Valen descended in silence.
Not because it was quiet.
But because silence was the only thing left to him.
The glyphs in his gloves whispered madness.
The memory-scars stitched into his collarbone burned with every step.
The Codex had rejected him.
But that didn't mean he couldn't burn it to the root.
> If Lyle Greenbottle was meant to wield it…
Then I was meant to break him.
---
The stairwell narrowed.
The walls closed in.
And the spiral of bloodglass etched across the floor finally came into view.
It wasn't just a path.
It was a seal.
Valen stopped at the edge of it.
Closed his eyes.
And pressed his palm into his chest—right over the twisted glyph the Academy had forced on him after his rejection.
The mark flared.
And then—
A weapon folded out from inside his own mana.
It wasn't a sword.
It wasn't a spell.
It was… an ending.
> A thin, needle-like filament of obsidian.
> Sharp enough to cut memory.
Precise enough to sever bond threads.
Silent enough that the Codex wouldn't detect it until it was already inside.
It had a name.
Etched only once, in a language no student was ever taught.
> "Unmaking Thread: Silences-Two"
---
The ground trembled.
Not because of him.
Because the Codex felt it.
And for the first time since he'd begun his descent, Valen smiled.
"It knows I'm here."
---
He moved faster now—through broken sanctums, shattered shrines, and collapsed memory chambers.
He saw the Echo Trial ruins.
Saw where the Mirror had cracked.
Saw the faint dust of self-forgiveness hanging like glitter in the air.
"Too soft," he muttered. "Too slow."
And pressed on.
---
But at the edge of the Root Chamber…
He stopped.
Something watched him.
Not the Codex.
Not the Guardian.
Something deeper.
A presence without eyes.
> "Ah," it whispered, "The broken echo walks."
Valen raised the Unmaking Thread.
"Come closer and find out how broken."
The voice laughed.
But not cruelly.
Not evilly.
Just… knowingly.
"You don't belong here. But you'll serve a purpose."
"I serve no one."
"Oh," it said.
"Then you truly don't understand what you're about to do."
---
Valen stepped into the threshold.
The Root Chamber ahead pulsed faintly with glyphlight—just visible.
And deep within…
Lyle and Juno stood at the very edge of truth.
He gripped the Unmaking Thread tighter.
Because he would be the hand that reset the story.
Even if it killed them.
Even if it killed him.