill Aelira? — Celestine asked.
— Yes.
Edran tried to stand.
— You bastard...
The First Inquisitor did not even look at him.
— You fulfilled your part, Edran.
— I didn't do it for you.
— You did it because you were afraid.
Edran clenched his fists.
Celestine noticed the tension between the two.
— So you two were working together.
The First Inquisitor smiled.
— For a while.
Seraphina stepped forward.
— You destroyed everything.
— No.
He looked at her.
— I simply did what had to be done.
— You killed innocents.
— Sacrifices.
— You destroyed Aelira!
The man became serious.
— Aelira was dangerous.
Celestine tightened her grip on her sword.
— Dangerous to whom?
He looked directly at her.
— To those who created this world.
Celestine froze.
The Void pulsed inside her.
He's hiding something.
— You know the creators.
— I do.
— Then tell me.
The First Inquisitor began walking slowly across the hall.
— Aelira discovered a truth that no one was supposed to know.
— What?
— That the Void was not a force created by the gods.
Celestine frowned.
— Then where did it come from?
The man pointed toward the floor.
— Before Aureon existed, there was only the Void.
The hall fell silent.
— The creators found this force and tried to control it.
Seraphina continued:
— And created Aelira to serve as a vessel.
— Exactly.
Celestine placed a hand over her chest.
— Then I...
— You inherited what remained of her.
Celestine took a deep breath.
— And Ayumi?
The First Inquisitor looked surprised.
— So you've already begun recovering that memory.
— Answer me.
— Ayumi was the intermediate life of your soul.
Celestine closed her eyes.
Quick images appeared.
A street.
A train station.
Rain.
A girl running.
Ayumi.
She saw her own face.
Felt her own sadness.
And then darkness.
When she opened her eyes, tears were streaming down her face.
Leonhardt approached.
— Celestine...
She wiped away the tears.
— I'm fine.
The First Inquisitor watched.
— You shouldn't be recovering those memories so soon.
— Why?
— Because each life left something inside you.
Celestine frowned.
— What?
— Aelira left the power.
— And Ayumi?
He smiled.
— Humanity.
Celestine froze.
— Explain.
— Aelira was powerful, but she began to lose the ability to understand ordinary people.
He looked at her.
— Ayumi corrected that.
Celestine felt her chest tighten.
— So my life as Ayumi wasn't meaningless.
— No.
The man replied.
— It was precisely what made you different from Aelira.
Seraphina became serious.
— Is that why you wanted to kill her?
— No.
He looked at Celestine.
— I wanted to prevent the Void from finding a complete soul.
— Why?
— Because a complete soul could do something no creator ever managed to do.
Celestine tightened her grip on her sword.
— What?
The First Inquisitor replied:
— Rewrite the world.
Everyone fell silent.
Leonhardt looked at Seraphina.
— Is that possible?
Seraphina replied:
— It shouldn't be.
The First Inquisitor smiled.
— But now it is.
Celestine felt a pressure inside her chest.
The Void was reacting.
Don't listen.
She closed her eyes.
— You want to use my soul.
— I do.
— For what?
— To destroy this world.
Celestine opened her eyes.
— Then it won't happen.
The First Inquisitor raised the golden blade.
— You still don't understand.
A mark appeared on the floor.
The magical circle began to glow.
Seraphina immediately recognized it.
— Everyone, get out of the circle!
Too late.
A wave of energy swept through the hall.
Celestine fell to her knees.
The Void inside her began to scream.
Don't let him in!
— What's happening?
Seraphina tried to reach her.
A golden barrier appeared.
— He's trying to separate your soul!
Celestine felt terrible pain.
Memories began to escape.
Aelira.
Ayumi.
Celestine.
The three lives were being pulled in different directions.
— No!
She clutched her head.
Leonhardt tried to break through the barrier.
— Celestine!
The First Inquisitor watched calmly.
— Finally.
Edran, still lying on the ground, raised his head.
— You don't understand what you're doing.
The man looked at him.
— I understand perfectly.
— No.
Edran began to laugh.
— You think you can control the Void.
The First Inquisitor became serious.
— I can.
— You can't.
Edran pointed toward Celestine.
— She is no longer just Aelira.
His smile disappeared.
— She is something none of us can control.
Celestine heard those words.
Something inside her changed.
The voices became clearer.
Aelira.
Ayumi.
Celestine.
They were not three people fighting over her body.
They were three parts of the same story.
Aelira gave her strength.
Ayumi gave her humanity.
Celestine gave her choice.
She opened her eyes.
A golden light appeared in one.
A black shadow appeared in the other.
The First Inquisitor took a step backward.
— No...
Celestine stood.
The barrier shattered.
— You made a mistake.
The man froze.
— What?
Celestine raised her sword.
— You thought I would need to choose between my lives.
The Void enveloped her body.
— I don't need to choose.
The golden energy merged with the black.
— I am all of them.
The First Inquisitor attacked.
Celestine blocked.
The impact destroyed part of the floor.
She spun.
Her strike hit the enemy's chest.
He was hurled against a wall.
Leonhardt smiled.
— That's our Celestine.
The First Inquisitor stood.
His face was covered in blood.
— You...
He looked at Celestine with genuine fear.
— You completed the soul.
Celestine walked toward him.
— Yes.
He stepped backward.
— Then the world is lost.
Celestine pointed her sword at him.
— No.
— You don't understand.
— I understand enough.
She took another step.
— I don't want to destroy this world.
The First Inquisitor fell silent.
— I want to protect it.
Suddenly, a roar shook the castle.
The walls trembled.
Everyone looked upward.
Seraphina went pale.
— No...
Celestine turned.
— What is it?
— The seal.
— The Abyss's seal?
Seraphina nodded.
— It's breaking.
Edran's eyes widened.
— This can't be happening.
The First Inquisitor smiled.
— Finally.
Celestine looked at him.
— You knew?
— I knew it would happen.
— When?
He replied:
— When your soul was complete.
Celestine felt a chill.
— So that's what you wanted.
The First Inquisitor spread his arms.
— Exactly.
A massive shadow appeared above the castle.
The sky turned black.
The roar of the Abyss echoed throughout the entire region.
Celestine raised her sword.
— Then let's end this.
Seraphina looked at her.
— Celestine...
— I won't let the Abyss destroy this world.
The Void answered inside her:
Then we'll have to return.
Celestine became serious.
— Where?
Where it all began.
She looked toward the castle window.
In the distance, a vast forest stretched all the way to the horizon.
And beyond it was a place Celestine had never seen.
But Aelira knew it.
Ayumi didn't.
And now Celestine was beginning to remember.
The Temple of the Void.