Season 1 – THE CURSED SUMMON
Episode 13: When the Stars Bleed
The sky bled.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
A crimson trail carved itself across the heavens as if the stars were being sliced open from beyond the veil.
Ren stared upward, his body still trembling from the Fifth Fragment's toll.
Akio stood beside him, jaw clenched, sweat forming despite the mountain chill.
Lyra said nothing.
She hadn't said a word since Ren collapsed outside the gate.
The silence between them was louder than thunder.
---
> [System Notification]
[Warning: Astral Alignment Detected – Entity Descent in Progress]
[Estimated Time of Arrival: 24 hours]
[Recommendation: Seek Shelter or Submit]
Akio broke the silence first. "What does it mean… 'Entity Descent'?"
Ren's voice was hoarse. "It means Eidros isn't waiting anymore."
Akio frowned. "I thought we had time—"
"We don't."
Lyra finally turned. "We need to leave. Now."
But Ren didn't move.
His eyes locked on the star bleeding black-red across the sky.
He knew that color.
He'd seen it in the Echo's eyes.
It was the same.
---
They traveled west through the jagged remains of Ghalreth's Maw—a rift valley that reeked of sulfur and forgotten sins.
Dead trees clawed at the sky like skeletal fingers.
The wind whispered in a language Ren almost recognized.
But it wasn't until nightfall that the air changed.
Like the world itself was holding its breath.
The ground cracked beneath their feet.
Ren dropped to one knee, clutching his head.
A memory—not his own—flooded in.
---
A boy. Blonde-haired. Bright-eyed.
Standing at the altar of a ruined cathedral.
Bloodied. Crying.
> "Please… I didn't mean to… I just wanted to save them—"
Then fire. Screaming. Chains. Eidros.
Ren gasped as it ended.
> [Memory Sympathy Triggered – Emotional Residue Absorbed]
[Subject: Unknown Summoned – Deceased]
[Warning: Prolonged exposure may result in Soul Fragmentation]
---
"They're calling us," Ren muttered. "The ones who failed before. They're trying to show us."
Akio glanced back. "Show us what?"
"That it's not just a game. Eidros doesn't want survivors."
Lyra looked at Ren. "And you think we're next."
"I know we are."
---
At midnight, they reached the sanctuary ruins of Velmora—a place built to protect Summoned in ages past.
Only one chamber remained intact.
A circular room with a mosaic of the sky on the ceiling.
Except now, that sky dripped blood.
One of the stars—the moving one—was centered above them.
As if watching.
Waiting.
Akio pressed his palm to the cold stone altar.
It lit up.
> [Sanctuary Node – Active]
[Summoned DNA Detected: Aizawa Ren – Priority Class]
[Unlocking Memory Seal – Fragment 1]
A beam of light pierced Ren's chest.
He screamed.
The walls shook.
And the ceiling began to change.
---
A vision took over the sanctuary:
Ren standing in a throne room made of mirrors.
Eidros seated above, chains wrapped around a dozen corpses.
A deal.
Ren kneeling.
Offering something—no, someone—in exchange.
A girl.
Dark-haired. Smiling.
Her hand in his.
Then fire.
> "If you forget her," Eidros had whispered, "I'll let you live again. Stronger. Better. But not… whole."
Ren clutched his skull.
> [Memory Seal 1 Unlocked – Subject: Unknown Female – Status: Erased]
[Reconstruction Initiated…]
---
When Ren opened his eyes, he was crying.
But he didn't know why.
Only that his chest ached where the beam struck.
And the mosaic above them now showed something else.
A tether.
Connecting the bleeding star to him.
Akio staggered back. "What the hell is that?"
Ren's voice shook. "It's mine. That thing… is tied to me."
Lyra's hand hovered near her blade. "Then we kill it."
Ren looked at her, the weight of five fragments behind his eyes.
"You can't kill something you've already become."
---
They left the sanctuary before dawn.
But the moment they stepped outside—
The sky cracked open.
And something fell.
Not a star.
Not a god.
Not a monster.
A man.
Cloaked in shadow. His eyes glowing blue.
Hair white like snow. His face hidden behind a mask carved from bone.
He landed without a sound.
And the world bent around him.
Akio drew his blade.
Lyra froze.
Ren's knees nearly buckled.
Because the man looked at him.
And smiled.
> "Hello, Ren."
Ren's breath caught. "Who… are you?"
The man stepped forward, hands empty.
"I'm the version of you that survived."
> [Warning: Temporal Echo Detected – Subject: Aizawa Ren – Future Class]
[Combat Level: Unknown]
[Intent: ???]
---
Akio roared, leapt forward.
Blade aimed for the Echo's throat.
But he never landed the strike.
The world skipped.
And Akio hit the ground, convulsing. His sword shattered. His eyes rolled back.
Ren screamed. "AKIO!"
The Echo tilted his head. "I didn't kill him."
Lyra moved next.
Faster than light.
A blur of steel and wind.
But she too froze mid-motion.
Suspended in the air like time had paused.
The Echo approached Ren.
"You keep trying to change fate."
Ren's voice cracked. "Why are you here?"
"To warn you."
"About what?"
The Echo leaned close.
So close Ren could feel his breath.
> "You've already lost."
And with that—
He vanished.
---
Akio lay still.
Breathing, but unconscious.
Lyra dropped from her suspended state, coughing, dazed.
Ren stood alone.
His shadow long beneath the bleeding sky.
The mosaic above the sanctuary crumbled.
The tether tightened.
And in the ruins behind them, the air whispered a name.
The girl's name.
The one Ren had sacrificed.
> "Sena…"