Season 1 – THE CURSED SUMMON
Episode 11: The Burden of Becoming
The light consumed him again.
But this time, Ren did not scream.
He remembered too much to be afraid.
Instead, he let the agony drown him—let the pain boil behind his eyes—because pain was memory, and memory was the only thing real anymore.
> [System Notice]
[Memory Fragment #4 Accessed – Cognitive Strain Level: CRITICAL]
[Skill Not Unlocked – "Sovereign Veil" Requires: Fused Mind State]
He could feel his brain cracking under the pressure.
A thousand voices screaming his name from inside his skull.
Each one… a version of himself.
---
In the real world—if that place still existed—Ren's body hovered inches above the floor of the Bastion. Crimson veins pulsed like live wires across his chest, glowing with unstable divine code.
Akio grabbed his arm. "Ren! You have to stop—this'll kill you!"
But Lyra didn't move.
She saw what Akio didn't.
Ren wasn't being possessed.
He was waking up.
And whatever he was becoming…
Was not human.
---
Inside the fragment, Ren stood on an endless mirror.
His reflection shifted—his face morphing through different ages, scars, even expressions.
But all of them were him.
In the center, one stood taller than the rest.
Wearing the same cloak as the Witness. Maskless. Eyes like black holes.
This one spoke.
> "You made your choice. Now bear the burden."
"You've unlocked the path of Echoes."
"You'll see them all—the ones who killed, the ones who betrayed, the ones who burned the world in your name."
Ren asked, "Why me? Why always me?"
The answer was a whisper.
> "Because Eidros chose you… for a reason you're not yet broken enough to understand."
---
Ren awoke gasping.
Blood gushed from his nose. His vision doubled. He could barely sit up.
But in his mind, everything was louder.
He could hear the voices of his other selves whispering with each breath.
> "Don't trust the boy."
"The girl will stab your back."
"Kill the Witness next time."
"Burn the Tower."
"Lie to them."
He clutched his head, trembling.
Akio tried to steady him, but Ren shoved him off. "Don't. Don't touch me. Not now."
"Ren, it's me—"
"I know," Ren growled, "and that's the problem."
---
Later, they camped just outside the Bastion. The sky was dull grey, and a cold wind blew from the eastern peaks.
Ren sat at the edge of the camp, staring at the fire but not really seeing it.
Lyra approached, silently. She handed him dried meat.
He didn't take it.
She sighed.
"You think I'll betray you."
Ren's silence was answer enough.
"I wouldn't," she said. "Not even if the gods commanded it."
Ren turned.
"There's a version of you in my head that already has."
Lyra froze.
He looked away. "Do you understand how that feels? To know every person around you is one wrong moment away from becoming exactly what your future remembers?"
Akio joined them, tired and visibly shaken. "You need rest, Ren. You're unraveling."
"I'm evolving," Ren snapped. "Unraveling would be easier."
---
Suddenly, the fire flared blue.
A pulse echoed through the air like a heartbeat made of thunder.
Then—
A crack in space ripped open before them.
A portal. Violent and jagged.
From it, a figure emerged.
Golden armor scorched black. Hair like flame. Skin cracked with light. Wings—burnt to ash—but still majestic.
He knelt slowly.
And wept.
Lyra drew her blade. "Who—?"
Ren stood, already knowing.
"…Archon Valcis."
The being looked up, pain in every fiber of his holy face.
"You… you finally see," Valcis whispered.
Ren's fists clenched. "You're supposed to be dead."
Valcis laughed bitterly. "I am. But your awakening echoes backward through time. Even death cannot silence it."
"Why are you here?"
"To beg you not to make the same mistake I did."
---
Valcis raised his hand. Light shimmered—an illusion formed.
Ren saw another battlefield.
But this time, he was not the monster.
It was a girl.
Dark-haired. Eyes black as oil. Skin stitched with divine threads. Laughing as she tore nations apart with a flick of her wrist.
Ren couldn't breathe.
"That's… not me."
"No," Valcis confirmed. "That is the one before you."
"The Summoned before you."
Ren's vision narrowed.
"There was another?"
Valcis nodded slowly.
"She chose knowledge over mercy. Chose to unlock all nine fragments before the first moon fell."
"She burned the world to understand it."
"And Eidros let her."
---
Akio stepped forward, stunned. "Wait… there was someone else before Ren?!"
Valcis stood.
"There's always someone before."
"But they all fail. Or they lose themselves."
Valcis locked eyes with Ren.
"You are the first to survive four fragments without collapsing into madness."
"You are different. But not immune."
He pointed to the sky.
"Soon, the Black Star will rise. When it does, the fifth fragment will call to you. And with it… comes your first irreversible kill."
---
Ren narrowed his eyes.
"I've already killed."
Valcis shook his head.
"No. Not like this."
"This kill will matter."
"It will change the fabric of your soul."
"You will lose something you can never get back."
"And once it's done… you cannot go back to who you were."
---
Silence.
Ren finally asked, "What happens if I refuse to take the fifth fragment?"
Valcis's face went cold.
"Then the one who came before you… returns."
Ren stiffened.
"…She's alive?"
"Worse," Valcis whispered. "She's waiting. Beyond the fifth gate. She remembers you. And she wants to finish what she started."
Ren felt the universe narrow.
Everything spun.
He remembered the girl in the vision. Her smile. Her chaos.
And now he understood—
He hadn't been chosen to save the world.
He was chosen to stop the last Chosen.
---
Akio looked between them.
"So we have to choose. Either Ren kills someone and keeps going…"
"Or the last monster comes back and finishes what she started."
Lyra's hand trembled on her blade. "And what if Ren becomes just like her?"
Ren answered.
"Then someone will have to kill me."
---
Far to the west, under a sea of broken moons…
A figure sat atop a spire of bone.
Her hair fluttered like ink in water. Her eyes burned with twisted anticipation.
The Fifth Fragment pulsed beneath her palms.
She smiled, whispering across the world:
"Come find me, Ren Aizawa."
"I still remember what you did to me."