I. The Dark Founder Awakens
The city shook. From the center of the already fragmented Tower, an incomplete figure emerged: the Dark Founder , his form still fluctuating between symbols and flesh. He didn't walk, he floated… but his shadow left physical traces that bled ink.
"He's not a god. He's not a myth. He's an idea that refused to die," Lirea whispered, feeling the weight of his presence crushing her from within.
Akihiko, Naeya, and Lirea watched, paralyzed by one certainty: all of Edenfall was built on the will of that being . Its awakening meant that the city's history was about to change forever.
II. Meeting of the Clans
From the far reaches of Edenfall, the remaining leaders of the mafia clans began to arrive, alerted by the fallen Tower and the reemergence of the Founder.
Kaaren , of the Ironborn, in his forged bone armor. Vassya , of the Crimson Shadows, wrapped in a cloak of latent memory. Reijo , of the Static Fang Clan, who controlled time disruptions.
"This isn't a proxy war. It's a narrative war," Reijo said, looking at the Founder as if reading a cursed page.
They decided to join forces... but without trusting each other. They agreed on only one thing: if the Founder imposes his history, all the others will disappear.
III. The Forbidden Language
Naeya discovered an ancient manuscript: "The First Language ," the system of symbols the Founder used to write the foundations of Edenfall. That language wasn't spoken or read : it was felt, and each symbol tattooed on the skin granted an irreversible emotion.
Naeya, determined, used it on herself, marking her arm with the Symbol of Realization , a rune that prevented anyone from ever forgetting anything.
"If he's going to write a story… we're going to remember everything he tries to erase."
That knowledge allowed Naeya to open an ancient channel beneath Edenfall, a crypt of trapped emotions , where the first human Founders sacrificed themselves to prevent the Dark Founder from taking full form.
IV. Live Line Combat
Akihiko led an offensive with the rest of the clans against a projection of the Founder : a titan covered in moving symbols that adapted its form based on the doubts of those who faced it.
Each blow from the Founder rewrote the combatant's memories . The gangsters fought ferociously, but one by one they fell victim to the alteration of their own past.
Akihiko, using his Void Correction , managed to keep his emotional lifeline intact. In a moment of desperation, he combined his power with the Symbol of Realization that Naeya temporarily projected onto him.
"I don't care what you're trying to write. We've already lived through this story."
The attack did not destroy the Founder, but it tore away a part of his essence , revealing that his core was human: a forgotten, nameless figure who only wanted to be remembered.
V. The Bloody Cloth
Edenfall itself reacted. The city walls began to fill with scattered phrases, memories of its citizens. The streets wrote themselves with screams, songs, secrets, moments of love and death.
The city became a living book , a rebellion against the Founder's narrative control.
"Edenfall won't be your novel," Lirea shouted, her eyes now completely blank, connected to the overall narrative flow.
Naeya raised his hand and, using the First Language, wrote a single symbol in the air.
The Founder's ink froze. His body began to fracture. But he wasn't destroyed , just... contained.