---
Chapter 30: The Fifth Sin
Blood. Dust. Screams.
Lysa stood frozen as Torren's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, his soul fractured, dispersed by the shattering power of Riven's evolved Fracture Pulse—a wave of chaotic entropy that annihilated the essence of intent itself. He hadn't even screamed.
"Torren..." Lysa whispered.
But there was no time to mourn.
Vex, his crimson aura pulsing like a heartbeat gone mad, stepped forward, eyes locked on Lysa. "That's four now," he muttered, voice as casual as if he were tallying groceries.
Lysa blinked, fury mixing with grief. Her trembling hand reached into her memory. Phantom Archive activated.
Flicker Fade.
She vanished just as Vex's long-range Crackpoint Impact shattered the space she had stood in—an invisible force that left a fractured crater behind.
She reappeared mid-air, barely dodging a follow-up attack. But not fast enough. Her shoulder caught the edge of a distortion shockwave, tearing skin and muscle. She landed hard.
"You're not surviving this," Vex said, walking slowly, eyes cold.
Lysa coughed blood and whispered, "You're not human."
Vex smiled. "No. I'm better."
She charged, using her last archived technique.
Riven was already there.
His hand flared with the evolved Fracture Pulse, now shaped into a scythe-like burst of collapsing energy. One swing—and Lysa was gone. Her memories shattered with her.
"That's five," Vex whispered. "Five sins. Five songs in this nightmare symphony."
A silence followed.
Then—
BOOM.
The earth cracked open. A giant, ten feet tall, stepped from the void like a myth birthed from the darkness. Its form was hazy, barely visible, but solid enough to send tremors with every step.
Veyla and Keen stood together, watching from the cliffside.
And the monster... ignored them.
Instead, its glowing eyes turned toward Riven and Vex.
Vex raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You see us, don't you?"
The monster let out a guttural roar that split the air.
Riven narrowed his eyes. "He's not bound by the rules of Nightmare anymore."
The monster lunged.
Riven raised his hand and unleashed Entropic Eye, predicting its movements, calculating weaknesses. His fingers shimmered as he summoned Fracture Pulse: Collapse Form, an evolved strike capable of disrupting core essence.
Vex met the charge with a roar of his own. His Crackpoint Impact spiraled out in a circular range, blasting back the monster's limbs—but it held firm. Their attacks landed... and the monster kept coming.
They weren't fighting a beast.
They were fighting a shift in the game.
---
The scene cuts—
A quiet room, veiled in shadows.
Keen stands beside Veyla, both calm.
"He's used two rolls," Keen said softly.
Veyla's eyes didn't blink. "That means only four remains."
---