Chapter 94 – The Blood That Has No Memory
I. Root City
Valtoria no longer behaved like a city.
The structures breathed. The streets, if you walked far enough, shifted . The lamps seemed to have eyes without pupils, and there were areas where gravity was partial, and others where the sap rose instead of falling.
Akihiko, Sora and Ikari were advancing through the intermediate levels of the Empty Sector , now known by the locals as "Ribs" .
"There's no law," Ikari whispered.
"Nor crime," Sora added. "Because nothing here has value."
And yet the place vibrated with purpose.
There was no chaos.
There was design.
II. Hollow: the one that does not carry history
In the center of the former Valtorian Institute of Social Memory , now covered by roots that wrote meaningless symbols on the walls, Hollow waited .
He sat on a throne made of remains: bones, roots, broken blades, masks of all the Twelve Families.
There was no light.
Just sap.
When Akihiko entered, accompanied by Ikari and Sora, the place fell completely silent.
—Welcome, Wounded.
To this place where marks don't dictate destiny.
III. The dialogue that broke the root
The meeting was long. Silent at times. Loaded with ideas that clashed like invisible blades.
Hollow spoke without arrogance.
Akihiko , without fear.
Hollow:
—Do you know what you and I have in common?
Akihiko:
—Nothing.
Hollow:
—We are both the result of a mistake by the Tree.—You for remembering what you shouldn't have.—Me for being born where nothing should have germinated.
Akihiko:
—You are empty.—I... am what survives him.
Hollow:
—What if survival isn't enough?
—What if the world doesn't need memory... but liberation ?
Akihiko observed his surroundings.
The roots spoke to him . But in Hollow, there were no roots .
It was like looking into a hole in the world.
A dead zone in the heart of the Tree.
IV. Sora sees the other side of the song
While Hollow was talking with Akihiko, Sora was secretly taken by one of the Children of the Void to a hidden place: the Hollow Rhythm Shrine .
There, the roots didn't vibrate like the others.
They didn't sing.
just waiting for orders.
In the center of the temple, on an altar of hardened sap, lay a severed ancient root , drained of its flow. It was dead. But it hadn't yet collapsed.
Next to her was Naraka , the infector.
Sora recognized him.
His body was human only in appearance. His arms had nodules. His tongue wasn't flesh, it was a segmented root.
And next to it, a codex:
The Twisting Ritual.
V. The revealed ritual
The codex explained a process that did not seek to corrupt...
but to replace.
"Take a pure ancestral root.
Remove the chant. Implant a false rhythm within it. Make it feel real."
It was a system of modulation of the Tree , like a virus that pretends to be a prayer.
Sora read in horror. If this ritual was completed:
The Tree would begin to accept false roots as its own. His judgment would become imperfect. Corruption would no longer be detected. The entire balance of the world would become amoral.VI. Philosophy of Emptiness
Hollow rose from his throne. He approached Akihiko.
—Do you want to know what it feels like to live without guilt, without judgment, without destiny?
He reached over and touched his chest.
Akihiko saw something… horrible:
A world without a past.
People without names. Love without meaning. Hate without origin.
It was… total freedom.
And also, death of the human.
When Hollow withdrew his hand, Akihiko gasped.
—That's what I offer you.
—No power. No forgiveness. — The peace of the hollow.
VII. Sora intervenes
Sora returned just in time.
—NO ! —he shouted.
The root vibrated throughout the building.
The walls bled pure sap. The ancestral chant burst into an ancient lament.
"You're bending the Tree," he said to Hollow.
" And isn't that what you all do?" he replied calmly.
"Only I do it without lies."
VIII. The oath
Akihiko drew his katana. The sap of the brand shone.
—You are not freedom.
—You are escape.
"And you," Hollow replied, "are the Tree's failed attempt at consciousness."
They both knew that war was inevitable.
But this was not the time for battle.
Not yet.
IX. Mizuki's Decision
High in its towers, Mizuki saw the map shake . The Tree had sensed the Twist. Hollow had moved forward.
He smiled.
—Perfect. Let the Tree tremble.
—And when it does, I'll be ready to rewrite it.
X. The last root
Sora and Akihiko escaped from the Void Sector with the information about the ritual.
They now knew that simply resisting wasn't enough.
They had to find a root that hadn't yet been touched. A
pure, virgin root .
The last one. Hidden.
Silent.
And in it, sing the counterpoint.
The Royal Language.
END OF CHAPTER 94