Echoes that could not be extinguished
Three days after the Unlived Catharsis Effect,
the sky of Edenfall Alpha presented an unprecedented phenomenon:
A black crack crossed the sky, but it was not visible… only perceived.
There was no shape.
There was no sound. Only the shared sensation of something "opening" in the air.
Naeya described it like this:
"As if someone were hitting reality from the other side… but without breaking it."
Riva activated symbolic detection protocols. And for the first time in weeks, the system responded with a physical alert:
UNNARRATED PRESENCE IN PROGRESS
The Arrival of the Ironclads
A team sent to inspect the crevasse encountered a solitary figure: A tall man, wearing seamless armor,
no emblems, no history.
He just said:
"We can no longer allow the word to rule everything."
Behind him came more. Five.
Then nine. Twelve in all.
They had no names. Just numbers carved into their shoulders.
They were the Ironclad.
A new faction: trained in advanced physical techniques, immune to emotional resonance, with a single purpose:
"Remember that the body… may still be the oldest language."
III. Akihiko vs. Four
When the Council attempted to engage in dialogue, Number Four of the Ironclads asked for something different:
"An interlocutor who doesn't talk.
Only one who fights."
Akihiko offered. And on the old streaming platform,
the duel began.
The fight had no audience. No emotional energy. No projected symbolism.
It was fist against fist.
Step against step.
Technique against intention.
Four used Unbreakable Style : Sharp blows, no frills.
All efficiency.
Akihiko employed the Cyclical Error Path : smooth feints, unexpected repetitions,
taking advantage of the echo of his own previous mistakes.
The fight lasted 17 minutes. In the end, Akihiko fell to his knees,
not defeated…but exhausted by a force that didn't intend to kill, only to assert its presence.
Four didn't celebrate. He just said:
"You still know what it means to use your body as an argument.
I respect you."
And he left.
The Voiceless Manifesto
The Iron Ones settled in a neutral zone.
They refused to connect to Akasha. They refused to join the Reverse Garden. They handed over only one object:
A stone carved with simple geometric shapes.
Whoever touched it… was reminded of real bodily pain.
A child's fall.
A broken bone. A forgotten impact.
Sael touched him… and for the first time,
he remembered what it was like to cry over something that physically hurt.
—"This isn't cruelty.
It's a reminder."
Veils and the internal confrontation
That night, Velos was approached by one of the Iron Ones: Number Seven.
He didn't speak.
He just stood in front of him...and assumed a fighting stance.
Velos, who had never fought with the body…
responded.
It was clumsy.
It was slow. But he did it.
And in the middle of the fight, he remembered a time he had run to hug someone…
and that person wasn't there.
Seven stopped the final blow. And held out his hand.
"You have fought with the body…
but also with absence."
Riva and the harmony of impact
Riva, who had been an analyst, strategist, observer of all systems…
decided to train with the Iron Ones.
He learned the Silent Hammer Form : A technique where the body moves without emotional motivation. Just rhythm.
Presence. Weight.
When applied to the Fractal Pillar,
it didn't project any symbolic reflections. It merely vibrated... as if it had received a blow it couldn't quite interpret.
Juno wrote:
"Perhaps… that's balance.
An emotion that strikes without wanting to explain itself."
VII. Sael and the Notebook of Lost Movements
Inspired by the Iron Ones,
Sael began recording involuntary movements:
Gestures he made when thinking. Ways in which he rested his feet while listening to music. How his body reacted when he wasn't observed.
He called the book: Notebook of Lost Movements.
And when he shared it,
thousands of people recognized in those gestures...parts of themselves they no longer knew they remembered.
"Not everything we are is said.
Some things… are just done."
VIII. Epilogue – The blow that doesn't hurt
At the end of the day, the Iron Man's number one asked to speak.
But not with words.
He fought with Riva. Then with Velos.
Then with Sael.
Each fight was short.
Controlled. No intention to harm.
And when he finished, he said for the first time:
"You still remember how to fight without destroying.
That's why... we haven't failed to arrive."
And they left. Without ceremony. Without farewell.
But on the ground where they fought,
traces were left behind…not of violence, but of persistence.
END OF CHAPTER 171