Season 1 – THE CURSED SUMMON
Episode 15: The Descent of the Star
The bleeding star fell.
Not with a roar.
But with silence.
As if the heavens had no voice left to scream.
Ren stood at the mouth of the cave, frost clinging to his tattered robes, watching as the sky bled itself into a slow collapse.
His body had stopped shaking. Not because he felt calm. But because he no longer had the energy to fear.
> [Skill "Fifth Fragment" Instability: 94%]
[Warning: Critical Soul Degradation Detected]
[Recommendation: SURRENDER or ABSORB the Tethered Core]
[Note: Eidros is watching.]
He ignored the prompts.
He looked at Akio, still lying near the dying embers of the fire. Barely alive. Unmoving. He looked at the frozen path ahead—up the Ashen Spine.
He looked up at the descending star.
And walked into it.
---
The climb was endless.
Flesh tore from bone with every step. Blood froze before it could drip. His thoughts fragmented like shattered glass.
But he kept climbing.
Because he remembered Sena. Because Akio was still breathing. Because Lyra had vanished to chase her own ghosts.
Because if he turned back, he'd become the Echo.
And that fate was worse than death.
---
At the summit, the storm parted.
The bleeding star hung suspended just above the highest cliff, tethered to a black monolith made of living veins.
And at its base— the Gate.
Not stone. Not metal. But a wound in reality.
It bled. It pulsed. And it whispered.
> "WELCOME, CHILD OF REGRET."
Ren fell to his knees.
> [Gate of Eidros Recognizes Your Offering]
[Skill: Divine Learner - Awakened State Reached]
[Permission Granted to Claim: "The Forgotten Core"]
The star dropped.
Straight into his chest.
---
Pain.
More than death. More than betrayal.
It was existence unraveling.
He saw every version of himself: the child who cried in the rain, the teen who failed to save her, the corpse at the school gate, the monster in the mirror.
All screaming.
> [Skill Fusion Initiated]
[Warning: You have no right to this power. Proceeding regardless.]
He accepted it.
Because he had nothing left to lose.
And everything to repay.
---
Light devoured the peak.
When it cleared— Ren was standing. Alone.
His right arm was gone, replaced by a writhing limb made of starlight and bone. His eye bled silver.
> [NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: "ASTRAL TETHER"]
[Effect: Bind your soul to forgotten divinity. Burn memories for power. Consume time.]
He looked at the Gate.
And it opened.
Inside, he saw the truth.
---
Eidros was not a god. Not anymore.
He was a hollow throne. A parasite. A cosmic wound that fed on the chosen and called it destiny.
He had summoned Ren. Plucked him from death. And offered him power to watch him break.
The Echo wasn't just Ren's future. He was one of many.
All failed versions, twisted by the Gate's endless loop. Each time Ren died, the cycle reset. Each time he remembered Sena, the pain deepened.
Each time he chose to fight, Eidros smiled.
Because pain was his worship.
---
Ren stepped through.
And found himself face-to-face with him.
The Echo.
Older. Stronger. Wearing Ren's first school uniform, stained with blood and ash.
He didn't attack.
He held out his hand.
"You can't save them. You never will. Join me. We can end the cycle."
Ren looked down.
His hand trembled.
He thought of Sena. Of her last smile. Of Lyra's silent tears. Of Akio's sacrifice.
And he remembered something no other version of him had:
He had promised to never forget her.
And forgetting was exactly what this path led to.
He stepped back.
And drew the Astral limb.
"Then kill me. But I won't become you."
The Echo's face broke.
"Then you die."
---
The battle tore the space between life and death.
They fought on shifting platforms made of collapsed timelines.
Each blow ripped through moments: Ren and Sena watching stars. Akio laughing in the rain. Lyra holding her dead brother.
Each fragment shattered.
Ren's memories burned to fuel his strikes.
> [Memory Burn: "First Smile" - +22% Power]
[Memory Burn: "Her Final Goodbye" - +40% Soul Force]
[Warning: If you forget all, you become Echo.]
And still he fought.
Because pain was all he had left to give.
---
Finally—
With a scream that echoed across all cycles—Ren stabbed the Astral limb through the Echo's heart.
And tore.
The world split.
The Echo howled.
And began to fade.
"You'll come back. We all do."
Ren whispered:
"Then I'll keep killing you."
---
The Gate collapsed.
The star exploded above.
Ren fell.
But before he hit the mountain— a voice caught him.
Her voice.
> "You remembered me."
And everything went white.
---
Ren woke up.
Beneath a red moon. Next to a ruined lake.
Akio was sitting beside him, still weak, but alive.
Lyra stood nearby, her eyes colder. A fresh scar cut down her cheek.
No one said anything.
Because they all knew.
The Gate was closed.
But the war had only just begun.