"Yulaiah, the Shade of Babylos."

The moment he spoke his true name, the heaven-reaching mountain released a shrill shriek. It grated at the minds of everyone as it resound all across the universe. Wherever the pillar of light reached, the shriek reached. And the pillar of light, it was reaching far beyond just what could be seen. It had pierced through the veil of the thread of their reality, reaching out into the sea of countless other threads, searching their very ends for something. This was the Loom of Eternity which weaves the threads of existence into a tapestry that would flow with the Eternal River of Time.

The shriek soon ended, but changes had yet to even begin. The gargantuan mountain trembled as though in gleeful excitement. Stone and dirt fell from its surface, revealing what lay beneath. An obsidian crystal fashioned into a tower that loomed overhead. It was like the final nail to the coffin that was Corrin. Its surface was wreathed in flames of a multitude of colours, alternating in an enchanting pattern. This was the culmination of a peoples' glory. This was...

"The Spire of Babylos, magnificent isn't it? It took a majority of Lua's shell just to create this beauty."

Cheyulah said with a wistful look on his face. He was reminiscing the times of hardship they had to endure, the stigma they had to carry in order to ensure its creation. They had committed a great sin, but what greater sin was there than selfishness and sentimentality in the face of their people's survival and prosperity. Only they knew that they were on borrowed time. The race called Alma was never meant to survive for so long. It was only by the grace of Lua that they even managed to last. And now again, they call upon their great mother, Lua.

"And we named it after you, the one who made all this possible. We owe you the future, O great Rex Alma!"

Cheyulah bowed toward Yulaiah, his sombre voice showed his utmost sincerity. He truly did not expect Yulaiah to recall his memories. It was not necessary for what they were about to do, but seeing the Spire of Babylos in its full glory, he wondered if this was always how it was meant to be. Perhaps they would have failed had the Spire not grown out of its shell. A light chuckle escaped him as discarded the thought. It was pointless to ponder on it now. He looked Yulaiah once more, and this time, his smile was more of scorn.

"But in the coming age of Prisma, we shall shed the Shade of Babylos once more! We shall shed the Shade of Alma! You are Rex no longer!"

Footsteps rang out as Cheyulah spoke. It came from behind Vivi and Yulaiah. While the few surviving soldiers of the Concord that came with them had scurried off to the side, hiding in fear and confusion from Valerya who should have been one of their leaders, two new people entered the scene. One was a hulking man carrying a large sword. And the other was a man with a large but smaller build than the first, exuding a feral aura like that of a wild beast.

The Divine Blade of Retribution and the Divine Fist of Fury have arrived. And although they had not heard everything, it was enough for them to know who the enemy was. Fury remained where he was, gauging the atmosphere as he prepared himself for battle. In this place, he counted five Divines and one other who was not a Divine yet still held a similar level of power. Whatever transpires here, it would surely change the world, for better or worse.

Meanwhile, Latonai seemed to not care at all as he strode forward, grasping his sword. He knew who the enemy was and he knew who he wanted to kill the most. Weighing the two proved difficult even for a protector like him. He was the leader of the Weltsritter, the knights sworn to protect the world. But it was only now that he was realising that it was not the world he wanted to protect. It was just his daughter. And so, for the first time in his long life, Latonai was tempted to break his oath. But just as he was about to kick the ground and attack, Yulaiah opened his mouth to speak.

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"Crowning glory, greatest shame, the heaven-reaching mountain that rises in my name. The shade that was discarded by his self, once again... Have you been waiting for this moment all along?"

His words clear and crisp, unhindered by any other noise. Everyone present could hear him, but they could not understand what he meant. More importantly, they did not know to whom he was speaking. He was not looking at any one of them. Not at Vivi, not at Fury or Latonai, not even at Valerya or Cheyulah. He was just looking beside him, at the empty space. But only he knew, only he could see the black silhouette standing there, watching his every action. It had been there all this time just that he very rarely noticed.

Perhaps it was because he now had the Eyes of Clarity or perhaps because he had recovered his true identity that he was now seeing it more clearly. Then again, perhaps it was because events had progressed to this point that the veil was no longer necessary. The inky black flames that made the silhouette seemed to vanish little by little, revealing the illusory form of a man with a face eerily similar to his own. His hair, however, was a stark contrast, being long and raven black.

His eyes, they were the same silver glassy eyes carrying a glow reminiscent of moonlight. And yet hidden within their depths was a colourless ember waiting to be unleashed. The illusory man nodded in silence, seemingly unable to speak.

"Am I incapable of changing it? Any of it?"

Could any of it be changed? That too was a question that the illusory man wanted to ask. He was here in a Dream, but he also knew that this Dream was more than just a mere memory. With his Eyes of the Dreamer, he could tell that he had crossed not just the boundary between the waking world and that of slumber. He had crossed the boundaries of universes, of Crucibles. Was it too much of a stretch then for him to cross the boundaries of time? To see the past play out in the present much like the stars? No, such a thing was a normality to them, especially with his and Yulaiah's connection to the Loom of Eternity. Their eyes offer much more than merely gazing. So they both knew that whatever happened here could still hold some weight in the future to come.

"I see. Eternity spins as Eternity should... the Loom that tells us of the Truth. Very well. Then see for yourself, Uriah. Witness me so you may find it, my thread which you shall light ablaze!"

And like a clap of thunder, an immense and potent light erupted from Yulaiah. It painted the whole world white. It was so bright that it had somehow managed to even deafen their ears, making them ring from tinnitus. And for a moment, that was all they knew, the brightest Light that heralded the End, awaiting its new Beginning. When their vision cleared, they found Yulaiah floating in the sky. His appearance had changed greatly as he no longer resembled a human, but rather some sacred being that might have only been described in religious texts.

His body had turned into a clear obsidian crystal still in a humanoid form with three pairs of wings on his back. His hair had become entirely made of liquid light flowing down like a cascading waterfall. His face held no features other than three eyes, each shining with iridescence as he gazed at all the threads that surrounded him. His looming figure had grown to at least twice his previous size making him like a titan among men. This was not the form that any other Divine could take. No, this was the mark of Ascendancy. It was still incomplete, but the fact that he could already take on such a form only proved that Yulaiah was at the cusp of ascending.

"You stand before the enduring and indignant Shade of Babylos! You stand before Yulaiah, the Bringer of Light and Master of the Vernal Bloom! You stand before the Shaper...!"

His hands raised as he grasped the threads that only he and Uriah could perceive. To all the others, he just grasped at air, clenching his fists tightly. And no sooner had he done so that the Spire of Babylos, the heaven-reaching mountain itself, began quaking. On its surface, fine lines began appearing, tracing all across its length. It was cracking from a simple motion of a singular being. This alone made everyone question what it truly meant to be Divine because they were certain that none of them could have done the same.

"Of Worlds!"