Silence blanketed the newborn realm. The air shimmered faintly with streams of light that curved and intertwined like constellations painted on invisible canvas. For a moment, it seemed that peace had finally taken root — but in the stillness, Kaien could hear it.
A sound that wasn't sound.
A pulse, faint yet steady, rippling beneath reality like a whisper carried by time itself.
He stood at the edge of a cliff where the horizon folded in on itself — light and shadow blending endlessly. His reflection wavered in the glowing mist below, showing both his human form and something greater, divine, infinite.
Behind him, Reina approached quietly. Her steps didn't make a sound, but Kaien always felt her presence — gentle, luminous, grounding.
"You feel it too, don't you?" she asked softly.
Kaien nodded. "Yes. The Balance is… humming. Something's moving beneath it."
Reina stepped beside him, her eyes narrowing. "Residual energy from the war?"
"No," Kaien said, his gaze distant. "This isn't destruction. It's creation — but wild, uncontrolled."
---
The two Sovereigns followed the pulse across the realm, traveling through landscapes that morphed as they moved — valleys of starlight, seas of shadow that glowed with faint silver edges, forests that whispered names of forgotten gods. Each place they passed seemed to react to them, as though the realm itself recognized its creators.
Then, they reached it — a vast field where the air shimmered with fragments of memory. Floating shards of crystal replayed moments from the old worlds: the fall of angels, the rise of demons, the birth of Eclipsera.
But at the center stood something new.
A sphere of golden light, throbbing gently like a heart.
Reina's eyes widened. "That energy… it feels alive."
Kaien approached slowly, his aura flickering. "It's a soul."
He extended his hand, and the sphere responded — releasing a soft, melodic hum that resonated through the air. Within the glow, faint images appeared: stars being born, worlds forming, life blooming.
Reina whispered, "This isn't a soul of a being… it's the soul of creation itself."
Kaien froze. The realization struck him deeper than any blade could. The wars, the realms, even the gods — all had been born from fragments of this very essence. And now, that essence had awakened.
A voice echoed through the air, layered and ancient, neither male nor female.
"Balance cannot bind eternity. What is eternal must move forward."
The light intensified, sending ripples across the realm. Kaien shielded Reina instinctively as the energy surged. When it faded, something stood where the sphere had been — a figure, radiant yet undefined, shifting constantly between forms.
Its voice was calm but infinite. "You restored what was broken. But in doing so, you caged what was meant to evolve."
Kaien's grip tightened on Noxveil. "You're saying the Balance is a cage?"
"Yes," the being said. "Creation does not stop. It transcends. The moment you defined balance, you halted the next era."
Reina frowned. "Then what are you?"
The being's form shimmered. "I am what comes after gods, after Sovereigns — the Echo of Eternity. I am the will of creation unbound."
The world shook. The light around the being pulsed, and the ground beneath them cracked into glowing lines of power.
Kaien stepped forward, eyes burning with crimson and silver fire. "If you are creation unbound, then you should understand — chaos without balance destroys itself."
The Echo's tone deepened. "And stagnation without change decays. You, Kaien Draven, have stabilized existence. But equilibrium cannot last forever. For every order, a new chaos must rise."
Kaien raised his sword. "Then let it rise — and we'll meet it head-on."
The Echo smiled faintly — or something close to it. "You cannot fight what you are part of. You are the Balance. You are the pause between eras. But I am what comes after."
A blinding flash erupted, and when it cleared, the Echo was gone.
Only silence remained.
Reina turned to Kaien. "So it begins again…"
Kaien's gaze remained fixed on the sky. "No. This time, we'll end it before it consumes everything."
He looked down at his hand — faint golden energy now flickered alongside his own dark and light aura. The Echo had left its mark.
Reina stepped closer. "You absorbed part of its essence."
Kaien nodded. "Or maybe… it gave it to me. A reminder that even creation itself refuses to be still."
The wind shifted. Far in the distance, the realm's horizon began to shimmer — as though another world was forming just beyond sight.
Kaien's expression hardened. "The Balance has been challenged."
Reina met his gaze. "Then the Sovereigns must answer."
And as they stood side by side beneath the endless shifting sky, the hum of the realm deepened — not in warning, but in anticipation.
The next age was stirring.