The sky was collapsing.
Stone memories fell like meteors. The glass bridge splintered beneath Cain's boots as the Eater of Pactwords began to rise—an amalgam of chained architecture, its maw wide enough to swallow stars.
The Moonlink girl looked at him with dead eyes.
"You're not ready.""No shit."
Cain turned, sprinting.
[System Notification]
Codex Sync Complete. Archive I Stored.Memory Instability: ModerateCore Integrity: 71%[Soulbind – Locked]Requires Recovery and Integration
"You must leave this place, Cain.""Your beastcore will crack if you stay."
He leapt from one floating platform to another.
Veilstep burned under his skin. Nyx helped—phasing his form into mist just long enough to pass through a collapsing ruin.
"Where's the exit!?""Follow the scar. The Codex left a tear when it pulled you here."
Cain spotted it then—a bleeding line in the air, like a wound in the world.
He dove through.
Forest Return – Real World Time Lag: +3 Days
Cain hit the ground hard, coughing black mist.
He was back.
Back in the Beastlands. The trees loomed like silent sentinels, the sky dull with ash-fog. His heart thundered with echoes.
But the forest was different.
Every tree watched him now.
Every root leaned in.
He had brought something forbidden back with him.
He stumbled to a cave he knew—one of Nyx's old dens from before they'd bonded.
He collapsed. Shaking.Sweating shadows.Hearing whispers in languages he shouldn't understand.
The Codex pulsed at his side. Glowing faintly beneath his skin.
[Codex Passive Activated: Memory Leech]Last Slain Fused: Beast-God Echo: Arin's Final Memory🧠 Downloading Instinct Patterns…
Cain screamed as a memory that wasn't his tore into his mind:
Fighting blind in an obsidian hall
Fusing with a beast made of regret
Loving someone and breaking their bond to stop them
He curled into himself.
"I'm losing it.""No.""You're evolving."
Recovery Begins
For three days, Cain didn't move much.
But the forest did.
Shadows crept toward him, offering things: meat, bone, old forgotten tokens
Beasts circled but didn't strike—they felt what he was now
A new presence stirred within him… not Nyx. Not the Codex.
Something born from fusion itself.
On the fourth night, he stood.
His claws had grown longer. Not bestial—refined.
His eyes now flickered with Codex glyphs when angry.
And when he walked, the trees made room.
Training Return
He needed to reforge control.
So he trained:
Veilstep (Refined) – Used sparingly, with shadows anchored in sigils drawn in blood
Clawstrike – Amplified by Codex whispers, now echoes on hit
Memory Channeling – Risky use of beast echoes to mimic skills he'd never learned (like leaping like a predator with six legs, or mimicking fused regeneration briefly)
Every use came at a cost.
Every time, his core flickered.
But he was learning.
On the sixth night, Nyx spoke in a tone he'd never heard.
"We're not alone inside anymore.""There's a new voice forming. From the Codex. From your sister's shard."
Cain didn't flinch.
"Let it speak. If it lies—I'll tear it out.""If it helps—then it becomes part of the pack."
Final Recovery Trigger
The Codex flared.
[New Ability Available – Core Integration Ritual]⚠️ Choose One Path:
Soulbind (Unstable) – Fuse deeper with Nyx. Risk losing self temporarily.
Codex Channeling – Unlock ancient fusion skills. Risk mental corruption.
Beast-God Resonance – Align with the fragment. Risk becoming a target for higher beings.
Cain looked into the dark woods, and chose…