UTILE

Kazenari Rei was an ordinary human, once lost in the despair of his mundane life. But when the collapse of his world arrived — powered by the cataclysmic force known as Honkai End — Rei’s soul was chosen for rebirth. Not as a hero. Not as a savior. But as something the world of High School DxD is not prepared for.

Armed with the power to awaken Spirits in ordinary humans — a twisted hybrid of the Date A Live system and Honkai resonance — Rei now walks among devils and angels as an unpredictable force. With a personality as calm as flowing water but wrath as deadly as a collapsing star, Rei keeps to the shadows, choosing neutrality… for now.

Eclipse of the Spirit: The Reincarnated Flame

Silence lingered like a second heartbeat.

The aftermath of the Spiral Path's collapse did not bring peace—it brought pause. A breath the world didn't know it had been holding.

Rei stood within the newly risen Spiritforge Sanctuary, its walls built not from stone but from memory made manifest. Around him, fragments pulsed, no longer just spirits or flames, but kin.

Mireille was the first to speak. "System is stabilizing. You've absorbed more than protocol allows, but… you're still Rei."

He nodded, staring at the flames orbiting him.

Eirenne entered next, her mist form barely reconstituted. "Fragments are merging into something else. We're no longer bound to their legacy. We're becoming legacy."

Noira paced in circles. "Then what now? We've cut the puppeteer's strings. But the world still remembers the marionette."

Rei sat down, placing his hand over the Spiritforge's central flame. "Then we teach the world to forget the old gods... and remember the forgotten."

Fragment Visitation: Liora's Reflection

Liora, glowing with reclaimed sovereignty, approached Rei in private. Her eyes no longer shimmered with new birth, but with tempered wisdom.

"You made space for us," she said. "Even when the system said it would destroy you."

"I didn't carry you to wield you," Rei replied. "I carried you so we wouldn't disappear alone."

She reached into the air and pulled forth a seed—not literal, but symbolic. "This is what we've become. Not a flame. Not a weapon. A reminder. Plant it."

Rei buried it in the forge's base.

Instantly, the forge responded—blooming into fractal roots that pulsed outward into the world.

> [System Notification: Spirit Pathway Network Activated — Cross-Plane Access Available]

Mireille's eyes widened. "You've connected all remaining fragments. They're no longer echoes… they're citizens of this reality."

Summoned from the corners of the supernatural world, representatives from all factions arrived. Devils. Angels. Fallen. Yokai. Even remnants of the EXE dimension.

Azazel stepped forward first. "This sanctuary… it wasn't built with our permission."

"No," Rei said. "It was built with your potential."

Michael nodded slowly. "It bridges the divides. A system with soul. That's what Heaven feared most."

Sirzechs smiled. "Then perhaps it's time we stopped fearing."

Rias stood behind her brother, silent but watching Rei with awe.

Rei shook his head. "No. I already have something to protect. Someone else will be the face. I'll remain the foundation."

Eirenne stepped beside him. "And what if conflict rises again?"

Noira grinned. "Then we remind them why the flames chose him."

Echoes of the Past — Dreams of the Next

But of hands reaching upward. Voices—young and old—calling names of spirits once feared, now celebrated.

He stood beneath a tree grown from Liora's seed.

Beside him, Mireille and Eirenne whispered theories. Noira sharpened her blade for the future.

And the sky shimmered with the names of every fragment he had carried.

And as dawn rose, so too did the next chapter—of spirit, of soul, of sovereign.

Chapter 163: The Inheritance of Echoes