Chapter 59 — To Build a Goddess or Free a Curse
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9:15 AM | The Architect's Altar of Flesh and Fate
The room thrummed like a heartbeat in heat.
Yuuto stood at the center of the circular altar, surrounded by the three women—
Hana, Amariel, and the Unknown Girl—
each pulsing with a soft glow, like they were alive but unfinished.
Aika stood behind him.
Still.
Beautiful.
Cursed.
Her eyes were the most silent scream he had ever seen.
And across from him, the Architect waited—smiling like a devil in silk.
> "Choose, Yuuto.
Build a goddess.
Or free the soul you stole."
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The Offer, Unwrapped
On a curved, pulsating pedestal appeared a black needle.
> "Pierce the hearts of the three sleeping girls.
Their essences will merge.
Body, mind, voice, womb.
They will become your forever lover."
The Architect's eyes glimmered.
> "And in return, Aika's soul is released from the cursed shell."
"She'll live. But she'll forget you… forever."
Aika whispered behind him, her voice like cracked glass:
> "Yuuto…
If I go…
Please don't make something to replace me."
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Yuuto's Heart: Torn
He looked at Hana's face, framed by her moonlight hair.
He remembered her laughter during their first bath.
He looked at Amariel's wings—broken when she shielded him from the flame trials.
He remembered her last kiss before the fall.
He looked at the unnamed girl—familiar somehow.
Like someone he never got to love.
Someone who could've been everything.
And finally, he looked at Aika.
The girl who started it all.
The curse he chose to kiss.
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The Defiance
Yuuto reached for the needle—
paused—
then crushed it in his fist.
The Architect's smile faltered.
> "You dare deny the womb of godhood?"
Yuuto stepped forward.
> "If I can't have her with her soul,
I don't deserve her at all."
He turned to Aika—
cupped her face—
and pressed his forehead against hers.
> "Come back to me. Even if it kills me."
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The Shatter Ritual
The room cracked like bone.
The altar bled.
The Architect screamed:
> "FOOL! YOU COULD'VE HAD EVERYTHING!"
Yuuto drew a circle in blood on Aika's chest,
etched her original name in the air:
> Tsukishiro Aika.
Then he whispered the final cursebreaker:
> "I love you. Not what you became."
The light surged—
Aika screamed—
and collapsed.
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Aftermath
When the light faded, Yuuto lay on the floor.
Burned. Breathless.
And Aika… was beside him.
Alive.
Soul intact.
Eyes filled with tears.
Real ones.
> "Yuuto…" she choked.
"You didn't replace me."
He smiled.
> "You're irreplaceable."
And behind them, the Architect vanished—
laughing quietly, as if it had only just begun.