The moment the Covenant Spire collapsed into itself, the sky split.
Not with lightning.
With light.
Divine. Judging. Cold as truth and sharp as the blade Ashara still held.
Ezekiel caught her by the waist as the floor gave way, dragging her back toward the charred shoreline where their skiff waited. Caelum was already ahead, sword drawn, his eyes scanning the storm clouds birthing themselves above the horizon.
System Alert:
✦ CELESTIAL INQUISITOR DESCENDING
✦ Timeline Breach: High Severity
✦ Mortal Integrity Violation Detected
Ashara's breath trembled.
Not from fear.
But recognition.
She had met this Inquisitor before.
In a prior life.
And she had died for it.
The heavens peeled open with thunderless light.
A staircase of radiance descended from the sky's tear, each step crafted from law itself—golden glyphs burning the air as they formed.
Upon that path walked a figure wreathed in wings. Six of them. All ablaze. Not feathered but forged of scripture and verdict.
The Celestial Inquisitor.
Its face bore no features. Merely a disk of radiant white.
Its voice, when it spoke, echoed from the marrow of the world:
"ASHARA OF THORNS. YOU STAND ACCUSED."
Ezekiel moved between her and the light, sword raised.
Caelum summoned the darkness around them, a shroud of defiance.
But Ashara stepped forward.
Barefoot. Bleeding. Crownless. Sovereign.
"I do," she said.
System Interface Locked
Divine Arbitration Protocol Engaged
"You carry knowledge not meant for this timeline."
"I earned it with fire and death."
"You manipulate fate."
"Fate manipulated me first."
The Inquisitor paused. Its form flickered. It had not expected resistance. Not logic. Not will.
From the light, a flame descended—a Trial Mirror.
Ashara saw herself reflected.
All versions.
All deaths.
All betrayals.
She walked into the flame.
And chose.
[Choice Detected: SELF-SOVEREIGNTY PATH]
✦ Anchor Override Triggered
✦ Penalty: Divine Brand
When she emerged, her left shoulder bore a glyph of burning silver.
The sigil of a marked soul.
"You remain," the Inquisitor said. "But you are watched."
Then it turned to Ezekiel and Caelum.
"Will you stand with her knowing what she has become?"
Caelum laughed. Low. Dangerous.
"I stood with worse," he said. "But none better."
Ezekiel did not speak.
He simply knelt.
And then rose.
"She chose us," he said. "So, we choose her."
System Update:
✦ Loyalty Shift: Ezekiel [Reforged]
✦ Loyalty Shift: Caelum [Bonded]
✦ Divine Tolerance: Suspended
✦ Countdown to Final Anchor: ACTIVE
The light vanished.
The sky healed.
The storm did not.
They stood on the broken reef, wind rising again. The tower was gone. The island already fading.
Ashara staggered. The divine brand glowed faintly beneath her tunic.
Caelum steadied her.
Ezekiel, for once, looked shaken.
"He almost took you," he said.
"He did," she replied. "In another life."
They stood like that for a time.
Three against the sky.
Three against gods.
New System Thread Unlocked:
✦ Path of Reclamation — Markbearer's Legacy
✦ Bonus Ability: "Memory-Flame" (Allows activation of past-life skill echoes during divine interference.)
Ashara looked to the stars.
Only one anchor remained.
And the gods had just learned her name.