The cold silence of the vault pressed down on them, as if the walls themselves knew the weight of the decision being made. The Codex of Eternity demanded a sacrifice—a life extinguished completely, without the mercy of resurrection. A death beyond the loop.

Alastor stood frozen before the ancient stone tablet, his mind racing. Every path forward led to the same grim conclusion: someone had to die for them to unlock the Codex’s knowledge. But this death would be final—no resets, no second chances, no returning to the game they had fought so hard to escape.

He clenched his fists, the scarab buzzing angrily beneath his sleeve, as if protesting the very idea. He couldn’t ask this of anyone. Not Selene, not Aurora, not anyone. He had brought them this far, and now it felt like he was about to throw them into a fire from which they could never return.

Aurora’s neural interface flickered with unease, her face pale in the dim light. "There has to be another way," she whispered, but her voice carried no real hope. The Codex had made its terms clear—knowledge for life.

Selene stood silent, her violet eyes tracing the ancient glyphs glowing across the Codex’s surface. There was no fear in her gaze, only a deep, unsettling calm. A woman who had lived too many lives, carried too many deaths, and seen too much to fear one more.

Alastor turned to her, his voice heavy with guilt. "We’ll figure out another way, Selene. I’ll—"

"There is no other way," Selene interrupted, her voice soft but certain.

Alastor shook his head, anger and frustration boiling inside him. "This isn’t your choice to make."

Selene gave him a small, knowing smile, the kind that carried the weight of a thousand lifetimes. "Yes, it is."

Aurora’s gaze snapped to Selene, disbelief flickering in her expression. "Wait—you can’t be serious."

But Selene was already moving, her steps slow and deliberate, as if the decision had been made long before they entered the vault. This wasn’t a sacrifice made in haste. It was a bargain, struck with the cold precision of someone who knew the rules of the game better than anyone.

"I’ve died a thousand times," Selene murmured, brushing her fingers along the hilt of her blade. "What’s one more?"

Alastor’s heart sank as the weight of her words settled over him. This wasn’t just bravado—she meant it. Every trial she had endured, every life she had lost in the endless cycle, had brought her to this moment. And now, she was ready to lay it all down, not for glory or revenge, but for the one thing she had never been able to grasp: freedom.

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"No," Alastor whispered, stepping forward. "You don’t have to do this." His voice was raw with emotion, more vulnerable than he intended.

Selene’s gaze softened, and for a moment, the hard edges of her persona melted away, revealing something quieter, more fragile. A woman who had lived through too much, seen too many futures close like iron gates.

"Someone has to," she whispered.

Alastor clenched his fists, his jaw tight. "Then it should be me."

Selene smiled, shaking her head. "It can’t be you." She stepped closer, her voice low and steady, the way someone might speak to a wounded animal. "This fight doesn’t end with me, Alastor. It ends with you. You know that."

Aurora looked between them, her jaw tight with frustration. "This is insane. We’ll find another way. There’s always another way."

Selene’s gaze flickered to Aurora, her expression filled with quiet resignation. "Not this time." She reached out, brushing a stray strand of hair from Aurora’s face in a rare gesture of tenderness. "You’ve seen it, Aurora. You know what’s waiting for us. The loop doesn’t let anyone go without a price."

Aurora’s throat bobbed as she swallowed hard, her neural interface flickering with stress. "You don’t have to pay it," she whispered, though the words felt hollow.

But Selene was already stepping into the center of the ritual circle.

Alastor’s heart pounded in his chest, a sharp ache blooming behind his ribs. He wanted to stop her—he needed to. But Selene had made her choice, and he knew better than to fight it. This was who she was. A warrior, born from the ashes of a thousand deaths, standing tall in the face of one final sacrifice.

She glanced back at him, her violet eyes gleaming with quiet amusement. "You always overthink things, Creed," she said softly. "That’s your problem."

Alastor swallowed hard, his hands trembling at his sides. "I never wanted this."

Selene smiled—a sad, fleeting thing, more ghost than grin. "None of us wanted this," she whispered. "But it’s the only way forward."

Aurora’s hands clenched into fists, her neural interface buzzing with frustration, but she said nothing. There was nothing left to say.

Alastor took a step forward, his voice hoarse. "Selene—"

"Don’t." She held up a hand, her expression calm and steady. "We’ve both been playing this game for too long. You know how it works."

The glyphs along the floor began to glow, pulsing with ancient energy as the ritual awakened. The scarab beneath Alastor’s sleeve buzzed violently, sensing the shift in the air—a power older than time itself, stirring in the heart of the vault.

Selene knelt in the center of the circle, her hands resting calmly on her knees. She wasn’t afraid.

Alastor’s throat tightened, every muscle in his body screaming to stop her, to pull her away from the edge. But he knew—this was the only way. The Codex demanded a death beyond the loop, and Selene was giving them exactly that.

She looked up at him one last time, her gaze steady. "End it," she whispered. "For all of us."

The glowing glyphs flared to life, the light bright and blinding. The air hummed with ancient magic, wrapping itself around Selene like a shroud. And then, with a quiet sigh—she was gone.