The survivors were cornered, the mirrors closing in tighter with each passing second. Eden screamed as his sigils faltered. Jessica clutched her pistol, hands trembling. Maya's aura flickered like dying stars, while Lacolone knelt, blood dripping onto his blade. Despair pressed in, breath by breath.
Salah stood tall, whispercall humming in his throat, his shadow stretching longer than his body. "If names are the price…" he murmured. Jessica tried to stop him, "Salah, don't—" but he smiled faintly, "I was always the echo, not the song." He had chosen his verse.
He touched Maya's shoulder, warmth flowing into her trembling hands. To Eden he nodded, "Shield them, when I'm gone." Valgor's absence burned in their eyes, but Salah steadied them with his presence. Jessica protested, "We'll bring you back!" He shook his head, "No. Just remember me until you can't." A smile steadied the storm.
Salah began chanting his Whispercall, louder and brighter, piercing through the illusions. Each mirror fractured under the force of his song. Blood seeped from his ears, but he kept singing. Elito frowned, "…You dare?" The Kid tilted his head, knives humming nervously. A single voice rose against eternity.
His melody cracked the perfect worlds, dissolving illusions into ash. The stolen pools of Walid and Valgor flickered faintly with echoes. Eden shielded Maya from the collapsing fragments. Jessica cried, "Salah, stop! You'll vanish too!" He sang louder, "Better I go than all of you." The song became his body.
Elito swung his Eclipse Blade, sending a tidal wave of scarlet flame at Salah. But Salah's song split the flames into harmless sparks. His body flickered translucent, edges fraying. He looked at Jessica: "Tell them I laughed at the end." To Lacolone he said, "Cut him for me." Every word was a farewell gift.
Salah knelt, hands raised in prayer-like form as his aura expanded. His face was calm, smiling through the unraveling of flesh and soul. Maya sobbed, unable to reach him. Eden pressed his forehead to the ground, whispering his name. Jessica gripped her pistol, teeth clenched, tears flowing. He smiled where others broke.
Then, Salah's form dissolved into notes of light, scattering across the arena. His Whispercall lingered like a hymn. Elito scowled. "A wasted note." The Kid watched silently, expression unreadable. The hymn seeped into the survivors' souls, anchoring them. And then, he was gone.
The arena stood still. Mirrors were cracked, pools dried to dust. Survivors searched for Salah, but nothing remained. Maya clutched her chest. "…I can't feel him." Eden whispered brokenly, "He's not… anywhere." Jessica slammed her fist into the floor, screaming. Absence weighed heavier than stone.
Elito raised his blade, aura calm. "One spark extinguished. Many left to crush." His vessel cracked faintly under strain. He chuckled, "20% was more than enough." The Kid spun a knife idly, watching the heroes grieve. Heaven in Hell demanded blood.
Lacolone rose, blade shaking with scarlet-white light. Jessica's aura crackled with Riftquake energy. Maya's eyes blazed, veins glowing starlight. Eden re-formed his sigil, teeth gritted. "No more losses." Together, they formed a circle, Salah's absence filling the gap. His death became their unity.
Maya spoke, "He's gone — but he gave us his song." She weaved Salah's last notes into her healing aura. Each survivor's scars glowed faintly with his hymn. Jessica wiped her tears. "Let's use it." Lacolone added, "For Salah." The erased still fought, through memory.
The Kid flicked both knives, stepping off the dais. His shadow split into two, circling the heroes. "He died well. Now it's your turn." Maya's aura flared, intercepting the shadows. Lacolone charged, blade humming with fury. The gaoler came to chain the rest.
Twin knives clashed against Lacolone's katana, sparks filling the void. Jessica fired Riftquake bullets into the shadows. The Kid caught one mid-air, crushing it like glass. Eden deflected the shockwave with his barrier. Maya strained to hold Salah's hymn inside their souls. Every strike was fueled by loss.
Elito leaned casually against his blade, watching the chaos. "Mortals are most beautiful when breaking," he muttered. A crack spread along his vessel's skin. His eye flashed black sun-scarlet. The Kid smirked, "I'll soften them for you, master." Despair was spectacle.
Maya roared, her aura expanding scarlet-white, boosted by Salah's memory. Eden channeled her light into his barrier, making it unbreakable. Jessica growled, "He gave us the ticket out. Let's cash it in." Lacolone cut a scarlet arc, splitting the Kid's shadow in half. For the first time, the Kid flinched. The erased became the sword-hand of the living.
The heroes formed a line before Elito's throne. Shadows swarmed, but they stood unwavering. Maya whispered, "He's with us." Eden roared Salah's name, sigil blazing. Lacolone pointed his blade. "This ends, Elito." The dead man's song guided the living blade.
Elito rose from his throne, blade in hand, aura collapsing the arena into a storm of scarlet fire. The Kid stepped aside, smiling. The heroes, glowing faintly with Salah's last hymn, stood ready against him.
One soul erased. Five left burning. Against the Antichrist, they carried the song of the vanished.