"That wouldn't work—not for you. You're the one soul in this empire doomed to remember every pain you have ever known." He took a step closer, his gaze steady. "…But that curse only counts for suffering, doesn't it? The pain… the wounds carved too deep. You don't just remember them—you relive them. Again and again. Like a phantom blade, never dulling. Never healing."
"One of the black rooms was breached," Akira said quietly. "The Third."
The Emperor froze.
"A scroll was taken," he continued, his tone unreadable. "And whatever was written on it… it didn't just disappear. It moved. Left traces. Set something in motion that was never meant to wake."
"Because of that breach, someone managed to lay hands on what was inside. The things meant to stay buried. The truths meant to sleep forever." He paused, then added, voice barely above a whisper, "What no one should ever remember… was disrupted."
"It would've been another catastrophe," he murmured. "A destruction even the gods couldn't have halted. And that was from just one door being opened… If all seven were unsealed—"
The Emperor's hands clenched, the blood rising fast to his face. "Who told you this?!"
Akira exhaled, his voice tightening like a thread stretched to its limit.
"That person who caused it…" he stepped forward, "he told me."
The Emperor's eyes widened—but before he could speak, Akira slowly turned away, eyes opening with the weight of something long buried.
"The one who caused it… was me," he said quietly. "The crown prince who stands before you now."
Silence cracked through the chamber.
The Emperor's hand lifted instinctively but it halted mid-air, trembling slightly before retreating. His voice, when it came, was low and bitter.
"You shouldn't have chased after this," he said, his voice heavy with finality. "You've awakened a suffering your soul had once sealed away. And now… by remembering it, you've recalled the very mistake that began it all… the mistake that turned your blessing into a curse." He stepped back, gaze unreadable. "And now, you'll never forget it. It will stay with you, tearing through you again and again, just like the memories that still haunt you… the ones you've never truly escaped."
Akira's lips parted, but no sound came at first. His breath caught tangled somewhere between defiance and dread.
"…Was it ever a blessing?" Akira asked quietly. "Or just a burden wrapped in prophecy?"
The Emperor didn't answer. His silence stretched sharp, suffocating.
Akira's head tilted slightly, his voice calm but edged with something darker. "Still… how was I able to cross the barrier? Your Majesty said it was impossible. That no one remains with knowledge of what lies beneath. And yet—now I do. Doesn't that make me a threat?"
The Emperor's gaze narrowed. His reply was cold, immediate. "Who said you a threat?"
A pause.
"You are more than just a threat."
Akira remained silent, lips parting slightly in a breathless stillness.
"This isn't the end of it," he murmured, tone shifting. "If one room was breached by me, the others—"
"They must not be," the Emperor cut in, his voice suddenly fierce, eyes flashing. "What sleeps behind those seals cannot face the light again. The first was a crack. The next will be a storm—violent enough to swallow the world whole."
"Then teach me to stop it… Or kill me before I open another door."
The Emperor turned sharply, the motion swift almost violent. His gaze locked onto Akira's closed expression, fury barely contained beneath the surface.
"You think I haven't tried?" he said quiet, but like thunder buried in ice. "You think I haven't stood over you, blade drawn, wondering if ending you would end this?"
Akira's breath caught but he didn't move.
"I've watched this curse devour you since the day you chose to take it," the Emperor continued, voice fraying at the edges. "And every time I thought about severing you something stopped me."
He stepped forward again, and for the first time in years, his hand rose—hesitant, almost trembling. Then it landed softly, deliberately, against Akira's cheek.
"Was it because you're my son?" he murmured. "No…"
His fingers lingered there for a breath longer before pulling back like the touch had burned him.
"It's because you're the last piece of her," he said finally, the words edged with something raw. "The only part of her you couldn't burn… was you."
He exhaled through his nose, sharp and bitter. "And besides… what could I do, when even the heavens chose you? When creation itself bent toward you as if it had already decided your fate—long before I ever had the chance to stop it? But don't mistake that restraint for mercy, Akira."
Akira stood silent for a long moment, the weight of the Emperor's words settling like dust in the sanctum.
"You were just afraid. Afraid to lose what little of her was left. So, you let the empire make the choice you couldn't. You let them crown me… a curse and called it divine—because it spared you from having to kill me yourself."
The Emperor's gaze snapped to him, sharp as glass.
A silence fell. Then, quieter, but no less pointed,"I understand… but tell me one thing."
The Emperor's eyes narrowed, wary. "What?"
Akira placed a hand over his heart, tone shifting—no longer just bitter, but edged with something deeper. Anger wrapped around pain like a blade in velvet.
"That the main seal… was carved into me. Into my heart. Not hers."
The Emperor froze. His breath caught in his throat as a chill sweat began to bead along his brow.
"What are you saying…?"
Akira stepped closer, shadows playing along the angles of his face.
"Then tell me," he said. "Why did you kill them?"
The room dropped into stillness, heavy and suffocating.
The Emperor's fury surfaced fast, masking the tremor of what he'd just heard. His eyes narrowed, and he took a step back instinctively.
"You don't understand what you're saying—"
"No," Akira interrupted, stepping forward, fury beginning to show through the cracks. "I understand more than you ever wanted me to. You hid the truth. Buried it in ashes. And then you killed them—knowing I was the one bearing the seal." His voice dropped, ragged with restrained betrayal. "Why? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL HER! WHY DID YOU WIPE OUT EVERYONE? WHEN IT WAS—"
Slap.
The crack of it echoed through the sanctum like a whip. The Emperor's palm had struck across his cheek, the ring he wore slicing skin with a flash of red.
Akira's head turned with the blow, his expression unreadable. The thin cut vanished in an instant, sealing without a trace.
The Emperor's hand trembled. His eyes widened not at the wound but at the way it vanished. As if some old horror had awoken.
He struck Akira again—another sharp slap across the cheek. The skin split, briefly. Then vanished. Gone, as if it had never happened.
Without a word, he reached for the blade strapped beneath his arm, unsheathing it in clean motion.
And then—slash.
The blade arced across Akira's chest. Blood bloomed only to pull back into the skin a heartbeat later. The gash sealed shut, steam curling from the skin as it healed in seconds.
The Emperor took a step back, his grip tightening on the blade. As if something he'd long buried… had just confirmed itself.
"…Why is it healing like that…" the Emperor whispered, his voice barely audible beneath the weight of what he'd just witnessed.
His eyes locked onto Akira, a storm rising behind them. "Akira, what happened to you? Why are your wounds sealing that fast? You're like a—"
Akira's voice cut through the silence, with an edge that hollowed the air between them.
"The seal inside me has weakened."
A beat passed.
"The powers of the Fallen Supreme… once sealed are starting to leak through. It's the effect of it."
The Emperor stood frozen, the blade still in his hand. "…Then what you said… is it really true?"
——
Evening settled quietly over the room, shadows stretching long across the walls. The faint crackle of firewood echoed softly as Kaen adjusted the burner, coaxing a steady flame to life. The scent of herbs and ash clung to the air. Across from him, Ryoma sat leaning back, eyes closed, a furrow of worry still etched between his brows.
Then—suddenly.
A sharp gasp tore through the silence.
Astra jolted upright, breath hitching, chest rising and falling like she'd surfaced from drowning. Her eyes were wild at first unfocused and a cold shiver ran visibly down her spine.
Kaen was on his feet in an instant. Ryoma's eyes snapped open as he shot forward.
"Astra—!" Kaen rushed to her side. Ryoma was right behind him, his hand already reaching to steady her shoulder.
Astra groaned softly, bringing a hand to her head. A strained chuckle escaped her lips, half-relief, half-disorientation. "What… happened…"
Kaen's gaze flicked to Ryoma searching for confirmation. Ryoma nodded once, silent.
Kaen turned back to her, crouching down. "You're awake. Do you know where you are? How do you feel?"
Astra blinked slowly, eyes adjusting to the dim room. "I just feel like there's a boulder sitting on my skull."
Kaen exhaled quietly. "You had a fever, We weren't sure how long you'd been unconscious… or how deep it had pulled you under."
"I don't know… but it feels like I've been trapped in a nightmare for days." Her brows drew together. "Like I kept falling… through memories that weren't mine."
The air thickened around her words.
Kaen's faint smile faltered. His voice was soft, careful. "Do you feel… anything else?"
Astra stared ahead for a long moment, then blinked slow, uncertain. Her fingers curled around the blanket as she lowered her voice.
"I also feel… a burn. Like something left behind. Not on my skin… but deeper. In my chest."