The birthplace of creation detonated behind them, a supernova of raw cosmic energy collapsing and expanding at the same time a paradox only Ariasen's world could understand.
Aurelianth, Solance, and Lioren were flung outward through a spiraling tunnel of light and memory, the last remnants of the birthplace screaming around them:
Fragments of abandoned mountains.
Half-born rivers unraveling.
Emotional imprints dissolving into dust.
Ariasen's lonely heart-song echoing faintly,
fading....
fading....
Solance reached toward it, crying out:
"ARIASEN...!!"
The shard inside him flared violently, pulling the fading heart-song back from dissolution.
It wrapped around Solance like a thin thread of gold.
A faint whisper answered:
"…I'm here…
Don't let go…"
Solance sobbed.
"Never...!"
But the tunnel of collapsing creation spat the trio forward, throwing them into a sudden expanse of open sky and then onto solid ground.
They crashed into a wide glowing field, grass shimmering under a lilac-blue sky.
Aurelianth rolled with Solance in his arms to absorb the impact, while Lioren slammed into the ground with a hiss, amber light cushioning the last second.
Aurelianth breathed hard.
"Is everyone...?"
Solance blinked up at him.
Silver, gold, violet, and rose light still glowed faintly in his chest.
"…I think so…"
Lioren groaned.
"My bones feel like they've been rewritten twice, but I'm alive."
Aurelianth helped Solance sit.
"Where are we…?"
Solance looked around.
The field was peaceful.
Gentle.
Almost too beautiful for the aftermath of the collapse.
Soft flowers of starlight floated upward, bursting into tiny gleams.
The air hummed with distant laughter and the quiet heartbeat of the world.
Solance whispered:
"…This place… feels warm…"
A deep, warm voice answered from behind them:
"…Welcome…
To the Field of First Whispers…"
Aurelianth spun around, shielding Solance.
Lioren raised her fists.
A figure stepped out from behind the floating starlight trees not fully formed, but more solid than the reflections they saw before.
Ariasen.
Not whole.
Not restored.
But present.
Their body flickered between radiant gold and transparent memory.
Their eyes glowed with sorrow and awe as they looked at Solance.
Solance gasped softly.
"…Ariasen…"
Ariasen smiled gently a smile that seemed to cradle the entire world.
"…You carried so much of me…
I can move here again… because of you…"
Solance trembled.
"I didn't do it alone."
Aurelianth stepped forward, bowing his head respectfully.
"Ariasen.
It's an honor to finally meet you in person."
Lioren smirked softly.
"Kind of person.
Half-person.
Memory-person.
But we'll take it."
Ariasen laughed softly a sound like a wind chime touched by dawn.
But their face grew serious quickly.
"…The Architect is coming…"
Solance's glow dimmed.
"…Here…?"
Ariasen nodded gravely.
"…The system's descent is inevitable now that four purposes have awakened…"
The sky above them dimmed as though hearing Ariasen's words.
A faint rumble rolled across the field.
Lioren glanced upward.
"That doesn't sound friendly."
Ariasen extended a hand toward Solance.
"…The shard inside you holds four purposes…
That makes you a beacon…"
Solance swallowed hard.
"…A beacon for what?"
Ariasen's voice sank into sorrow.
"…For destruction…
Or rebirth…"
Aurelianth's hand tightened around Solance's.
"He chose rebirth."
Ariasen nodded once.
"…And now you must survive the Architect's first descent…"
The sky cracked open.
White light bled through the lilac-blue sky, forming harsh geometric lines.
Solance gasped.
"…No…
Not again...!"
Ariasen placed both hands on Solance's cheeks.
The touch was warm and trembling.
"…Little dawn…
You have done enough for one lifetime…"
Solance shook his head.
"…No...
I can keep going...
I want to help..."
Ariasen's voice broke.
"…I know… and that is why you must not face the Architect yet…"
A brilliant sigil tore the clouds open overhead.
The system's voice echoed:
"WORLD ANOMALY DETECTED.
DESCENT COMMENCING."
Lioren stepped forward.
"We need to run."
Aurelianth shook his head.
"No.
We need to protect Solance."
Ariasen nodded.
"…The system cannot touch the core fragment inside him while I am near… but I cannot leave the Field of First Whispers…"
The ground trembled beneath them.
Solance clutched Aurelianth's sleeve, terrified.
"…What do we do...?"
Ariasen stepped back, raising both hands.
Their flickering light sharpened.
The world responded.
The starlight trees bent toward them, pouring their glow into Ariasen's palms.
The flowers rose.
The grass shimmered.
The air tightened.
Ariasen whispered:
"…I will form a shield of beginnings…"
Aurelianth's eyes widened.
"That will drain you...!"
Ariasen shook their head.
"…I was already drained.
I can still give this much…"
The system descended.
Not fully.
Not the Architect themselves.
But a manifestation:
A giant geometric form made of white angles and void a titanic system sentinel dropping from the cracked sky like a divine guillotine.
Solance clung to Aurelianth.
"A-Aurelianth...!!"
Ariel raised their shield.
It formed slowly, a massive dome of swirling gold and violet light.
The sentinel struck it like a meteor.
A shockwave blasted the field.
Solance was lifted off his feet but Aurelianth caught him instantly.
Lioren slid but stayed upright.
Ariasen staggered their form flickering violently.
"Ariasen...!" Solance cried.
Ariasen smiled painfully.
"…Do not worry…
Not yet…"
The sentinel reared back, white geometry spinning into blades.
Ariasen threw their hands outward.
The shield brightened but it cracked immediately under the second impact.
Lioren swore.
"It's too strong!"
Aurelianth grit his teeth.
"We fight with Ariasen."
But Ariasen shook their head desperately.
"…No...
Protect Solance...
He is the only vessel...
The world needs him..."
The sentinel gathered a massive sphere of erasure-light.
The system screamed:
"PURPOSE HOST LOCATED.
INITIATING EXTRACTION."
Solance's chest burned.
He fell to his knees.
"A...Aurelianth...!
It's pulling...!"
Aurelianth caught him around the waist.
"I've got you...stay with me!"
Ariasen screamed:
"…HIDE HIM...!!"
Lioren reacted instantly.
She slammed her palms into the ground,
pulling amber earth-light upward to bury Solance under layers of protective luminescence.
But the system's light pierced everything.
Aurelianth threw himself over Solance as a massive beam descended.
And then...
Ariasen stepped between the beam and Solance.
Their flickering body absorbed the entire attack.
Solance's scream split the sky.
"ARIASEN...NO...!!"
The light blasted Ariasen backward their form shattering into thousands of gold fragments.
Aurelianth shielded Solance, gritting his teeth as the shockwave tore through the field.
Lioren was thrown dozens of meters away.
When the light finally died:
Ariasen was on one knee barely holding form.
Barely breathing.
Their voice shook like a dying star.
"…Little dawn…
Forgive me… but this is all…
I can give…"
Solance sobbed.
"Ariasen...please...don't... don't fade...!"
Ariasen reached out a trembling hand, touching Solance's cheek.
Their touch felt like the last warmth of sunset.
"…Live…
So i can return… through you…"
Their light flickered.
Aurelianth lifted Solance into his arms.
"We must leave NOW."
Lioren staggered back toward them, bruised but alive.
The sentinel prepared another strike.
Ariasen raised the broken shield one last time.
"…run...run to the Mountain of Second Breate the final purpose sleeps there…"
Solance reached toward Ariasen desperately.
"ARIASEN...!!"
Ariasen smiled soft, heartbroken, endless.
"…Thank you for remembering me…"
The sentinel descended.
Ariasen flung the shield outward, creating a blast of force that hurled Aurelianth, Solance, and Lioren across the entire Field of First Whispers through a tunnel of gold into the world beyond.
As they flew,the last thing they heard was Ariasen's fading voice:
"…I will wait…for you…"
The world went white.
Volume One ended.