Chapter 21: The Name That Burns
"To forget one's name is to sever the root of the self. But to do so willingly… that is the birth of something unholy."
Emberreach burned.
The sky hadn't stopped bleeding since the rift tore open above it. Gold lightning arced through the void, illuminating the hollow bones of broken towers. And at the center of it all, Shen Nightfall stood silent—staring up at the godlike figure descending through the breach.
The Celestial Warden—cloaked in rusted divinity, half-halo cracked—floated down like judgment incarnate. Time itself bent around him. Stone wept, winds halted, and system notifications jittered and glitched in Shen's vision.
[⚠ SYSTEM WARNING: Primordial Interference Detected.]
[CAUTION: Opponent class exceeds current calibration thresholds.]
Nyxria, crouched beside Shen, whispered, "He's not bound by your system anymore. He's a leftover of a higher war."
"Then I'll burn higher," Shen replied coldly.
But the timer still ticked.
[VOIDBRAND STAGE IV UNLOCK IN: 71:02:53]
He had chosen to give up his name. He had accepted the deal with the Voidbrand. But the transformation hadn't completed yet. And now, the storm had come early.
The Warden landed. Each step cracked the air itself.
"You who defy the Pantheon," the Warden boomed, "surrender the Voidbrand. That weapon does not belong in the hands of a failed mortal."
Shen didn't blink. "Neither did godhood belong in yours."
The battle ignited.
No prelude. No warnings. Shen launched forward, the Voidbrand snarling in his grip like a beast unleashed. It had already begun changing shape—threads of memory and regret weaving along its hilt.
He struck.
The Warden raised a single finger. Shen's blade shattered into fractals of starlight—paused in midair, locked between frames of reality.
[System Reaction: Attempting Recompile…]
[Voidbrand Form: BROKEN STATE — Adaptive Rewrite Triggered.]
Blood sprayed from Shen's palm. But he gritted his teeth, reaching into the gap. Not for a weapon. For a memory.
He seized one, pulled it out—
[Memory Retrieved: A child watching the stars. Name: Shen. Emotion: Awe.]
It burned in his hand.
And then, without hesitation, he crushed it.
The Voidbrand screamed.
It rewrote itself in real time, fragments of identity fusing with raw system code.
[NEW FORM: Nullflare Bastion]
[Trait: The Blade That Remembers What You Forget]
[Passive: Each forgotten truth becomes a weapon.]
The blade pulsed—no longer silver, but black glass infused with flickering names.
Shen didn't wait. He lunged again, faster than time.
The Warden blocked—barely. And this time, the divine metal of his gauntlets cracked. Sparks rained. Somewhere in the background, Emberreach howled, the storm responding to Shen's shift.
Elsewhere:
Nyxria raced through the collapsing Bloomroot tunnels. Thorns hissed and curled, retreating from her presence. She reached a sealed chamber—a vault of blooming light and coiled roots.
Inside floated a crystal. And in it?
A face.
Shen's face. Younger. Smiling.
And beside it: a name.
"...He locked a part of himself in the roots," Nyxria whispered, eyes wide. "Before the Voidbrand. Before everything."
The roots recoiled.
And the voice of the Bloomroot system echoed:
[Fragment Detected: Shen Nightfall — Pre-Voidbrand Self]
[Warning: Memory Core Conflict Imminent.]
Back on the battlefield:
Shen fell to one knee. Blood slicked the ground. The Warden's golden chains wrapped around his throat, pulling tight.
But Shen didn't struggle.
He whispered something.
And the Voidbrand—Nullflare Bastion—erupted.
It fed on the broken memory. And it lit with power born not from hatred, but from sacrifice.
The chains shattered.
The sky above Emberreach cracked wider.
And from it came a voice—not the Warden's, not Shen's.
"You have forgotten your name. So I offer you another."
A second system message arrived:
[NEW DESIGNATION: VOIDWALKER]
[Title Gained: The One Who Burns the Sky to Remember]
The Warden stepped back.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
"You... What are you?"
And Shen smiled, teeth bloodied. "Something you helped make."
Chapter End Teaser:
In the next chapter:
Nyxria awakens a buried truth that may rewrite Shen's path forever.
The Voidbrand begins to resist him—its own will forming.
Shen takes the fight into the rift—to confront what lies beyond the gods.