Chapter 152: The Broken Throne

The first sign came with a scream—not human. A sonic rupture tore through the dream barrier above Vatican Ruins. The world tilted, and Rei stood at the faultline where dimensions blurred.

Seressa hovered behind him, her presence a balm of quiet sorrow. Mireille was recalibrating her chrono-seals.

"Temporal pressure's rising," she said. "Someone's trying to hijack causality again."

Rei didn't answer. His hand was already raised. The eleventh flame surged—Veyra's echo.

And in the storm ahead… a throne crumbled.

Fragment Activation: Vildras — Flame of Irreversible Ruin

Vildras did not walk. It collapsed forward, like entropy given limbs. It was faceless, crowned by regret, leaking ruin from every pore.

"System scan failing," Mireille hissed. "This thing isn't a flame. It's a correction. A punishment."

Noira readied her blade. "Then we break the hand that punishes."

Eirenne summoned her mist. "Rei, call your resonance."

But Rei didn't move. He stood silent. Watching. Feeling.

> [System Notification: Final Fragment Approaching. No Integration Path Available. Error — Sovereign Limit Reached.]

"Then make space," Rei whispered.

He stepped into Vildras's wave.

Within the Throne of Ruin

He wasn't in a world. He was after one. This was post-existence. Vildras spoke in inverted flame. Every word it spoke removed meaning.

"You carry twelve," it thundered. "You hold hope."

"I carry memory," Rei answered. "And I remember endings, too."

Vildras laughed—a sound like empires rotting. It unleashed oblivion.

Rei invoked each flame:

Kuralis, the nurturer

Helvaris, the forge

Nyssara, the womb

Seressa, the broken vow

And then... Rei burned without fire. He used remembrance. He summoned what Vildras had once been.

A flame. A guardian. A sovereign that lost its way.

"You're not ruin. You're the fear of being forgotten," Rei said.

He reached out.

> [Override Engaged. Emergency Soul Integration Request: Vildras — Ruin Sovereign-Class.] [System Threshold Exceeded. Initiating Ascension Subroutine...]

---

The Ascension Gate

Rei screamed—not from pain, but from disassembly. Every piece of his soul was being reconstructed. Not overwritten. Aligned.

Twelve flames formed a ring. Vildras became the thirteenth. But it bowed.

"Let me ruin what ruins you," it said.

Rei stood amid flame and silence.

> [System Status: Sovereign Ascension Imminent. Codename: Ember Crowned. Authority Class: Beyond Flame. System Sync: 99.8%.]

Outside, Vereth screamed. "NO. You cannot wield thirteen. That was forbidden!"

But the world didn't hear him. It only heard Rei's voice.

"I never wanted thrones." He looked to the sky. "I wanted presence. So those who are forgotten… would never be alone again."

And the stars bent to listen.