> **System Notification:**
> *Main Quest "Thread of Eclipse" – COMPLETED*
> *New Arc Unlocked – "Fracture of Threads"*
> *Global Reaction Event: Circle Collapse – Partial*
> *Faction Response Detected – Unknown Order Mobilizing...*
> *Warning: You are being watched.*
The celebration lasted two days.
The people of Raventhorn danced, wept, and praised the prince who had "banished darkness with divine resolve." The High Temple proclaimed the eclipse as a sign of favor from the heavens. The nobles, though shaken, clung to this narrative like leeches to flesh.
Only Azrael remained untouched by their delusions.
From his silent observatory, he stared at the reconstructed ritual glyph—its patterns burned into the stone with celestial fire. Even now, the residue whispered to him.
He didn't hear voices. He felt *pulls*—threads trying to connect. Some of them led to distant lands.
Others… led nowhere.
> **System Prompt:**
> *Thread Analysis Complete*
> *Number of Fractured Threads: 6*
> *One leads to "The Hollow Mask." One leads to "Origin Nexus."*
> *Would you like to pursue? (Y/N)*
He paused.
"No."
Not yet.
---
Down in the underground wing of the palace, Shade knelt before him, a scroll wrapped in blood-soaked silk held out with reverence.
"They found one of the Circle's backups," she said. "An enclave beneath the Library of Fallen Stars."
"Survivors?" Azrael asked.
"Only one," she said. "And he wasn't Circle."
Azrael's brow arched.
"A child. No older than ten. Covered in runes."
> **System Notification:**
> *Unidentified Entity Detected – Status: Inert*
> *Thread Tag: 'Prototype Vessel – Project HOLLOW'*
> *Hostile Potential: Unmeasurable. Monitor Closely.*
He exhaled. "Quarantine him. I want him alive. Monitored. And unspoiled."
Shade hesitated. "He spoke a name."
Azrael turned his head.
"…What name?"
She frowned. "Yours."
---
That night, Azrael returned to his chamber.
The system interface was different now—sleeker, darker, and pulsing with faint threads. His previous menus had reorganized.
> **System Core Evolution Tree Unlocked**
> *Branches:*
> – Eclipse Sovereign [ACTIVE]
> – Path of Endless Stratagems [LOCKED]
> – ???
> – ???
> *New Feature: "Threadcrafting" Enabled – Create limited fate disruptions and design synthetic outcomes (Requires Thread Points).*
> **Thread Points: 1**
> *(Gained from fate defiance, enemy dismantling, timeline redirection)*
Azrael scrolled through the new menu.
He could now write reality—on a small scale. Temporary truths. Weaving belief into outcome.
"Dangerous," he murmured. "But useful."
---
Outside, however, danger brewed.
Across the sea in the Ivory Spires of Nevarra, the remnants of the Circle had not been idle. Three of their Elders had survived.
And one—Elder Vexlin—had activated an ancient protocol: **The Ouroboros Wake.**
> **Scene Switch – Nevarra**
> Elder Vexlin stood before a sealed gate, his face half-melted from Azrael's ritual backlash.
"He took the eclipse from us," he rasped. "Now we take from him… *time itself.*"
He placed his bleeding hand on the gate's seal.
> **Sealed System Fragment Activated – "Chrono Loop Root A"**
> *Objective: Restore one corrupted thread through hostile override.*
> *Target Thread: Azrael Raventhorn – Pre-System Anchor Point*
---
Back in Raventhorn…
> **System Alarm:**
> *Timeline Disruption Attempt Detected*
> *Initiating Countermeasure – Passive Defense Enabled (Eclipse Sovereign)*
> *Success: Partial – Loop Deflected. Backlash Imminent.*
Azrael staggered as a blast of cold thundered through his spine.
He saw *himself*—young, weak, unaware—standing in a battlefield of broken stars.
Then it faded.
He collapsed to his knees, blood dripping from his nose.
> **System Notice:**
> *New Timeline Anchor: Created*
> *Threat: Chrono Anomaly – Status: Active*
> *Recommendation: Locate "Anchor Echo" within 14 days.*
Azrael wiped his mouth.
"They're trying to rewrite me."
Shade entered, concerned. "You're bleeding."
"Good," Azrael muttered. "Means I'm still real."
---
That morning, Azrael summoned the full council.
He dismissed pleasantries. "The Circle is dead—but its corpse twitches. A new enemy moves. One we cannot name. Yet."
He tapped the table.
"I need three things: Intelligence on time relics, stabilization of our southern provinces, and identification of a woman named *Aurelia Noctis.*"
The name had come to him during the eclipse. A whisper from the broken threads.
> **System Prompt:**
> *Aurelia Noctis – Fate Entwined Level: 87%*
> *Classified: Potential Ally / Assassin / Relic Guardian*
> *Status: Wandering. Last seen – City of Thorns.*
"Send word," Azrael ordered. "We ride in three days."
---
At nightfall, he returned to the hidden vault beneath the palace where the child vessel slept.
He stood before the reinforced crystal pod.
The child opened its eyes.
Black. Hollow.
Then it spoke—not aloud, but within Azrael's mind.
*"You cut the thread."*
*"Now the Loom remembers."*
---
> **System Alert:**
> *Your name has been marked in the Loom.*
> *Three Fates will now hunt you.*
> – *The Crone (Severance)*
> – *The Maiden (Correction)*
> – *The Mask (Balance)*
> *New Arc Initiated: "The Loom Wars"*
> *Side Quest Unlocked: "First Strike – Hunt or Be Hunted"*
> *Recommended Location: City of Thorns (Access to Anchor Echo, Aurelia Noctis, and Fate Remnants)*
Azrael looked into the child's empty gaze and nodded once.
"So be it."
---
> **End of Chapter 8**