The Ashborn fell back.
Not from fear.
But from recognition.
Jin stood at the heart of the battlefield, five chain marks glowing down his arm. The war zone echoed with a hum—like the realm itself had a heartbeat again.
"The throne's heir returns," one knight whispered, before disintegrating into light.
But that light didn't fade—it was absorbed into Jin's skin.
Fuel. Memory. Power.
Noctis watched carefully. "The battlefield accepts you. But that means the last gatekeeper won't."
A pulse shook the realm.
A tear in the sky.
Something was descending.
Back in Kaizen, the High Exorcist stood at a dark pool of spirit-water, watched by four cloaked figures—the Spirit Judges.
One asked, "You're really sending that?"
"He's the only one who can counterbalance the Chainbreaker."
From the void, the Reclaimer emerged.
Wrapped in black soul-steel, no face, no voice. Just a presence that devoured rank, nullified affinity, and reversed awakenings.
An entity made not to fight…
…but to erase.
Back in the war realm, Jin felt the shift.
The air stopped breathing. Spiritmarks dimmed.
Even Noctis hissed and stepped back.
"He's here."
From above, the Reclaimer landed in total silence.
No spirit energy. No heat.
Just the sound of chains tightening.
Jin stared. "What is it?"
Noctis whispered, "Not what. Who."
Jin stepped forward. "You're here to stop me?"
The Reclaimer didn't answer.
He removed his mask.
Jin staggered.
He saw a reflection of himself—older, broken, eyes hollowed by war.
It was… him.
Noctis's eyes widened. "They cloned your soul. Split it. Anchored the Reclaimer to the part of you that obeyed."
The Reclaimer raised his hand.
A chain-mark formed.
The sixth.
Jin screamed as the mark branded itself across his chest, locking onto the fifth.
Pain tore through him. His knees buckled.
"You were created to balance yourself," Noctis roared. "To cancel out your own rebellion!"
The Reclaimer didn't speak.
He stepped forward, hand glowing.
To touch Jin was to reset him.
Forget everything.
But then—
Yuri's pendant, still around Jin's neck, shattered.
A pulse of spirit exploded outward—her memory, her oath, her sacrifice.
The battlefield screamed.
And the sixth chain—
broke.
Jin rose slowly, bleeding, panting, but alive.
The Reclaimer froze.
Their spiritmarks… no longer matched.
"You don't control me anymore," Jin said.
And with a roar, he drove his fist into the Reclaimer's chest—
Shattering his reflection into shards of light and memory.