But the storm of echoes didn't reach them—it wrapped only around Leon, tightening like a crown of thorns. Every heartbeat threatened to shatter him. His skin split wider, cracks spilling with burning resonance, showing glimpses of something less human beneath—something woven of pure rhythm and fracture.
Roselia pressed both hands together, golden flame bursting from her palms. "Then I'll force the echoes to share!" She thrust her light toward him, but as soon as it touched, her spell disintegrated into dust. She staggered, horrified. "I can't heal him—the burden itself rejects me!"
Roman bellowed, fists clenched, driving his body-force outward in sheer defiance. "Then we rip it off him!" He struck the ground, sending fissures racing toward the storm. But when the cracks met Leon's resonance, they didn't break it—they were absorbed, becoming part of the burden.
