The Earth Splits into Echoes
The city of Edenfall, once whole, was now a collection of floating islands divided by chasms and scars. The eight sectors had been separated by massive fractures that echoed like subterranean bells. Where bridges had once stood, there was now emptiness. Where information had once flowed, murmurs now spread among the rubble.
From Intersection Headquarters, Kael observed the holographic map: eight cores. Eight fronts. Each with a seal that vibrated at a different frequency. Each guarded by a representative of the Throne.
"The Founder has divided the city not to control it... but to rewrite it from its ruins."
Squadron Division
Akihiko made the decision. They couldn't take on everything at once, but they also couldn't let each sector fall silent.
Thus was born the Fractal Lament Protocol : dividing the squad into four binary teams, each in charge of two sectors.
Akihiko and Naeya: Nox Sector and Golden Sector Isabella and Lirea: Umbral Sector and Ash Sector Kael and Guren: Thorn Sector and Abyss Sector Hiroto and Sira: Eco Sector and Flame Sector
Each team would receive a resonance frequency generator, linked to the emotional core of the Central Tree. Each core had to be reconnected before the Founder activated the Ritual of Expulsion.
III. Nox Sector – The Awakening of the Hollow Heart
Akihiko and Naeya arrived at a sector where night was permanent. Instead of light, a dense fog covered the buildings. People walked in circles, their pupils dilated, talking to their own shadows.
A new enemy appeared: Erian , a faceless woman with a voice that mimicked those of her victims' loved ones. Her power was twofold: she could extract memories of attachment and use them to manipulate her opponents.
Akihiko was attacked by his mother's voice. Naeya heard his sister's laughter. But they held.
"Our memories aren't weapons to you. They're shields that keep us standing."
Naeya used a sonic projectile that shattered the illusion, and Akihiko slashed at the core of the mist with his Void-shrouded katana. Erian disappeared, leaving behind a single word: "Interlude."
Threshold Sector – The Weight of Judgment
Isabella and Lirea entered a silent city. The walls were covered with metal plaques carved with names: they were the fallen of Edenfall, but the names were false.
Drael appeared , an ancient monk with the power to transform guilt into physical weight. The guiltier you were, the slower you became.
Lirea was nearly crushed by her memories. Isabella fell to her knees when Drael spoke the name of a traitor from her past.
But it was then that Isabella shouted:
"I'm not driven by guilt. I'm driven by redemption."
The scream broke the mass holding her, and Lirea freed her body with her slashing dance, piercing Drael's spine with a spiral of invisible blades.
Spina Sector – The Mirror of Pain
Kael and Guren were greeted by a city mirrored within itself. Every step they took, a replica of them followed suit. Soon, they were confronted by their own doppelgangers , corrupted and violent versions of themselves.
The replicas didn't speak. They just attacked with fury. Kael understood that the only way to defeat them was to accept their dark side.
"I am not just what I do. I am also what I have thought... and overcome."
Guren embraced his double, causing him to vanish. Kael ignited him in an electric field that responded only to emotional truth.
Eco Sector – The Eternal Lament
Hiroto and Sira arrived at an empty city where sounds echoed endlessly. Each word was repeated thousands of times, deforming into screams. There, they faced Varka , a creature formed by sound waves.
Varka spoke in reverse, and her attack was the cursed words of her victims' past.
Sira fell prey to the echo of her first kill. Hiroto was silenced by the voice of his fallen former mentor.
But Hiroto made a risky decision: he activated the resonance frequency directly on himself , becoming a human antenna.
"If I must absorb the echo... I will do it so that you can scream."
Sira screamed. She screamed with all the pain she'd been holding in for years, and the shockwave shattered Varka into invisible fragments.
VII. The Tree Vibrates
With each victory, the Central Tree of Edenfall vibrated more strongly. The Founder felt it. From his throne of broken roots, he knew that the time of his judgment was approaching.
But he smiled.
"They've connected the pillars. But... have you seen what's beneath their roots?"
A rift formed beneath the Tree. A dark vortex, far older than Edenfall, opened with a promise: the return of the first denied emotion .