The Sutra burns hotter.
Each verse pulses like a heartbeat, guiding Adam and Sora through the borderlands—where cursed energy once flowed like rivers, now dry and silent. The world is forgetting itself.
Roads twist.
Signs vanish.
Time skips.
But the Sutra remembers.
And so does Adam.
The Slums
They find Riku in a ruined temple, surrounded by symbols drawn in blood. He's sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, humming a tune that makes the walls tremble.
Sora flinches.
"That sound… it's wrong."
Adam steps forward.
"It's ancient."
Riku opens his eyes.
Two.
Then four.
Then two again.
He grins.
"You're late."
Adam kneels.
"Do you know who you are?"
Riku tilts his head.
"I know who I was. I'm deciding who I'll be."
Sora steps back.
"He's dangerous."
Adam nods.
"He's necessary."
The Memory Trial
Riku leads them into the temple's depths.
There, a mirror waits.
Not glass.
Ink.
It reflects not faces, but truths.
Sora sees himself laughing as the world burns.
Adam sees himself rewriting history with no remorse.
Riku sees nothing.
"Why don't you reflect?" Adam asks.
"Because I'm still being written," Riku replies.
He touches the mirror.
It cracks.
The temple shakes.
The Reaper's mark appears on the wall.
Adam gasps.
"It's close."
Riku grins.
"It's watching."
The Pact Sealed
Adam opens the Sutra.
He writes three names:
Adam Taity Sora Gojo Riku Sukuna
The ink resists.
Then accepts.
The Sutra glows.
A new verse appears:
"The king remembers. The blind god sees. The archivist rewrites."
Riku laughs.
"So we're a team now?"
Sora groans.
"I already regret this."
Adam smiles.
"You will. But you'll remember why."
The Reaper's Whisper
Far away, in the Hollow Vale, the Reaper watches.
It sees the pact.
It sees the names.
It begins to erase.
Not the people.
The idea of them.
And the world begins to forget what rebellion feels like.