Chapter 16: Crimson Eclipse Protocol

The Conductor was dead. The Choir dismantled. But victory didn't feel like celebration.

Jin Kuroya stood alone in the Grand Hall, the mark of the Soulforge glowing faintly behind his collar. His cloak was torn. His blade, Renzai: Tenrou, now sealed but humming beneath the surface.

Across from him sat the Twelve Captains of the Rekikan.

Captain Genroku rose.

"Jin Kuroya… the Rekikan acknowledges your survival, your evolution, and your impossible victory."

He raised a soul scroll—etched in blood.

"But your awakening has accelerated a prophecy we've kept buried for decades."

Captain Kurohana scowled.

"He's dangerous. That power was supposed to take years. Not days."

"He is the Crimson Soul," Genroku said.

"And so, by ancient decree… we invoke the Crimson Eclipse Protocol."

---

[Explanation – The Protocol]

The Protocol is not a punishment.

It's a trial.

Every bearer of a soulblade forged in the Eclipse Flame must undergo a final rite: a confrontation with their own soul's future, in a plane known as the Vault of Infinity.

Most never return.

Those who do… are no longer the same.

Jin looked up.

"You're telling me I'm strong enough to scare you all… and your solution is to toss me into soul purgatory?"

Captain Kurohana nodded.

"If you survive, you may truly be worthy. If not—at least you won't burn us all with you."

---

[Scene shift – Squad Six Barracks]

Jin walked in as the squad stood.

Marin stepped forward. "So they're sending you to die, huh?"

"Not if I burn the place down first," Jin muttered.

Ketsu handed him a scroll. "This has everything recorded about the Vault. Don't read it. You'll just piss yourself."

Sora grinned. "We'll keep the place warm. Don't make us collect your ashes."

Captain Aria stepped in last.

"If anyone can survive it… it's you. But when you come back—come back with a soul they can't question."

Jin nodded.

"Tell 'em to set the sky on fire. I'll be back before it burns out."

---

[Meanwhile – Kuragami Citadel, Shadow Dome]

Raikou watched from a floating mirror.

He saw Tenrou. The flame. The sigils.

"So… you've awakened that far already."

Lord Nureha stood beside him, hand pressed against an ancient coffin sealed in cursed glyphs.

"We will need to accelerate our plan."

"The Crimson Soul must not complete the Eclipse."

Raikou's fingers tensed.

"He was supposed to break… not become a legend."

---

[Final Scene – The Vault of Infinity]

Jin stood before a black rift guarded by five silent monks. No doors. Just a rip in space shaped like an eye, bleeding stars.

"Enter," one said.

Jin looked at his reflection in Renzai's blade. For the first time, he wasn't afraid of what stared back.

"Let's see who I really am."

He stepped through—

And the gate snapped shut behind him.