chapter 74: The Voice of Forgiveness in the Kingdom of Ash

_"When the sword is broken… war is no longer the danger, but rather who will hold its pieces."_

After the core exploded and the balance of the realms collapsed, the universe entered a moment of silence — like temporary blindness after a blinding flash.

Shao stood amidst the ash, surrounded by the wreckage of time. His body breathed slowly, but his eyes gleamed with newfound awareness.

From afar, slow footsteps advanced on scorched ground — each step sprouting ash instead of grass.

The mysterious figure who bore the Seal of Forgetting finally revealed his full form.

"My name is Faelyn, bearer of forgiveness, servant of the ancient balance,"

he said in a voice without echo, as if the earth itself translated his words.

Shao didn't reply, but a pulse from his body made him hover in the void between life and thought.

Faelyn gazed at him for a long moment before continuing:

"You have denied — and that is good.

But you've also recreated something new… something without a name.

So who will forgive you now… if you cannot forgive yourself?"

On the horizon, the realms began to collapse, one after another.

The sky burst in the kingdom of Heimdall,

Towers crumbled in Norn,

And the goddess Freya screamed as she tore the final vein from the Tree of Life.

Aster, watching from a distance, found herself trapped in the clash of the ancient gods.

In a quiet moment, she looked up to the sky and said:

> "It's Shao… He has finally chosen not to become like them."

…

At the heart of the realms, the Allfather Odin was reborn.

But he was no longer as he once was.

His arm was broken, his third eye sealed shut — yet his mouth spoke a language unheard since the dawn of creation.

> "Now comes the answer… O son I did not create."

…

Shao stood before Faelyn, his back framed by cracked wings — one glowing with light, the other shrouded in darkness.

He spoke softly:

> "Forgiveness is not the end… it is the beginning of the question."

Then he raised his sword.

Faelyn didn't move.

Instead, he opened his hand and revealed a grey key.

"This is the Key of the Ashen Realm.

There, you will face yourself — no choice, no destiny, no enemy… only truth."

Then he vanished.

And Shao remained alone before a vast, endless black gate — inscribed with the words:

> _"Enter, you who dared deny your own creation."_

…

And so, a new journey begins.