Deep beneath the Land of Rivers.
Where chakra dies.Where jutsu turns to dust.
A tomb cracked open.
Not from the outside.Not by force.
But because someone saw the truth.
A mirror broken.A lie undone.
And now—she was awake.
The woman didn't move at first.
Didn't need to.
She remembered how her body worked.She remembered how the world felt.
Her eyes stayed shut.Because she didn't need to see.
Not anymore.
Her voice echoed into the void.
"So the Spiral Seed lives."
"And the Hunter has lost the first game."
"How... lovely."
She stepped barefoot across broken sigils.Symbols Ryuki had helped carve long ago.
They didn't hold anymore.
Because the Spiral no longer obeyed them.
It obeyed Souta.
Meanwhile.
Ryuki sat cross-legged at the edge of the Temple.
His sword across his lap.
Eyes forward.Focus sharp.
He wasn't meditating.
He was watching time.
The way a shinobi watches a blade mid-swing.
Something had shifted.
And not just Souta.
Eri lay resting behind him.
Her mark still burned red in sleep.
But she hadn't screamed in hours.
That was progress.
Souta returned from the inkspace.
Quiet.Unchanged on the outside.
But Ryuki could tell—
"You saw her, didn't you?"
Souta paused.
"...No."
A beat passed.
"...But I felt her."
Ryuki looked down.
"She's awake now."
"Who is she?"
Ryuki hesitated.
Then answered.
"The original Spiral Wielder."
"The First Mirrorborn."
"And my mother."
The silence cracked.
Even the Temple flinched.
Souta stepped back.
"You never told me…"
"You were never ready."
"And now?"
"Now you have no choice."
Ryuki stood.
For the first time, Souta noticed—
He looked older.
Like time had caught up all at once.
"She was locked away because she wanted to become the Spiral itself."
"Not wield it. Not bend it."
"Become it."
Souta's spiral flickered.Almost in fear.
"And now she's coming for me?"
Ryuki shook his head.
"No."
"She's coming for what's inside you."
Far away, beneath the tomb—
The woman walked through a tunnel made of mirrors.
Each showed a version of Souta.
Happy.Broken.Dead.God.
She smiled.
Soft.Gentle.
"I'm not here to hurt you, little spiral."
"I'm here to free you."
She opened her eyes.
And the mirrors melted.
Back at the Temple—
The spiral in Eri's chest began to pulse.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
She opened her eyes.
And they weren't hers.
They were mirror eyes.
Souta felt it instantly.
Turned.
"Eri?"
She looked up at him.
Smiled softly.
"She's here."
End of Chapter 142.