The battlefield was no longer recognizable.
Shards of mirrored ground floated like fractured islands, suspended in the crimson glow of the fractured moon. The vow-thread between Ren and the silver-haired girl burned bright, but around them the four avatars rose from the chaos like titans sculpted from memory and chain.
The first towered over them, a knight of twisted links with no face beneath its helm, carrying a blade wider than Ren's entire body. The second coiled through the air—a serpent made of nothing but barbed shackles, its scales rattling as it writhed. The third unfolded metallic wings, a beast-like figure screeching with a sound like grinding glass. And the last—perhaps the most haunting—took the form of a child-shaped phantom, its hollow sockets filled with chain fragments, whispering words too faint to catch.
