The storm above Solmereth had not broken.
It churned—a dark belly of clouds, thick with heat and waiting. Rain hovered like a held breath. Thunder rumbled without lightning.
Beneath that sky, a young man in crimson rags staggered toward the High Temple gates.
One eye swollen shut. One hand missing.
The guards saw him. Raised weapons.
Then stopped.
He wasn't armed.
But he was smiling.
They recognized the mark burned into his shoulder: a sun wrapped in chain.
The Revenant's brand.
They dragged him to the Temple Hall, past golden pillars and marble angels. Into the chamber of High Priest Varion, who regarded him from beneath his veil of light.
The boy fell to his knees. And with a voice ragged but clear, he spoke:
"He sits on a throne of bone."
"He holds your name in his mouth."
"He is coming."
"He does not want peace."
"He does not want forgiveness."
"He wants the gods to bleed."
Silence.
Then, he collapsed.
Not dead.
But empty.
Elsewhere — the eastern citadel of the Order of Light
Celianne stood on the balcony overlooking the training grounds. Soldiers moved in formations below—blades glowing with divine charge, banners whipping in the wind. She could see their death dates now. Numbers trailing behind every man and woman like fading smoke.
It didn't scare her anymore.
She was learning to use it.
A voice behind her:
"Your Grace. He's surfaced. The Crimson Order marches."
Celianne turned slowly.
Her eyes were no longer soft.
They were mirrors.
And inside them, the gods stirred.
"He was my brother," she said.
"Now he's a wound in the world."
"And I've been sent to close it."
Back beneath the Hollow Market...
Leonis stood on the chapel's balcony, overlooking a sea of armed rebels and revenants. The city above was unaware—for now.
But they would hear it soon.
The Collector stood beside him, holding an iron scrollcase etched in forgotten language.
"Do you know what you've done?" he asked.
Leonis answered, voice quiet but final.
"I started the war no one dared admit we were already in."
And far away, in a place no map marked, a name vanished from the Book of Eternal Flame.
A god's name.
Burned out.
Erased.
And replaced with two words:
System Breaker.