I. Silence on Blood
Dawn had fallen upon the remains of the Eight Vertices. From the top of Natsuya Bridge, Akihiko looked down upon the wounded city. Edenfall had never been so close to physical collapse. Smoke rose in straight lines, like burnt prayers.
"The enemy has not yet shown its true face... only its teeth." Lirea muttered.
The survivors of the confrontation with the Veiled Clan were trying to regroup. The Siege had destroyed three of Edenfall's internal defense pillars. The North Rim Response Headquarters was no more. Communication lines were cut. And worse: the enemy had left a warning.
A word written in blood on a collapsed wall: "REBORN."
II. The Man with the Iron Voice
In the underground area of Nihzō Ward, where the infrastructure was older, an unexpected broadcast emerged. The screens lit up by themselves. A hooded figure, wearing a mask reinforced by vocal tubes, spoke in a voice that sounded like a mix between a drum and rusty metal.
"The history of Edenfall was written in the wrong blood. Your structure is an echo of a lie. The Founder lives. And his judgment begins today."
It was Nizarh Okuro , the new leader of the Veiled Clan. According to the databases, he was an urban myth: a man who had been the first assassin of the original Throne, and who disappeared after the events of the Breath Purge .
The fact that he was alive, and leading a forgotten mafia, made him an existential threat.
III. The Crimson Archive
After recovering a central archive server, Lirea and Naeya discovered a set of encrypted files: the Crimson Archive . Inside were hidden records about the founding of Edenfall. Deleted testimony, footage of early experiments with powers, and one constant figure: a faceless man with a curved katana, watching from the shadows every stage of the city's growth.
That man was Nizarh .
"He's not here to destroy Edenfall. He's here to undo it from its foundation. From its origin."
The revelation shook Akihiko. For the first time, he felt like his enemy knew more about the place he swore to protect.
IV. The Ruins of the Founder's Heart
Guided by coordinates leaked by the hacker Stryx , the team traveled to the Founder's Heart Ruins , an ancient bunker sealed for over 80 years. It was said to house the first Void Council: a group of individuals who sought to merge soul, flesh, and technique to create the ultimate protector.
But what they found was an abandoned lab with bodies floating in capsules, and a single cell still active… with a man inside.
"I... was the first Akihiko," he said, raising his face. He had the same eyes. The same seal on his back. But older. More hurt.
Reality twisted. Time became a snake biting its own tail.
V. The Combat of the Two Vaciologists
The imposter—or perhaps the original—broke the seal on his cell and attacked. He was more technical. More cerebral. His mastery of the Void was surgical.
The real Akihiko could barely keep up. Each blow felt like a correction. As if the past were trying to rewrite the present.
"You weren't born free. You were born to continue what we couldn't finish. And now... your story too will be denied."
But Akihiko didn't back down. He activated his new technique: Pulse Memory Slash , where each movement evoked a lost memory of those who fought for him.
With that living memory, he defeated the old man.
VI. The Founder's Awakening
As the clone died, a voice emerged from the walls. The bunker partially collapsed. And at the far end, an elevator began to activate on its own. Inside: a man without eyes, without tongue, without hands. Suspended by cables. Breathing through machines.
Nizarh Okuro.
"Now... the reversal begins ."
The Founder had awakened.
END OF CHAPTER 200