I. The Rhythm is Fractured
Edenfall was beginning to react. But what the city ignored was that the subterranean pulse wasn't seeking to establish a rhythm of unity, but rather to fracture its coherence.
Naeya is the first to notice. In the lab, the data begins to present contradictory patterns. Some streets emit signals of elevated cardiac activity, others seem dead, lacking flow. Edenfall doesn't beat like a city; it beats like a body with partial tachycardia.
"We are entering into urban arrhythmia," concludes Riva.
Meanwhile, Velos, traveling through Sectors 4 and 5, feels his reflexes falter. He sees movements before they happen, and others too late. Time, in Edenfall, is beginning to unravel.
II. The Third Seal: Ranka Jūsō
In the shadow of the East Sector black market, a figure appears for the first time in years. Her presence is impossible to ignore. She is a woman with onyx-colored skin, hair parted in snake-like braids, and a body covered in a robe of living symbols that rearrange themselves according to her pulse.
She is Ranka Jūsō , third of the Throne of the Twelve Bloods. Her ability: Organ Disorder , a form of visceral manipulation that alters the function of other organs at will through perceptual distortions.
But his true talent is more terrifying: he can cause collective desynchronization, causing people in the same area to have incompatible temporal and physical perceptions.
"What if I control not only organs, but their notion of being here?"
Their arrival triggers a wave of physical chaos: individuals collapse without visible injuries. They seem out of step with themselves, as if soul and body no longer share the same time.
III. Chaos in District Eight
Lirea and Akihiko arrive just as the sirens go off. The townspeople attack each other unwittingly, confused by sensory illusions. Some believe they are trapped in fires, others see duplicates of themselves.
"It's not telepathy, it's biological interference!" Lirea shouts.
Akihiko tries to intervene, but his movements also become out of sync. He takes a step and feels like he's jumped seconds into the future. His body isn't fully obeying him.
Ranka watches from a rooftop, with a curious smile. To her, everything is a symphony of dissonance.
When he decides to intervene directly, he stops the air in Akihiko's lungs for exactly five seconds. It doesn't kill him, it just silences him.
"I didn't come to destroy. I came to compose."
IV. The Theory of Discord
As Edenfall burns in confusion, Riva finds a pattern. Not all of the Twelve Bloods' attacks are random. They're seeking more than chaos.
Discover an ancient theory from Edenfall: the Multi-Pulse Structure , an energetic network that distributes information, memory, and stimulation throughout the city. A hidden system , deactivated 25 years ago.
"They're trying to revive it… to remake Edenfall in their image."
And they are succeeding.
V. The Combat of the Fragmented Ending
Akihiko manages to stabilize his perception through absolute concentration. He shuts off all his senses except touch. He stops thinking. He just feels .
Thus, he manages to get close to Ranka.
The two exchange blows without sound, without light, without time. Each blow is a pure physical gesture. But Ranka doesn't fall easily: her robe acts as a reflex system, generating illusions with each impact.
Finally, Akihiko manages to touch the back of his neck, which interrupts his distortion field.
"You can't sing out of tune if you've never learned to sing."
Ranka fades away—not dead, but temporarily disabled. But she leaves something behind: A burning symbol, like a broken musical key.
VI. The Throne is Reactivated
Shōen Rikudō watches from the broadcast chamber. Three members have fallen, but they haven't been eliminated. They've just been released from the force.
"The first bars are ready. It's time to change instruments."
A new face appears, this time on multiple screens. A figure covered in bandages, whose voice cannot be heard but is read directly on the body of the person watching it.
"The fourth seal... will be visible in the eyes of those who can no longer weep."
Edenfall is no longer a city. It's an instrument. And someone has started tuning it.
END OF CHAPTER 193