The silver flame flickered.
Just once.
A tiny tremor.
Yet Kai felt it as though his heart had stopped.
Since the day he had become Coreless, the silver flame had never wavered.
Not against ancient giants.
Not before the Keeper.
Not even beneath the gaze beyond the heavens.
But now...
It hesitated.
Above the City of Echoes, the colorless eye remained fixed on him.
It had no pupil.
No iris.
Only an endless void.
Wherever its gaze passed, color drained from reality.
The silver towers became gray.
The crystal trees turned to stone.
Even the rain lost its sound.
It was as if existence itself was being declared... irrelevant.
Ashren stepped in front of Kai.
His calm expression was gone.
"You must not let it judge you."
Kai frowned.
"Judge me for what?"
Ashren answered without looking away from the eye.
"For existing."
The words hung in the air.
Then the Hollow Judge spoke.
Its voice carried no anger.
No emotion.
Only absolute certainty.
"Designation: Coreless."
A pause.
"Status: Impossible."
Another pause.
"Verdict..."
The city trembled.
Countless ancient runes hidden beneath the streets lit up at once.
The nameless librarian whispered,
"It's beginning..."
The Hollow Judge finished its sentence.
"...Erasure."
The world turned white.
A single beam of pale light descended from the eye.
It wasn't fast.
It didn't need to be.
Everything it touched simply... ceased to exist.
Buildings disappeared without debris.
Memories vanished without farewell.
Even the air itself unraveled.
The beam was moving directly toward Kai.
The old wanderer appeared before it.
His wooden staff met the pale light.
For the first time...
The staff cracked.
A thin fracture spread down its length.
The old man smiled bitterly.
"So."
"Even old promises have their limits."
The beam continued advancing.
Slowly pushing him backward.
Each step left deep cracks in the silver streets.
"Kai!"
Lyra grabbed his arm.
"We have to go!"
Kai remained still.
If he ran...
The city would be erased.
If he stayed...
Everyone might die with him.
Ashren suddenly placed both hands on Kai's shoulders.
"Listen carefully."
"There are only three beings who have ever carried the Coreless Heart."
"The first..."
"...became the First Ascendant."
"The second..."
He smiled faintly.
"...was me."
Kai's eyes widened.
"And the third..."
Ashren looked directly into his eyes.
"...is you."
The Coreless Heart thundered.
Memories exploded through Kai's mind.
Not complete memories.
Fragments.
Ashren standing beneath a crimson sky.
The First Ascendant laughing while facing an endless army.
Three silver flames burning side by side.
Then...
One after another...
Two flames vanished.
Leaving only one.
The Hollow Judge's beam broke through the old wanderer's defense.
His wooden staff shattered into countless splinters.
The impact threw him across the city.
He crashed through three ancient buildings before finally stopping.
Blood stained his gray robes.
Yet...
He was laughing.
"Hahaha..."
"I haven't been hit that hard..."
"...in eight Eras."
The pale beam accelerated.
Only moments remained.
Ashren took one step forward.
"No."
Kai grabbed his arm.
"You'll die."
Ashren smiled.
"I already did."
Before Kai could stop him—
Ashren walked directly into the beam.
The pale light struck his chest.
For a heartbeat...
Nothing happened.
Then...
The beam stopped.
The Hollow Judge remained silent.
Ashren stood untouched.
The pale light flowed around him as if it couldn't decide what to erase.
The colorless eye spoke again.
For the first time...
There was uncertainty.
"Identity..."
"...Contradiction."
Ashren laughed.
"I told you."
"You never finished judging me."
The entire city shook violently.
The Hollow Judge's eye flickered.
The masked woman looked upward in disbelief.
"It failed?"
"No..."
"It cannot fail."
Ashren looked back at Kai.
His silver eyes were calm.
"I can't stop it forever."
"The Judge only hesitates because it remembers my sentence."
He raised his right hand.
A tiny silver ember floated from his fingertip.
It drifted toward Kai's chest.
"The Heart isn't complete."
"It never has been."
"This..."
"...is my final fragment."
The ember merged with Kai's silver flame.
The Coreless Heart exploded with power.
Silver veins spread across Kai's body.
His eyes became radiant silver.
The heartbeat echoed across the entire City of Echoes.
THUMP!
The Hollow Judge suddenly recoiled.
Its emotionless voice rose for the first time.
"Fourth Pulse detected."
Ashren's smile disappeared.
"...Impossible."
Kai looked at him.
"You said there were only three."
Ashren slowly nodded.
"There were."
The heartbeat echoed again.
Far away...
Beyond the shattered heavens...
Beyond the Keeper...
Beyond the Ninth Era...
Something answered.
A heartbeat.
Older than creation itself.
THUMP.
The nameless librarian's book fell from her hands.
Every page turned on its own until it reached the final one.
Only a single sentence appeared.
The Fourth has awakened.
The Hollow Judge did something no one believed possible.
It retreated.
Without another word...
The colorless eye closed.
The black circle collapsed.
The Veiled Court stared upward in stunned silence.
Ashren, however...
Did not smile.
Instead, he whispered with quiet dread,
"...We were never alone."