Echoes from the Unfinished Cracks
While the particles of the Void still floated over Edenfall after the fall of the Tower, cracks began to open in the city's oldest districts. These weren't physical cracks, but narrative fractures: unfinished stories, untold tales, began to spill over from the walls.
Lirea detected a pattern in these fractures: they all belonged to former mafia members who had disappeared without a trace. Now, their stories were about revenge.
Akihiko gathered his group: Naeya, Lirea, Sael, and Ryuko. The group decided to explore the five areas where the noise from the past was most intense.
The Labyrinth of Testimony
The first crack led them to an alley that seemed to expand with every step. There, they found a silent figure, its back turned, carved in words. It was a "forgotten witness": someone who had witnessed all the sins, but whom no one ever listened to.
"What if what I saw... was the only thing stopping the world from moving forward?"
Akihiko used his Void to absorb the distortion, but the witness did not disappear: it became part of the group, guiding them to the next fragment.
III. The Archive of Resolved Anger
In the basement of Edenfall, a subterranean library was activated. Each shelf contained emotional files. In a sealed room, they found the "Unresolved Anger Files."
Ryuko, impulsively, tried to touch one. The file came to life and she threw it against the wall, plunging her into an alien memory of torture.
Naeya intervened, physically confronting the file. The fight was brutal, emotional, and physical. Only after overcoming it with his will did he manage to transform the file into a sealed scroll.
"Unresolved anger doesn't go away... it changes form."
The Silent Clan Resurfaces
In the third point, they discovered that one of the ancient mafia clans, the Silent Clan, still existed in the shadows. They were now a cult of assassins who communicated through gestures, each carrying a reflexive power: if you attacked them, they would strike back with your own amplified intent.
Sael infiltrated them, using his power to copy their signs. In a tense scene, he managed to sabotage their ritual, saving a girl marked as a sacrifice.
The cult leader escaped, leaving a carved message: "The Silence still roars."
The Dissonance of Steel
In the Edenfall industrial zone, a group of mechanical gangsters known as "The Iron Ones" had stolen hand-to-hand combat memories and used them to replicate perfect combat moves. They confronted Akihiko with a fighting style that mimicked his every move.
Akihiko then improvised. He broke his own routines. He fought without form. Without style. Only then was he able to defeat them.
"Memory can be a weapon... but also a prison."
The Language of Shared Pain
In an abandoned district, the team found a room where people exchanged scars like letters. Each wound was a story that another could carry for a time. The exchange generated understanding, but it also weakened the recipient.
Lirea agreed to carry an old woman's wound, and inside she found a vision: a child with red eyes destroying without knowing why. It was a warning. Someone with as yet unrevealed power was emerging.
VII. The Flames of the Reborn Clan
Another mafia clan reappeared: the Ignis Clan. They manipulated emotional fire: their flames grew more intense the more furious their opponent was. Akihiko faced off against the second-in-command, a warrior named Kaelth.
The battle was devastating. Akihiko used the Void to extinguish his own emotions and make Kaelth's fire disappear.
"Don't hate me. Don't fear me. Just... forget me."
VIII. The Map of Blood and Signs
Ryuko discovered a mark on her forearm that she hadn't had before. It was part of an ancient map formed by living blood and arcane symbols. Each battle they fought completed a part of the map.
By piecing together the data, they knew they were being guided. Someone or something wanted them to go through these trials.
The Voice That Returns
At the end of the day, in the center of Edenfall, they heard a voice that belonged to no one. It was as if the city itself were speaking:
"Remember that memory is treacherous. And even more so... who uses it."
Akihiko, Lirea, and Naeya exchanged glances. It wasn't an enemy waiting for them. It was something deeper: a hidden narrator guiding the chaos with surgical precision.
Silence Prepares to Scream
The chapter ends with the image of a hooded man watching from a forgotten tower. His eyes were living symbols. Each blink rewrote a small part of Edenfall.
"They haven't figured out who's telling this story yet. But they will."