The world around Rei was spinning.
He stumbled through the forest, hand gripping a tree trunk to steady himself. But the bark felt alien—wrong—as if the illusion of reality was cracking.
> [System Reboot in Progress…]
[Memory Seal Level: Ω-Class]
[Danger Level: Critical.]
A searing pain shot through Rei's skull. Images flickered like static in his mind—unfiltered chaos.
A blood-soaked battlefield.
A boy screaming as his arm turned to ash.
A colossal entity staring down from above the stars, face hidden behind a porcelain-white mask.
Rei screamed.
> "What is this!? What am I?!"
The system's voice returned—calm but distorted.
> [You are… Rei. Designation: Sovereign of Blood. Status: Incomplete.]
Rei fell to his knees. The earth below him cracked, pulsating with red light. The same light that once glowed from the Sovereign tattoo now surged from the roots of the world.
> "This… fake place… it's breaking."
He looked around—the trees weren't trees anymore. Their bark was made of bones. The sky shimmered, glitching between night and day.
Then—she appeared.
A girl with silver eyes and a cloak that shimmered like shattered glass. She stood at the edge of the woods, watching him.
> "You're remembering too fast," she said, approaching slowly. "The cage wasn't meant to break yet."
Rei blinked. "Who are you?"
She placed a finger to her lips. "A friend. From the war timeline."
His heart froze.
> "...The war?"
She nodded. "You died in it. Over and over. But someone rewrote your ending."
Rei's breath caught in his throat. "Who?"
> "The one you're supposed to kill," she whispered. "The Creator."
The system blared again.
> [WARNING: Dimensional stability at 8%. The system cannot hold this illusion.]
> [Unlocking: Blood Memory Node 1 – The First Throne.]
Rei's eyes rolled back. Images surged like a flood.
He saw himself—crowned in blood, sitting atop a mountain of corpses. Armies knelt. Gods wept. He wore no mask. He was the storm.
And in that moment, Rei understood:
> "This world isn't my home. It's my prison."
The sky shattered above him like glass.
The system declared:
> [Phase One Reboot Complete.]
[Welcome back, Sovereign.]