I. Echoes of the Void
The city of Edenfall no longer resembled a place. It had become a tangible void , an extension of what the Tree had intended it to be. Roots rose up, twisted and alive, as if the ground itself were breathing to the rhythm of the Tree's heartbeat . Echoes of what had once been streets and buildings faded into a dark, red-tinged haze. Sunlight no longer reached the land. Everything was shrouded in an eternal twilight.
Akihiko stood at the center of this distortion, his body exhausted by the sacrifice he had just made, by the weight of the void that had consumed him. The fragment of the Fruit still throbbed within him, a constant reminder of what he now was. But inside, something had changed. The city, the Tree, the cycle … everything was beginning to coalesce in a way that even he couldn't fully comprehend.
"The cycle begins again…" The Tree's words echoed in his mind, but the echo no longer filled him with fear. Now, it was only a part of him. A part of the Tree.
Kaede stood beside him, gazing at the ruins with an unforgiving expression. She had been his light in the darkness, but now, even her eyes reflected the city's transformation.
" What have we done? " Kaede asked softly, almost as if words could change anything. But she knew there was no going back.
Akihiko didn't respond immediately. He stared at the roots emerging from the ground, dragging everything they touched with them. The city was now nothing more than an extension of the Tree. Edenfall had become a monument to darkness.
II. The Voice of the Earth
Suddenly, the ground trembled. It wasn't an ordinary tremor. It was as if the very heart of Edenfall were beating beneath his feet. The black earth covering the city shifted rhythmically, as if the Tree were searching for something. Akihiko, aware of the growing pressure in his chest, felt something awakening . Not just the city. Something deeper.
A whisper echoed through the air, a sound that seemed to emanate from the very core of the earth. The Tree's voice resonated in every corner. "The cycle closes, but the door remains open. The sacrifice is complete, but the price is expansion."
Akihiko felt a surge of energy course through his body, and despite the sacrifice, he realized that his connection to the Tree was no longer something external . It was a part of him . But there was still something missing. Something that needed to be completed.
Kaede, noticing the tension on his face, took a step towards him, her hand outstretched.
— What does all this mean, Akihiko?
Akihiko couldn't help himself. He looked into Kaede's eyes, searching for some sign of what had happened. But there was no fear in her eyes anymore. Only a question that was beyond words.
"The Tree needs something more. It needs the final sacrifice." The voice was his, but the echo was deeper . The Tree was asking for something. And Akihiko understood.
III. The Dark Flame
Before I could process what was happening, the ground split again. This time, it wasn't just a tremor. It was a fissure , a crack that stretched from the center of the city into what seemed like a bottomless abyss. From the crack emerged a figure .
It was Lucius . His body, once an ethereal specter, was now fully formed. The power surrounding him seemed tangible, dense, like a corporeal shadow that absorbed light itself.
Lucius looked at Akihiko with a smile that betrayed no trace of humanity. He was the last of the Seven Deadly Ones , but his role in all of this went far beyond what Akihiko could have imagined.
" Do you think everything you've done will be enough? " Lucius's voice was cold, but there was something more: disdain . The power emanating from him wasn't just the power of a Lethal. It was the power of the Tree .
Akihiko, however, did not back down. Despite his fatigue and the growing feeling that the Tree was taking more and more of him, he stood firm.
" This isn't over. " Akihiko's voice was deep, but it held a hint of fire. " The sacrifice has been made, but you are not the final obstacle."
Lucius approached slowly, and each step he took seemed to make the air thicker. The edges of his figure faded and rematerialized as a disembodied shadow .
" The Tree is not just power. " Lucius's voice echoed deeply. " It is a will. And that will... it takes hold of everything."
IV. The Long Fall
The ground beneath his feet trembled once more. The roots twisted in a frenetic pattern as the city itself joined the Tree's expanding cycle. The emptiness Akihiko felt within was no longer just the power of the fragment. It was a presence , something he couldn't control, yet which, in turn, dominated him.
" Kaede! " Akihiko shouted, his voice coming from the very depths of his being. "Save yourself!"
Seeing the despair in their eyes, Kaede quickly approached. She was the only one who could understand what was really happening.
— Don't do it, Akihiko. Don't go on.
But Lucius stepped forward, extending his hand toward Akihiko. The shadow surrounding him expanded with inhuman speed. The ground beneath his feet creaked , and emptiness seemed to engulf everything in its path.
Akihiko prepared himself to face what was to come, knowing that the end of everything he had begun was about to be completed. The final door was near , and the final decision would be made in that instant.