The Remnant Break Fruit pulsed like a ticking bomb.
Kaien stared at it under the forge's cold light.
Porcelain skin. Fracture lines like spiderwebs. No color. No voice.
Only one truth lived inside it:
Power without identity is a curse.
And Ravina was already halfway cursed.
Cipher Pol Aigis Zero – Secure Line Intercept
Kaien's den den mushi lit up. No voice. Just a blinking transmission key — "C-0P: Unofficial Channel."
He answered.
The signal was heavily scrambled, masked in Forge-era encryption.
Then the message came through:
"Trade. The girl. For the fruit. Irka Trench. 0300."
It wasn't a threat.
It was a negotiation.
Kaien didn't hesitate.
He packed the fruit in a forge-lock canister, slipped it inside his cloak, and locked the chamber tight.
The time for designing was over.
Now came the cost.
Meanwhile — Inside Ravina's Mind
She floated in a mirror world of white static.
Images appeared, broke, reformed.
Her daughter's face. A fire. A locked door. Screaming. Always screaming.
And behind it all — a presence.
The Wraith Spark Fruit.
No longer just a tool.
It had grown teeth.
"Stay with me," it whispered.
"Don't let go of her. Let her pain fuel you."
She clutched her head.
But for the first time…
She felt tired.
0300 Hours — Irka Trench
A ravine of black rock carved deep into the ocean shelf. Wind screamed overhead. Lightning flashed once, then died.
Kaien stood at the edge.
Across from him: three CP-0 agents and their commander, faces hidden behind bone-white masks.
Ravina floated behind them in a glass capsule, suspended in psychic gel. Alive, but unstable. Her fingers twitched with voltage.
"Where's the fruit?" the commander asked.
Kaien didn't speak. He held out the forge-lock.
"Unseal it," said the commander.
"No," Kaien replied. "Not until she's on my side of the trench."
One of the agents raised a weapon.
Kaien's eyes flared.
[ACTIVATING: Forge Field Proxy – Prototype 3]
A low hum flooded the area. The agents froze. Their weapons twisted slightly — not destroyed, just… confused.
"Your arithmotech's outdated," Kaien said coldly.
"Don't bluff me."
"I designed yours before I broke away."
The commander hesitated — then signaled.
Ravina's capsule was released.
Kaien stepped forward.
They passed each other.
Contact: Kaien & Ravina Reunited
He caught the capsule.
She twitched, eyes fluttering open.
"Kaien…" she rasped.
He opened the top. She fell into his arms.
"You shouldn't have come," she whispered.
"You always say that," he replied. "And I always do."
She tried to rise, but her body short-circuited — sparks dancing across her spine.
Kaien knelt beside her, opened the forge-lock case, and showed her the fruit.
"Eat it."
Ravina blinked. Her eyes widened.
"No."
"You're dying. The Wraith Spark's eating your mind."
"Good," she said bitterly. "Let it. At least she stays alive in here."
Kaien's voice dropped.
"She's not alive in there. She's just pain. And she's not yours. Not anymore."
The Choice
The Remnant Break Fruit pulsed in her hand.
It didn't glow.
It didn't promise power.
It promised silence.
A life where the burning stopped.
But…
She wouldn't remember her.
Tears leaked down her cheeks.
"I can't," she whispered.
"You can," Kaien said. "I'll remember. I always will."
He stepped back.
"But if you don't eat it… you're gone in a day."
Across the Trench – CP-0 Watches
"She'll eat it," said one agent.
The commander watched silently. Then, softly:
"No. She won't."
Ravina's Decision
She stared at the fruit. Then at Kaien.
Her hands trembled.
And then — she bit it.
A scream tore through the trench.
Light erupted from her chest — not lightning, but memory-shards. They burst into the air like glass meteors, scattering into the sea.
Kaien shielded his eyes.
When it was over, Ravina collapsed.
Unconscious.
Her breath shallow.
Kaien caught her before she hit the ground.
She was alive.
But her eyes no longer knew him.
Final Scene — Eltheria Sky Lab
Dreego watched the fruit resonance pattern collapse on his monitors.
He smiled.
"Remnant Break. Success."
His assistant blinked.
"But sir… she's no longer useful."
Dreego nodded.
"That's fine."
"We're done with Ravina."
"Now we start the Godfruit sequence."