Chapter 22: AFTERMATH AND ASCENSION
Silence was a lie.
The battlefield breathed with death. Not even the Hollowspawn moved now—only fed. Limbs, torsos, and craters of black flame scarred the earth. The System’s glitch-static still echoed in the air like dying whispers.
Shia’s blood had soaked the altar stones. Her body convulsed once, then went still again. Reed didn’t know if she was alive or dying—just that she was warm. Still warm.
He looked up.
The Godseed loomed above the altar—seven meters tall, faceless, with a corona of seething light and fractal shadow, as if it were made from code stitched together by a mad god. Lines of broken glyphs ran along its arms.
> ENTITY STABILITY: UNBOUND
> MANIFESTATION: INCOMPLETE
Reed reached for his sword with a hand that barely obeyed. "You’re not part of the plan," he muttered. "But neither was I."
The Godseed lowered its head. Not a bow. A scan.
Then it spoke. Not with sound, but by force—like a nail in the mind.
> ASCENDANT IDENTIFIED: REED // DESIGNATION: DOMAINBREAKER