The Echo of the Silent Founder
The awakening of the ninth founder—Azael, the Silent One—had fractured the very fabric of Edenfall. He didn't speak. He didn't need to. His mere appearance, his body covered in ancient runes, caused the oxygen in the city to vibrate at an unknown frequency.
"There is memory in the blood. There are judgments older than the law."
That phrase emerged not from a mouth, but from every unhealed wound in the city. Azael didn't speak: his existence was a living judgment.
The Roots of Edenfall
While the sky of Neo-Prague burned with black lightning, underground, a phenomenon was unleashed: living roots sprouted from the subsoil, not plant roots, but nervous and organic tissues that connected with the nervous systems of the inhabitants.
"These are Edenfall's roots," Lirea murmured, watching one cling to her arm. "They're not from a tree. They're from us."
The roots amplified emotions, memories, and guilt. The past became unbearable. Some fell to their knees before mental images they had never experienced.
III. Combat in the Forgotten Core
Akihiko, along with Naeya, descended into a previously uncharted subterranean region: the Forgotten Core. There, they found the former Caretaker of Edenfall, now corrupted by the roots and known as Mal'Khar .
Mal'Khar didn't use weapons. His body was an arsenal of limbs and emotional glands. Each blow emitted a wave of remorse.
Akihiko, using his Void power, entered a new form: Inner Void , where he did not nullify matter, but memories of guilt.
"If memory is a weapon, I will be oblivion."
The fight was violent, emotional, visceral. Naeya was wounded while trying to protect a "nascent" root, and saw her mother's face within the weave. Akihiko decapitated Mal'Khar in a finishing move that unleashed a pulse of silence so profound it disrupted all electronic signals in Edenfall for a full minute.
The Blood Tree
At the center of the Core, a gigantic tree then emerged, made of nerves, cables, and veins: the Blood Tree . Azael stood before it.
"This tree doesn't grow from the ground. It grows from the weight of our decisions."
All the mafia leaders felt its power. Some collapsed. Others, like Ishiro of the Kurozai clan, tried to destroy it, but the tree showed them their own death before they could raise a hand.
The Declaration of Judgment
Azael soared above the tree. Bone wings sprouted from his back, and with a gesture, he divided the city into eight autonomous sectors. Each was assigned to a clan, but also marked with a symbol no one recognized.
"In seven days, only one will remain."
It was the Trial of the Deep Roots. An inevitable conflict, not just physical, but moral, where past decisions would determine who deserved to rule Edenfall.
Akihiko, exhausted but lucid, raised his katana and muttered:
"Judgment no longer belongs to the living. It belongs to those who have not forgotten."
END OF CHAPTER 202