Kota Veyric
Moments after Jeanne was burned alive
The ashes of Jeanne hovered in the eerie silence, swaying in the biting cold wind, amplifying the sorrow enveloping the city. Joanna stood on the empty execution stage, bound by the melting chains of magic, leaving behind glowing red iron that resembled remnants of painful wounds. Around her, the rumbling sounds of collapsing buildings shattered the silence, resembling the cries of ghosts calling from the shattered ruins.
"Sister..."
"You chose me.
You burned yourself for me.
This world chose to punish you for choosing love."
Tears fell from Joanna's eyes, only to be evaporated by the searing energy that surged, creating a shimmering fog filled with despair. In the midst of the noise and destruction, the charred aroma of burning wood and construction materials mingled with the scent of iron, as if the city were battling against its own fate, presenting a scene that was both poetic and haunting.
The Glyph Chronos on her body shattered completely.
No more wounds.
But a key.
A key to unlock the will that was bequeathed: The Last Chronos.
The ground beneath Joanna's feet trembled with a force that shook her entire body, the vibrations accompanied by the horrifying sounds of chimes and cracks. The air was split by the noise of fractures, as if a thousand shards of glass shattered simultaneously, further amplifying the sense of inevitable disaster.
All the clocks and time indicators throughout the city came to a standstill, trapped in a chilling silence.
Seconds ceased to pass, as if time surrendered to darkness.
The wind froze, no longer daring to touch the surface of the earth.
Sunlight became distorted, shifting into hues of gold and blue, creating an enchanting yet terrifying atmosphere.
"You all who condemned my brother...
I will give you a taste of the will you fear."
With her hand raised amidst the paralyzing silence, Joanna felt the tension explode into a horrific frenzy.
Fractured Flux: Temporal Shardfall!
(The Shattered Time Fragments)
Hundreds of thousands of time shards began to fall from the sky, like a terrifying rain of glowing glass. Each fragment added to the horror with a loud crash resonating in the air as they brutally struck the ground. Every shard was a wound in time, slicing and cutting through the buildings, towers, and streets of the city of Veyric, leaving a trail of destruction wherever they landed.
The city began to crumble, with debris crashing to the ground in a continuous clatter, reminiscent of cracking bones. Its inhabitants ran in a frenzy, trapped in profound panic and fear, witnessing their future and hopes shatter in the blink of an eye.
Amidst the destruction, Caelan stood firm among the ruins of the courthouse. Around him, the dark sky was filled with shimmering fragments of time, like foreign stars falling from the heavens, casting terrifying shadows among the piles of stone and rubble. His face appeared pale, as if time had stopped in disbelief. He gazed at Joanna, who floated nearby, her eyes glowing with a bluish-yellow hue, while her hair danced like flames against the fierce wind. The rumbling of falling debris, combined with distant cries echoing from their surroundings, formed a deafening symphony of devastation.
"Joanna..."
"Don't call me sweetheart anymore."
Joanna's voice resonated deeply, resembling an echo from a world that had vanished, slicing through the silence enveloping the place. "I am no longer the sister you once knew."
"I... I just want to protect this village. I—"
"You chose to abandon my brother."
"You doubt the love he gave me."
"Even when he married you, he never bonded. with me,
because he chose to be my brother above all else."
Joanna's tears fell, leaving shimmering trails on her cheeks, resembling diamonds that glimmered in the shadows of darkness.However, the fire of anger in her eyes never dimmed; behind her, the crumbling buildings creaked, creating an atmosphere that grew increasingly tense.
"And for that... you will feel a punishment that will not come from Chronos,
but from a sister who has lost her one and only loved one."
Joanna formed a circle of glyphs in the air, with glowing light surrounding her hands.
Spiral of Regression: Agony of Remembered Betrayal.
Caelan was swept away by the currents of time, traversing waves of memories he wished to never witness again.
Choking with emotion, he was forced to relive:
The moment he first received the royal decree, a decision that altered the course of his life, choosing to submit despite his heart being torn apart.
The instant he remained passive as Jeanne, his dearest friend, transformed into a traitor, switching places before their enemy.
The time he contemplated sacrificing Joanna for the village's safety, ensnared in a painful dilemma.
"I just want to protect Valeora..." Caelan whispered, his voice heavy with regret.
"Valeora is no longer here." Joanna replied coldly, her voice sharp as ice.
"You didn't just fail to protect the village.
You failed to protect your family."
Temporal Severance: Null Anchor.
Glyph spun arrogantly beneath Caelan's feet, creating a spiral that led him into darkness.
"I will not merely kill you.
I will erase your existence from every timeline,
so that no one will remember you,
neither in the past nor in the future."
Caelan shouted in desperation:
"Joanna! Forgive me! I love Jeanne! I love you both!"
"Love means nothing if you choose surrender over courage."
Blue-golden light exploded, engulfing Caelan.
It was not just his body that vanished.
Every memory of him faded from the minds of the people, from history, even from Arkanum and Stones.
Joanna opened the Chrono Spiral Ultima: Entropic Collapse.
Out there, the city of Veyric lies in the void. The ruins of what were once magnificent buildings now lay as dusty debris; their shattered roofs expose splintered wooden frames, while broken windows reveal interiors brutally torn apart, as if narrating a tale of tragedy that grips every corner. The streets, once alive with laughter and conversation, now remain silent, accompanied only by the echo of soulless footsteps resonating in the dismal stillness. The stench of sulfur and burning smoke fills the air, creating a choking sensation in the throat, weighing down each breath and making the chest tremble. At the corners of the lanes, the bodies of the residents lie sprawled, their empty eyes staring up at the dark sky, seemingly indifferent, as if pleading for help that never arrives. Abandoned car horns lay scattered, adding to the echo of sorrow amidst the emptiness, serving as a reminder of the inevitable panic and nights filled with helplessness.
The devastation began with a faint rumble, a harbinger that trailed behind invisible, mysterious footsteps. The roar shook the city's foundations, a sound reminiscent of thunder, ultimately followed by a violent tremor that obliterated entire structures. Each boom felt like a collision with the walls of reality, producing a distortion of time that accelerated the chaos unfolding. A foggy panorama enveloped the shattered city, manifesting the terrifying disorder, making the pain and loss palpable in every gasp, as if the wind carried the cries of souls trapped amid the ruins.
The surrounding environment sensed the presence of time attempting to wrestle with itself, caught in a cycle of an unending repetition of moments, until everything dwindled into a suffocating void. The whispers of the cold wind brushed gently, while an invisible hammer struck at the night, shattering every remaining hope and challenging the courage of those who survived. This city, once known as a blessing, now vanished into fragmented shards of bitter memories, ensnared in a vortex of time that had forever been distorted.
"If this world kills love,
then this world does not deserve to survive."
The city of Veyric crumbled to dust, dark plumes of smoke rising into the sky, creating a bleak backdrop illuminated by flashes of blue light. The rumble of thunder echoed among the falling debris, instilling a piercing fear in the hearts of every resident. The once-bustling streets were now littered with shards of glass and the ruins of collapsed buildings, crafting an atmosphere of chilling emptiness, where silence felt deadly.
Amidst the scattered rubble, the panicked screams of trapped residents pierced the air, the sorrow resonating as the quaking earth intensified. The acrid scent of burning asphalt and molten metal filled the remaining breaths of the survivors, creating an unbearably oppressive atmosphere of despair. The guarding forces of Stones and Arkanum appeared to be detached from reality, their bodies entangled in the chaotic web of time spiraling uncontrollably.
The sky twisted into a fractured vortex of time, each layer distorting the image of the once-magnificent city; the window panes trembled as if yearning for light before shattering into disarray, sending sharp shards cascading onto the crumbled ground. The physical existence of the city began to fade, as if the breath of life was forcibly drawn away by the inescapable entropy, leaving only a profound silence in its wake.
The rivers dried up, and buildings collapsed soundlessly, leaving behind fragments of unspoken memories. Where towering structures once stood, only piles of debris remained, creating an impression that the entire framework had lost its meaning and significance. The scorching steam seared the remnants of skin, amplifying the bitter reality that all that was once cherished had now vanished, swallowed by the comprehensive rise of darkness.
The entire southern realm of Gaia-Earth was annihilated in a single night.
Amidst the ruins of shattered time,
Joanna stood upon the crumbling throne.
"I am not Chronos.
I am not Joanna Fate.
I am the final will of all who reject fear and surrender."
The Eternal Flame that once consumed Jeanne...
now serves as the crown of light atop Joanna's head.
"I no longer choose to plead.
I choose to decide."
In the cracked and tumultuous sky, the once-magnificent symbol of Chronos now appears to have faded, as if swallowed by darkness. This is followed by the emergence of a new symbol that shines with power and clarity:
The Last Chronos — Joanna Vitae Aristeia.