The silence following the activation of the Eden Codex was deafening. The room, now transformed, glowed with a pale light, as if the structure itself were holding its breath. The pedestal where Akihiko had placed the black seed had merged with it. The runes that had once burned now pulsed, in time with its pulse.
"Akihiko!" Isabella shouted, trying to get closer. But an invisible field repelled her. Kael remained calm, though his gaze was fixed on the heart of the room.
Akihiko lay motionless, his eyes closed. Inside him, a storm of memories raged. They weren't his own. They belonged to everyone who had touched the Tree: former mobsters, traitors, visionaries, murderers, believers. Hidden voices trying to overrule his will.
The Voice of the First Bearer
In his mind, Akihiko stood in an empty field, where only one figure stood: a man with a veiled face, dressed in ritual robes from another era. His voice sounded ancient, firm.
"You are not the first. Nor will you be the last. But you are different, because you did not ask for this power."
Akihiko clenched his fists. "I don't want it."
"And for that very reason, you are the most dangerous. Those who crave power are predictable. Those who reject it change the course of the world."
The man dissolved into smoke, and with him, the darkness broke. Akihiko opened his eyes.
The New Room
The energy surrounding him disappeared. Isabella and Kael ran toward him, but stopped when they saw him. Akihiko stood, his gaze fixed on the Codex sphere, which had now transformed into a half-open structure, like an obsidian flower.
"The Codex... it showed me everything," he said. "The origins, the cycles, the lies. The Tree didn't choose us. It uses us. It shapes us."
Kael asked, "And you? What will you do now?"
Akihiko looked up. "I'm going to rewrite the system. But first... I have to destroy the Root."
The Echo of Disobedience
Alarms began to sound throughout the suspended city. They weren't technological. They were organic, a cry from the Tree of Eden. Guardians emerged from the living structures: skeletal figures covered in roots, with armor that seemed to grow from their bodies.
Ezra appeared at the entrance to the living room. For the first time, his expression wasn't one of superiority, but of concern.
"You shouldn't have survived the trial."
"And yet, here I am."
"What you have activated... is beyond your control."
Akihiko smiled coldly. "Then let him fear me as I feared him."
The Fall Begins
The guardians attacked. Isabella unleashed her power of soul echoes, paralyzing several enemies with memories of their past. Kael generated barriers that absorbed the enemies' attacks.
Akihiko silently channeled the void like never before. With each movement, the shadows lengthened, distorting the surroundings, and making enemies disappear as if they had never existed.
Ezra tried to stop him, but Akihiko had already surpassed his limit. His every word cut through the air like a knife.
"I am not the fruit. I am not the bearer. I am the error in the system. And errors are not corrected. They are released."
The Root of Judgment began to crack. The structures trembled. From the sky, a beam of light descended, as if the world had decided to watch as well.