Chapter 150: The Council Beyond Crowns

The realm that opened before Rei was unlike any domain he had encountered. There were no gates, no celestial songs, no welcoming torches.

Just a path paved with memories.

Each stone beneath his feet pulsed with echoes—some his, some ancient, others entirely foreign. His harem followed close behind: Noira ever-watchful, Eirenne silent as snow, and Mireille analyzing even the resonance of their footsteps.

"This isn't spirit-made," Mireille whispered. "It's a construct built on sovereign cognition. Thought given permanence."

"Which means we're being watched," Noira added.

Ahead, the path split into ten. And waiting at the center of that crossroads was a throne without a ruler. Upon it sat no one—yet the weight of presence felt unbearable.

Rei stepped forward. The flames behind him flared. All ten of them—each sovereign fragment now whole within him—aligned in harmonic rhythm.

The air shimmered.

From each of the ten paths emerged a figure. Ten Sovereigns. Not past or future. Not enemies. But reflections.

Each bore a mark of a world Rei had never touched. Some were eldritch gods. Some were dragon-blooded flame bearers. One was simply a child holding a broken crown.

They spoke not in words—but concepts.

The center of all of them spoke first:

"You carry ten, yet you are not fragmented. Why?"

Rei answered with a smile. "Because I was broken before I ever burned."

They pulsed. Approval? Challenge? He wasn't sure.

"You have integrated destruction, pride, hunger, silence, sorrow. Yet you lead with empathy. Explain."

"I don't lead them," Rei said. "I walk with them. Even ruin wants a hand to hold."

The Sovereigns regarded one another. Then came a sound—not a choir, but a fusion. A chord only ten sovereign wills could sing.

> [New Protocol Unlocked: Absolute Harmonic Field — Tenfold Concordance] [System Status: Ascension Candidate Recognized]

Eirenne narrowed her eyes. "Are they testing or recruiting?"

Rei stepped forward. "I think… both."

The path split again. And now he stood alone.

---

The Trial of Mirrors

He entered a chamber. No doors. Just infinite reflections of himself. Each one different:

—One ruled by vengeance. —One who never reincarnated. —One who abandoned all spirits. —One who burned the world to save a girl.

Each version of Rei challenged him—not with fists, but with truths.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to forget?" "Wouldn't it have been simpler to obey?"

He responded by walking forward. One step at a time. And one by one, the mirrors shattered.

Until only he remained.

> [Trial Passed — Absolute Identity Confirmed]

---

Back in the Hall of Ten

The throne was now occupied.

Not by a person. By a flame. It pulsed ten times. Then once more. A new rhythm. A new sovereign type.

One that had never existed before.

> [New Flame Acquired: Eleventh Resonance — Crown of Remembrance. Classification: Sovereign Origin Flame.]

Rei inhaled. It didn't hurt. It completed.

And when he opened his eyes, the other sovereigns were bowing.

Not to worship. But to recognize.

The first of a new kind.

---

Outside the Realm

The sky over the real world shimmered. Something in the balance of spiritual planes had shifted. Rei stepped through the portal, his team following.

Noira glanced at him. "You're glowing again."

Mireille shook her head. "That's not glow. That's harmonic resonance. Full tier."

Eirenne simply smiled.

Rei looked at his hands. Then up.

A storm was coming. Not of destruction. But of change.

And Kazenari Rei would be its flame.