---
The Archivist loomed above Halrion like a monument made of pages that had given up.
Ten stories tall.
Head faceless, but its cloak shifted constantly, revealing flashes of Takumi's past lives—ones the world forgot, or he refused to become.
> "I am your entropy," it boomed.
"I am what happens to the stories no one defends."
Its voice was paper tearing across metal.
Each syllable made the buildings shudder.
---
> [System Alert: FINAL REDACTOR ENTITY – THE ARCHIVIST]
Threat Level: ???
Attack Method: Narrative Inversion
Danger: Can forcibly revive past choices and render them into present liabilities.
Objective: Collapse Axis Null through unresolved versions of self.
---
Takumi stood still, staring upward.
His sword—made from Lisette's laughter—had dissolved.
Narrative Forge was still recharging.
He had no weapon.
Just Lisette at his side, and the memories they shared.
But then, the Archivist lowered its hand.
A single page fell from its cloak.
It floated down… and unfolded mid-air.
On it, Takumi saw himself—
Chained. Silent. Obedient.
> "Do you remember this one?" the Archivist asked.
"The version of you that joined the Spiral willingly. The one who loved control more than people."
Lisette stepped forward. "That's not him."
The page ignited.
And from its burning ash, the echo of that Takumi stepped forward.
Wearing a perfect Spiral uniform.
Face cold.
Eyes empty.
> "I was the one who didn't fail," he said quietly.
"You left power behind. I kept it. You traded command for compassion. You're a mistake."
---
> [Shadow Manifestation: "Spiral Takumi" – Manifested]
HP: Shared with Axis Null
Injuries to Shadow weaken current stability.
Warning: Shadow contains full knowledge of your internal logic structure.
---
Takumi barely blocked the first blow.
The echo moved faster than he remembered—every motion optimized, emotionless, surgical. A strike to the ribs. A jab to the throat. A follow-up designed to rupture bone.
Lisette tried to intervene—only to be flung back by the Archivist's field.
"You can't fight for him," the entity said. "Only he can undo what he's buried."
---
Takumi hit the ground hard.
Blood in his mouth.
The echo stood over him.
And whispered:
> "You were weak the moment you chose people over purpose."
But Takumi… smiled.
---
He whispered:
> "And you've never laughed once."
---
From the ground, he reached into the dust.
And pulled out a shard of stone—
The baker's doorstep, from when Lisette tripped and he caught her.
The echo raised an eyebrow.
"What is that?"
"A moment you never had."
---
> [Memory Claimed: "Warmth of Saving Someone"]
Narrative Forge Override: Emergency Imprint Activated
Weapon Created: Kindness Edge
– Deals increased damage to emotionless echoes
– Reflects attacks that originate from logic-only combat styles
---
Takumi surged up.
This time, he didn't swing with rage.
He reminded.
One strike sliced the echo's coat—revealing a hidden memory: Takumi sitting with Lisette on the wall, just watching clouds.
Another strike made the echo falter.
And finally—
Takumi drove the blade straight through his echo's chest.
Not to kill.
But to say:
> "I could've been you. But I didn't want to be."
The echo crumbled.
Into paper.
Then words.
Then silence.
---
The Archivist didn't move.
But it responded.
> "You buried more than one version."
And suddenly—four more echoes stepped forward.
Each one worse than the last.
Takumi the Coward, who abandoned everyone in the Labyrinth.
Takumi the God, who tried to rewrite death itself and went mad.
Takumi the Machine, who removed his own emotions to "solve" his humanity.
And Takumi the Lost, who never escaped the dungeon… and never stopped screaming.
---
Lisette stepped forward again.
"Let me in," she said to the Archivist.
"You'll be unmade."
"I'm already fractured," she said. "Let me reclaim the part of him that stayed behind."
Takumi turned, eyes wide.
"No—Lisette, don't—!"
But she was already moving—
stepping into one of the open pages.
And vanishing.
---
> [Lisette Prime has entered Dead Timeline #A-00-FR]
Objective: Recover "Takumi the Lost" from collapsed labyrinth timeline
Risk of anchor separation: 72%
---
Takumi turned to the Archivist.
And for the first time…
he didn't feel fear.
He felt resolve.
"If I have to reclaim every version of me that I left behind," he said,
"Then I'll do it one story at a time."
---
Above, the sky darkened.
Not with storm clouds—
But with words.
Pages. Futures. Titles.
Each one ready to erase or define.
And Takumi clenched his fists—
knowing he was one sentence away
from losing everything.
---
🔹 End of Chapter 23