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Chapter 23 - Chapter 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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