Chapter 19
After the sparring match everyone had gone to their respective homes but for Renji he couldn't shake the feeling he felt in the hall
And later that night ... The moon was glaring with warmth and the night was calm, too calm.
Renji stood on the rooftop overlooking the sleeping city, hands in his pockets, his hoodie fluttering lightly in the breeze. The lights below pulsed softly, ignorant of anything beyond their fragile rhythm.
What was that feeling? That same feeling hadn't left.
That wrongness.
"…You can come out now," Renji said quietly.
The air behind him folded. Not torn or shattered
It just simply made room.
Ash-colored light spilled across the rooftop as a woman stepped forward, her long coat flowing like smoke frozen in time. A hood shadowed her face, and the moment she arrived, the sounds of the city dulled...like reality itself had decided to listen instead.
Renji didn't turn at first.
"You're bad at sneaking," he said flatly.
"I wasn't trying to hide," she replied. Her voice was calm, layered with something ancient. "I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice."
Renji turned.
For the first time in a long while, his instincts didn't scream fight.
They whispered one thing observe.
"…so that's how it is you're not from this world," he said.
"No," she answered. "I'm from before this world even learned how to name itself."
Silence followed.
You felt something didn't you?.
Renji's eyes narrowed. "So that was you."
"No," she corrected. "That was you."
The words settled heavily.
"…Explain."
She stepped closer. The rooftop lights dimmed further, shadows bending subtly toward her presence.
"When you move," she said, "reality notices. When you restrain yourself, it resists. And when you stop holding back..."
Her gaze met his.
"You leave marks."
Renji let out a quiet scoff. "If you're here to lecture me, you picked the wrong night."
"I'm here because if you keep walking the way you are," she said evenly, "you'll awaken things that even you won't enjoy fighting.. you're countless battles has awakened something that even you can't fandom"
The wind stilled.
"…You talk like you know me."
"I know what you are," she replied. Renji's expression hardened. And what do you think I am?"
She raised her hand.
This is what will happen to your world when you fall
The world shifted and for a heartbeat, the city fractured into overlapping layers...mana draining instead of flowing, shadows moving independently of light, ten distant silhouettes watching from beyond reality itself.
Then it was gone, Renji didn't move.
"what was that ?…was that an illusion."
"No," she said. "That was a warning."
He let a thread of his power surface..not aggressive, but present. The air tightened.
"so you show up uninvited," he said, show me my future, and expect me to just listen?"
"No I expect you to survive," she answered calmly.
"Because if you fall, your world will follow
Renji stared at her.
"…Who are you?"
She lowered her hood...just enough. She was of divine beauty that made even Renji's eyes wide open
Her eyes were not radiant.
Not glowing they were endless,it was like pitch black with of dots like stars
Your eyes I recognize those eyes
"My name is Elyra," she said.
"Daughter of Tyrak. Guardian of the Paradox Prison."
Renji froze.
For the first time that night, his composure cracked.
"…Tyrak?" he repeated quietly.
His gaze sharpened.. he smiled briefly.. I knew I recognized those eyes.
Tyrak..
"If you know me," he said slowly, "then you know I killed your father."
The air waited and brushed aside Elyra didn't flinch
Or react at all.
"…I know," she said, Renji frowned. "And?"
She met his gaze without hatred..without grief.
Don't get me wrong Januza son of Arin
I was born before you were even born but I was taken away from my earthly mother
Renji eyes twitched then spoke, "sooo you are a demi god?"
Elyra starred at Renji then smiled " yes I'm a demi god but he was a fool, Elyra continued evenly.
"For trying to upset the balance of reality."
Facing your mother and still didn't learn even after been given a second chance and eventually ended up facing you it was always inevitable the fool will die.
And then silence followed
The silence that followed was heavier than any killing intent.
Renji studied her, searching for anger.
There was none.
"…That's it?" he asked. "No revenge?"
"No," Elyra said simply. " I exists only for Balance.
"As you know gods are the fractions of their name you are the god of destruction, and so you destroy and erase concepts, your brother the god of corruption, your mother the god of creation and rebirth and I the god of balance.Balance matters more than blood."
She stepped closer again, ash-colored light faintly curling around her presence.
"I did not come here for vengeance, Januza or Renji."
She looked past him, toward the sleeping city.
"I came because you are becoming what my father failed to understand."
Renji's jaw tightened. "And what would that be?"
She spoke the words exactly...unchanged.
"When the Echoes reach your world," Elyra said,
"you'll understand why gods fear what they create."
"And I'm here to give you a choice before the universe takes it away."
The wind returned, uneasy now.
Renji exhaled slowly.
"…You really think I'll listen just because you showed up and dropped a name?"
"No," Elyra replied. "I think you'll listen because you already feel them."
She turned her eyes skyward.
"The Echoes are coming. Not because of prophecy. Not because of hatred."
Her gaze returned to him.
"But because power like yours bends existence toward conflict."
"…You keep saying their name," he said quietly.
"The Echoes."?
His eyes stayed on Elyra. who or What are they?..
For the first time since she arrived, Elyra didn't answer immediately.
She turned her gaze outward, toward the sky toward something far beyond it.
They are demons, she said at last.
From another realm. A universe that is not tied to our creation.
Wait... This are
Renji's brow furrowed slightly.
"They don't belong to this reality," she continued. "They were never meant to exist within its laws."
Meaning they were creations of another god like your mother
So all what you might have heard is true their are other 11 gods equaled to your mother in strength!!
She looked back at him.
"And yet...they drank the blood of the gods who created these laws "
My father your mother and the other gods that sat in Olympia!!
Renji's expression sharpened.
"…The blood of gods?" i don't understand how come I never knew this before..
Elyra nodded once.
"Your mother told you about the Tree of Life, didn't she?"
The tree of life and rebirth
The source of the gods' immortality… and their reincarnation.
Renji didn't hesitate.
"Yes," he replied. "It's located in in the shadows of Olrox. When I faced the gods, I had to sever their connection to it."
But it was thanks to the blessings of my mother that I had the rings to sever their connection..
Elyra's gaze narrowed ..not in suspicion, but in confirmation.
"Then you already understand more than most."
She stepped forward slightly, her presence pressing down on the air.
"The gods use their own blood to nourish the Tree of Life," Elyra explained.
"The more divine blood it consumes, the more it expands."
Her voice remained calm, but the implication was not.
"And the more it grows," she said, "the more power it returns to those bound to it."
Renji's jaw tightened ,..so you are saying power feeds power??
"Yes," Elyra said. "And blood is the currency."
She turned again, and the space behind her shimmered faintly in an echo of distant memories.
"Long ago, there was a war," she continued.
"A lasting one. Between the angels of Olympia… and demons from another creation."
Renji felt the shift immediately.
The name carried weight.
"The angels believed they were invincible because of the blessings of the gods ," Elyra said. "They were wrong."
Her voice darkened.
"The surviving demons discovered the Tree of Life."
Renji's eyes widened slightly.
"They drank from its blood," she went on. "Not once. Not briefly. They consumed it."
Her fingers curled slowly.
"They became stronger. Faster. Mightier than anything the angels had ever faced."
The air felt colder.
"And in a single sweep," Elyra said quietly,
"they eradicated the angels of Olympia."
Renji inhaled sharply.
"They consumed them," she added. "And in doing so...gained even more power."
Then...
"Your mother," Elyra said. Renji stiffened.
"She descended into Olrox alone," Elyra continued and she stopped them effortlessly."
Renji closed his eyes for a brief moment.
That sounded like her.
"But," Elyra said, her voice tightening, "they were no longer ordinary demons."
She met Renji's gaze again.
"They had drunk the blood of gods, a substance not tied to their own laws.
"And that made them something else."
She paused. "Neither alive,Nor dead."
They became limbos
Renji felt something crawl down his spine.
"They could not be killed," Elyra continued.
"They could not be erased."
Her voice dropped. And hey became Echoes.
The word seemed to linger in the air, vibrating faintly.
"And so, they were sealed within the Paradox Prison."
Renji frowned. The paradox prison.
where time itself is useless," Elyra finished.
"A never-ending loop. No beginning. No end."
She clenched her fist. But they adapted
Renji's eyes narrowed how can they adapt it's impossible
"For thousands of years," Elyra said, "they evolved inside that prison. They stopped being individuals."
Her voice grew heavier.
"They became a legion."
She turned fully toward him now.
"Each consciousness gave birth to new consciousnesses. They merged. Split. Consumed one another.
Her eyes hardened.
"Until they stabilized."
Renji already knew what was coming.
"How many?" he asked.
"Ten," Elyra said.
Ten primary Echoes, each with its own will," she continued, eachof them with its own way of thinking."
Her jaw tightened.
"They learned to adapt to time itself."
Renji's fist clenched and then they broke out. Yes Elyra said quietly.
She didn't soften it.
"They reached a level close to my own," she continued.
"Nearly housing the same power as a demigod."
Renji exhaled slowly.
"…And you?"
"I couldn't take them all," Elyra admitted.
But I captured two and completely binding them in my father's domain
She looked past him, toward the horizon.
And so that leaves eight."
Her gaze returned to Renji...sharp, unwavering.
Eight Echoes,somewhere in this universe...