The Core Layer was no longer still.
With every strike Valen delivered, the walls of parchment quivered—ink bleeding up the seams, glyphs distorting mid-glow. Even the light felt unstable now, flickering like an old memory losing shape.
Juno crouched beside Lyle behind a spiraled arc of floating pages, each one holding the edge of a fractured shield formation. Her blade buzzed with static—glyphlight shorting every few seconds.
"We can't keep countering like this."
"I know," Lyle said, breath ragged. "It's not just him anymore."
They both looked at Valen.
He was glowing now.
Not with mana.
But with something darker.
A presence that didn't belong in this world—or any world written by hands.
---
The Codex hissed a warning:
> [Threadcaster Instability Reached 67%]
Rewriting structure compromised.
Containment protocols failing.
Entity Silences-Two is no longer fully Valen Stride.
Juno's eyes narrowed. "Then what is he?"
Valen raised his Thread arm—and behind him, the Codex's very pages began to peel away.
Not burn.
Not tear.
Just… vanish.
Like he was un-writing the book from inside.
---
"I see it now," Valen said, voice distorting. "You never wanted power. You wanted to preserve meaning."
He stepped forward, and every footfall made the Codex groan.
"But meaning is weak. Memory is soft. I was born for the page, but not as a reader."
His eyes blazed.
"I am its final editor."
---
Lyle stood slowly.
And behind him, the glyph—the unnamed glyph—floated, burning brighter.
He still hadn't activated it.
But the Codex pulsed with urgency:
> [Use Glyph Now – Recommended.]
Warning: Usage will cost significant memory tether.
Possible loss of bond imprint.
He clenched his jaw.
"Not yet."
Juno turned to him. "Lyle—"
"I'll use it when it means something. Not just to survive."
---
Valen's arm trembled—then twisted backward.
The Thread erupted outward into six lines, all writhing like tendrils.
They didn't aim for the body.
They went for the heart.
For the past.
For the foundation of who Lyle and Juno were.
And with each reach—
A part of the Codex collapsed behind them.
---
> "You're undoing the Codex itself!" Juno shouted.
Valen grinned, wild. "Good! Then it can stop choosing wrong!"
He flung all six threads forward.
Juno launched herself between them—
And got hit square in the chest.
She didn't scream.
She just crumpled.
Lyle shouted—
Caught her before she hit the floor.
But her eyes were dimming.
The bond between them shaking.
---
> [Warning: Core Bond Degrading – 48% Integrity Loss]
Use of Creator Glyph Required to Stabilize System.
But he still didn't move.
He looked down at Juno.
Her eyes flickered.
"You waited," she whispered.
"…Yeah."
"You better make it count."
---
He stood.
Stepped forward.
And the glyph rose with him.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Just a single line of resolve etched across his eyes like fire.
> "Valen," he said.
Valen paused.
Lyle raised his hand.
And drew the glyph into the air.