Chapter 23

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Chapter 23 - 23 – “Cain, the One Who Rewrites Without Emotion” Timeline Fracture Zone – Edge of Ashenfall Reality rippled like shattered water. Dozens of versions of Ereborn flickered in and out: One peaceful. One ruined. One frozen mid-apocalypse. Rin stood in the middle—his Soulburn blade pulsing with fractured memories. Across from him stood Cain. Black coat. Cold eyes. No heartbeat in his voice. > "You rewrote the system with love." > "I rewrote mine with logic." > "Let's see whose code lasts longer." --- ⚔️ Root vs Rootborn Cain drew his weapon—not a sword, but a quill made of raw script. > [Weapon: Nullquill – Rewrites enemy abilities mid-battle.] [Passive: Emotionless Stream – Immune to memory-based attacks.] The first clash wasn't physical. It was structural. Cain struck with a command— > [Rewrite: Soulburn → Normal Blade] Rin's sword flickered—its flame died for a heartbeat. > "You're kidding me." But then... the blade flared again. > "Yeah... that doesn't work twice." --- ⚔️ Soulburn Adapts > [Override Detected: Emotion Layer Re-Injected] [New Trait: Flame of Recall – Soulburn cannot be rewritten without permission.] Rin surged forward, blade alight with Lilith's memories. Cain parried with terrifying precision—each move like reading a program, not fighting. But Soulburn struck off-script. It sang. It flared. It felt. --- ✨ Lilith Interferes Watching the clash, Lilith reached out— Her aura surged, pulling fractured time zones back together around Rin. > "I won't let him rewrite you, Papa..." > [Skill: Emotional Convergence – Timeline Bias Imposed] [Effect: All nearby temporal fields now favor Rin's survival] Babel's tower shook. The time god groaned. Its form was dying. --- ⚠️ Babel Cracks – And Reveals the Final Core As Cain and Rin fought, a ring of light burst from Babel's spine. Inside floated an obsidian sphere—glowing with error, script, and grief. > [FINAL CORE DETECTED – "The Heart of the Root."] [Holding the System's Last Anchor.] Cain's eyes narrowed. > "If you reach that Core... you end the gods." Rin exhaled, blade raised. > "Good." --- ⚔️ Final Clash Begins Cain stepped forward. > "No more games." > [Command: Rewrite Timeline Thread → Remove Lilith from all versions] A flash of code surged toward her. She gasped—fading. Rin roared— > [Override Injected: REJECT] [New Skill Unlocked: "Root Lock – Bonds that Rewrite Back"] His body burned with light. > "Rewrite this." He struck. --- Ending Scene – The Strike That Echoes Through Code Rin's blade pierced Cain's shoulder. The timeline froze. The Core pulsed. The world watched. > "You rewrite without emotion," Rin said. "But I rewrite with reason to live." > "And that makes me infinite."
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