Chapter 162: The Unwoven Duel

Vereth's gaze bore into Rei like the weight of collapsed timelines.

Around them, the Spiral Path quaked—threads of potential slashing at the air like blades forged from broken destinies. The Sovereign Loom trembled in the far horizon, sensing rebellion within its own weave.

"You think you've won by collecting fragments," Vereth said, voice saturated with bitter reverence. "But you're just holding a chalice meant for a god. And you are not divine."

Rei answered by stepping forward, his aura expanding—not violently, but with deliberate calm.

"I'm not trying to be divine. I'm trying to be enough."

Karasu circled overhead. "Thread density's peaking. If he severs this plane, we're all unstitched."

Vereth lifted a hand. From the ten rings emerged echoes—phantoms of defeated sovereigns reshaped into malformed spirits. Half-conscious, they clawed through the threads, screaming in languages that time had forgotten.

"Do you remember these voices, Rei? They once called you savior. Now they scream for vengeance."

Rei raised his palm.

Ten flames ignited behind him.

A synchronized harmony.

"No," he said. "They scream because you denied them peace."

---

Threadbreak Combat Initiated

Vereth's first strike shattered the sky—unleashing a torrent of fractured causality. Buildings crumbled in reverse. Birds flew backward. Even time wept.

But Rei stood firm.

Nyssara's flame surrounded him in anti-existence. Kuralis wove shields of trans-dimensional logic. Helvaris countered entropy with unrelenting construct.

And in the heart of that chaos—Rei struck.

Not with rage.

But with presence.

Vereth staggered.

"You're resisting the fundamental rewrite. Impossible!"

"No," Rei said. "Unacceptable."

Their duel unfolded across broken time-nodes—each second a paradox. Vereth summoned an unborn version of Rei—one who chose silence over action—and weaponized it.

But Rei embraced that version.

Merged it.

And became whole.

Vereth screamed.

"You've contaminated the system! You've made it human!"

Rei stepped forward, blood staining his coat. "It was always meant to be human."

---

Collapse of the False Loom

The Loom behind Vereth began to shatter. Threads turned to ash. The sovereign echoes wailed and vanished.

From the ruin, something rose.

A final thread.

Gold. Pure. Untouched.

Vereth grabbed it, desperate. "If I weave this, I replace everything. I become the Sovereign of Sovereigns!"

But the thread dissolved.

Rei had already touched it.

A single name echoed through the plane:

"Kazenari Rei — Keeper of Integrated Flame, Bearer of Incomplete Wholeness."

Vereth fell to his knees. "Why?"

Rei stood over him. "Because I didn't take the throne. I carried the weight."

He turned.

And walked away.

---

Aftermath — Spiritforge Sanctuary

The Spiral Path was gone. The Loom was inert.

But the flames remained.

Rei stood before his companions—wounded, exhausted, whole.

Mireille approached him with tears in her eyes. "You survived the Unweaving."

Eirenne smiled faintly. "So what are we now?"

Rei looked to the sky.

"A choir. Of broken gods and dreaming flames."

Noira sheathed her blade. "Then let's sing something new."