Chapter 9: "The Edge of Nothing"**
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**Page 1:**
**Panel 1 (Full-page spread):** The Necro Transit car—walls lined with pulsing veins, seats made of fused bone. Shadow passengers with porcelain masks turn in unison as Jin, Yuri, and Min-ah's ghost step inside. The Conductor looms, his face obscured by a shifting void under his hat. **Caption**: *"Where the forgotten pay with pieces of themselves."*
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**Page 2:**
**Panel 1:** The Conductor extends a gloved hand. **Conductor**: *"Your ticket. A memory. Fresh or aged?"*
**Panel 2:** Jin's Rot flares defensively. **Jin**: *"We're not paying."*
**Panel 3:** The Conductor's void-face swirls. *"Then you'll be* **ejecta.***" The shadow passengers rise, masks cracking to reveal gnashing teeth.
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**Page 3:**
**Panel 1:** Yuri's sentient Shade-arm lashes out, tearing a passenger's mask. The arm hisses: *"Mine…* **feed.***"
**Panel 2:** Min-ah's ghost merges with the train's fleshy walls, forcing a door open. **Min-ah**: *"Jump!* **Now!**"
**Panel 3:** The trio leaps into a blinding void as the Necro Transit implodes behind them.
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**Page 4:**
**Panel 1:** They land in a desolate plain—a cracked wasteland under a starless sky. A monolithic stone arch looms, etched with the words: *"Here Lies the End of Stories."*
**Panel 2:** Jin's Rot seethes uncontrollably, disintegrating the ground. **Yuri**: *"Control it, or you'll bury us."*
**Panel 3:** Min-ah's ghost flickers, pointing. *"There… the* **Seed.***" In the distance, a gnarled tree grows upside-down from the sky, roots clutching a glowing orb.
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**Page 5:**
**Panel 1:** Flashback: The original Deathless Prince burying the Seed in this realm, his voice echoing. *"Only the heir can reclaim it… and remake all."*
**Panel 2:** Present. Jin's marbled skin splits, Rot surging toward the Seed. **Jin**: *"It's…* **calling.***"
**Panel 3:** Yuri grabs him. *"That's what* **he** *wants. The Prince. The Corp. All of them!"*
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**Page 6:**
**Panel 1:** The ground quakes. A figure emerges—the **Librarian**, a hunched woman with eyes stitched shut and mouths on her palms. **Librarian**: *"The Seed isn't a tool. It's a* **test.***"
**Panel 2:** Her palm-mouths spew black liquid, forming visions:
- **Vision 1**: Jin as a tyrant, using the Seed to erase death—and free will.
- **Vision 2**: Yuri, consumed by her Shade-arm, leading Eclipse Corp's remnants.
- **Vision 3**: Min-ah's ghost dissolving into light, her final scream: *"Why?!"*
**Panel 3:** The Librarian's stitches burst, revealing glowing eyes. *"Choose wisely, Veyra."*
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**Page 7:**
**Panel 1:** Jin's Rot recoils from the Seed's light. **Jin**: *"What happens if I take it?"*
**Panel 2:** The Librarian's body unravels into scrolls of skin. *"You'll decide what death means… and who pays the price."*
**Panel 3:** Yuri's Shade-arm suddenly pierces the Librarian's chest, stealing a scroll. **Shade-arm**: *"No more* **lies.***"
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**Page 8:**
**Panel 1:** The scroll burns in the Shade-arm's grip, revealing a map to the Seed. **Yuri**: *"Since when can you—?!"*
**Panel 2:** The Shade-arm morphs into a snarling face. *"Since* **you** *forgot me."*
**Panel 3:** The sky-tree's roots descend, snatching the Seed away. A voice booms: *"The test is* **mine** *to administer."*
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**Page 9:**
**Panel 1:** The **Gardener** appears—a colossal figure with a body of writhing roots and a head made of Eclipse Corp helmets fused together. **Gardener**: *"The Seed requires…* **pruning.***"
**Panel 2:** The Gardener's root-fingers drip with Eclipse Corp's serum. Jin's Rot reacts violently, tearing at his own flesh.
**Panel 3:** Min-ah's ghost surges into the Seed's light, her form blazing. *"Jin! Destroy it!* **Now!**"
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**Page 10 (Full-page cliffhanger):**
**Panel 1:** Jin leaps into the Gardener's grasp, Rot and Seed-light colliding. **Jin**: *"I'm* **done** *choosing!"*
**Panel 2:** The Seed cracks. Reality fractures—skies bleed, the ground becomes liquid shadow.
**Panel 3:** The Gardener's helmets shatter, revealing Dr. Veyra's face among them. **Dr. Veyra**: *"You think you've won? The Corp* **is** *eternal."*
**Cliffhanger Text**: *"Next: The Corpse of Eternity."*
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**Key Developments**:
- **The Seed's Truth**: It's a moral trial, not a weapon—Jin's choice will redefine life/death itself.
- **Shade-arm's Rebellion**: It houses a trapped soul from Yuri's past, hungry for vengeance.
- **Eclipse Corp's Immortality**: Dr. Veyra is one of many "Gardener" hosts—the Corp is a hive-mind.
**Visual Madness**:
- **The Edge of Nothing**: A existential limbo with physics-defying terrain.
- **The Gardener**: A grotesque amalgam of nature and corporate horror.
**Addictive Hooks**:
- **Yuri's Shade-arm Identity**: Whose soul does it hold? Why does it hate Eclipse Corp?
- **Seed's Aftermath**: Reality is destabilizing—what new rules will govern existence?
- **Min-ah's Sacrifice**: Her ghost is fading—can she survive the Seed's destruction?
**Tone**: Existential stakes meet visceral body horror. Jin's defiance against cosmic forces deepens, but the cost of rebellion may shatter more than just the Corp.