Magma bubbles burst against Garret's ice-claws as Serena's draconic wings pinned him. Her asphalt blood seeped into the glacial shackles, etching into reverse-growing thorns: "Popsicle... Dragon-scale for freedom... better than your moldy beer."
Black crystals oozed from Garret's wolf ears, slime congealing into looping visions—Cycle 137's Serena stabbing Raine's heart, Cycle 243's her gutting Ellen's core, Cycle 298's her whispering "Scatter my ashes into the void..." before magma engulfed her.
"You're a fucking broken record..." Garret's claws plunged into his own chest, extracting a pulsating slime-heart. "Same shitty lines every cycle..." 298 cracks split the heart's surface, each cradling a miniature Serena's shadow.
An embryo pod surfaced from magma, its transparent hull branded 「Serena 000」. The floating infant inside had the First Dragon's reversed scale embedded in its forehead. Serena's pupils contracted: "Fuck... even my factory settings got tampered..."
Raine's scar split, void-tendrils snaking toward the pod. His left eye saw 「Vessel Reclamation Code 001」 on the scale, right eye watched Ellen's core overheating: "Garret... don't... that scale is..."
Serena's tail smashed stone pillars, asphalt wings spreading a sacrifice matrix. She yanked Dracula's genealogy from the pod's base—the final page showed 「Serena 298」 being devoured by crown thorns: "See... I'm collateral damage too..."
Ellen's scales projected holograms—Cycle Three's lab, child Serena pushing the 「Serena 000」 pod into magma. Her voice glitched into Elaina's: "Destroy the original mistake, son..."
Garret's shackles cracked, slime forming a counter-clock. He grinned: "So every time you kill Raine... you're killing yourself?"
Gears ground beneath magma. Three hundred Garret clones rose, foreheads branded 「III」. They chanted: "Shackle's password is... 298 lives owed..."
Serena's fangs sank into Garret's neck, asphalt blood fusing with his slime-heart. The 「Serena 000」 infant grabbed the scale through glass: "Mother... you sacrificed even me..."
Raine's gills spewed fluorescent blood, painting 「298.5」 on magma. All Garret clones suddenly turned their claws toward their own throats: "Tell next cycle... raise the damn beer prices..."
Submerged Currents
Citadel logs revealed all 「III」 clones implanted with Serena's vengeance memories. Ellen's core detected 「Serena 000」's bio-wavelength—identical to Raine's incubation fluid...