The moment the Samsara Crown settled upon Lucien's head, knowledge flooded him.
Not like text.
Not like memory.
But like instincts returning. Like truths he had always known but his Mind had forgotten.
Life. Death. The tether between soul and vessel.
The exact instant a soul begins to slip into the void.
Luminous threads bloomed before his vision. Silver, gold, red, fading blue.
The life-threads of everyone present.
And Raven's thread…
It was barely holding on.
A translucent wisp, Raven's soul, floated just above his chest, tugged by an unseen current.
It was leaving… severed from the breath-signature that once anchored it.
Lucien whispered,
"…His soul is already loosening. One more minute, and he won't have a body to return to."
The Scarlet Senior Sister's breath shattered.
Eirene covered her mouth.
Marie trembled.
Even the black-robed leader watched in silence as though witnessing a forbidden ritual.
The Samsara Crown pulsed.
