```

[GENIUS]: Haru, I need mana... like NOW...

```

Now that everyone was in chaos, no one was safe.

On the other side, Genius had to hide in Seline’s shadow, who was fighting several Gamers there because each one wanted to massacre and get revenge.

```

[HARU]: But it doesn’t work without naming the Squad! Hold on!

[GENIUS]: Name this sh...

```

Genius was almost hit, he fell to another platform.

Seline stopped, caught him, they jumped.

But in the air they were met by projectiles that were being launched.

Seline let go of Genius to maneuver better.

Genius fell. Seline caught him and launched him high into the air.

```

[GENIUS]: Fuck it, I’ll name it! You’re gonna kill me, sushi face!

[HARU]: Gamers Above All...

[GENIUS]: What the HELL was that!? Damn it!

[HARU]: It was the first name that came to mind... how about Pro Players?

```

Haru said, dodging an axe to the face.

```

[GENIUS]: Fuck the name... the plan is getting out of control, give me the mana... name it THE GENIUS!

```

```

[SYSTEM ERROR]

◊ Must touch to name Squad and transfer mana

◊ Physical contact required

```

"Shit!"

Genius searched for Haru in the middle of the chaos.

```

[HARU]: Right behind you, Baguette...

```

He turned and saw Haru coming with a bunch of Gamers behind him.

And where Genius was, chains were coming to grab him.

"Oh my God!" Genius ran towards Haru, in the opposite direction of the currents.

Haru was coming... hurrying.

Genius jumped off the platform, stretching out his hand as he fell.

"The plan with 98% flaws rounded up to 100%." Genius thought.

Haru did somersaults, spun, passed through the fire, lost his balance.

"Nobody..."

"...will come back..."

But the speed carried him towards Genius.

"...to..."

For a moment, everything slowed down.

~God and Adam trying to touch each other, hands outstretched, fingers almost meeting, emptiness between them.~

"...spawn point..."

**TAH!**

It was the sound of palms scraping against hands.

```

════════ SPAWN POINT ═════════

◊ Squad named successfully

◊ Members: Haru Mizuki, Genius Genials

◊ Haru Mizuki donated mana to Genius Genials

◊ Shared resources: UNLOCKED

```

Haru landed abruptly on a platform, regaining his balance and continuing to run as if nothing had happened... "I’ll freak out later," he thought.

With the mana he received, Genius propelled himself into the air, appearing on the platform where Seline was slicing a Gamer in half with Kimyo’s sword.

"Good, I’m back!" Genius shouted. "Let’s go to the final part of the plan!"

"I thought it had gone wrong..." Seline said. "What are the chances of us getting out now!?"

"Tokyo is the chance! He just needs to be noticed!"

Father Elias read the names with satisfaction, smiling.

But then he tried to read Haru’s name.

He couldn’t, it kept changing, endlessly, letters rearranging themselves without stopping.

As if that wasn’t enough, the golden sky began to darken, to rot, corrupted, black stains spreading.

"I have to eliminate that Anomalous... he is the error of truth! And the key to making this Resonance complete!"

Hundreds of chains flew out to grab Haru.

"Ah, shit..." Haru started dodging and putting himself in front of other Gamers.

Then Genius appeared, defending with hundreds of spectral swords.

"Looks like I’ll have to go there..." Father Elias murmured.

But before she jumped...

She sensed a presence behind her.

When she turned, the Veritas (Book) wasn’t there; someone had taken it.

When she looked, it was Seline running between the platforms, the sacred book in her hands.

"Daughter of a bitch!"

The Priest and all the chains converged on one point: Seline.

She began to dodge, nimbly, teleporting, jumping.

But it was starting to seem ineffective; the Priest was truly angry, chains multiplying.

"If what he manipulates is like this... imagine having to fight him..."

"I have to give this book to Tokyo now to close the plan and break this..."

"But where are they...?"

...

"Jump, jump, jump, jump!" Genius shouted. "Before she finds out!"

Haru and Genius jumped onto the platforms near the horizon, the end of the Resonance.

"Man, I don’t know if betraying her was the best option..." Genius grumbled. "Now she’s going to want to kill us!"

They jumped at top speed.

"Fuck it, she was going to screw us over anyway..." Haru replied.

It turned out that Genius had tricked Seline.

The last part of the plan was for her to get the Veritas and give it to Haru to cause the phenomenon that Genius invented: Disarray.

But the plan had fallen apart the moment the chaos among the Gamers happened.

Genius’s plan could only be achieved if Haru disoriented the Priest... and they used [time stop] to disappear.

But it turns out that Seline went to get the Veritas.

They knew this would shift the focus of attention to her.

And to make them disappear, Haru used the time stop to desynchronize everyone’s perception of time, thus slightly disrupting the resonance’s rhythm, while they sped towards the horizon.

"It’s now or never, Genius!"

"Jump!"

They jumped to the end of the Resonance.

But they didn’t reach it; they began to fall, into the infinite void below.

But then a platform caught them and carried them to the end. How? They didn’t know, but someone helped them.

<MOMENTS BEFORE — 4TH BASEMENT LEVEL>

The fourth basement level was a giant chamber, a high vaulted ceiling, black marble pillars, sacred artifacts on the walls, on small altars and shelves, glowing softly.

In the center, a circular altar engraved with containment runes, now empty, waiting.

"Gamers..." Father Elias said, making a sacred sign, hand on his chest, then forehead.

"Gamers!?" Murmurs echoed from the saints and students of the Cathedral, shock, fear, anger.

"And as if that weren’t enough..." one of them continued, "...it’s estimated that the two suspects who broke into the library today were Gamers..."

"They took three Tactys! Why would Gamers want Tactys!?"

Among those murmurs was Lilithine, standing quietly, hands clasped, a distant look in her eyes.

"Are you alright, Lilithine?" A nun asked, touching her shoulder.

"I’m fine..." she replied softly.

"No, you’re not alright." A female voice in her head, soft but firm.

"Yes, I am!" she answered mentally.

"It’s Haru, isn’t it? I liked him too... He called you Lilith earlier today. And that’s my name. Do you know what that means?"

"Leave me alone!" Lilithine complained mentally.

The voice smiled, a clear feeling in the shared mind.

"Stay calm. You gave me more space at the exact moment you diminished your holiness with the boy..."

The voice paused dramatically.

"Let me prophesy: when heaven rots because of you... I will take over."

The priest gently touched her shoulder, concerned.

"Lilithine, are you alright? If you can’t, don’t worry. You can take a day off..."

"I will manage!" she said firmly. "I need to. Only then will I achieve greater holiness."

The priest looked at her and smiled, with paternal confidence.

"May God bless you, daughter."

Father Elias stopped in the center of the chamber, all eyes on him. A voice echoed, not shouted, but filling the space:

"Brothers and sisters!"

Absolute silence.

"Tonight... is not an ordinary night. We are not here to pray in peace. We are not here to study in silence."

"We are here for war."

Some saints exchanged glances filled with fear and determination.

"The Anomalous Ones came, they invaded our sacred home. Some even desecrated our library today. They stole our treasures."

Voice growing more intense.

"And now... they want the Codex Veritas. They want the truth. They want what they have no right to have!"

He struck his staff on the ground, the sound echoing like thunder.

"But we will not allow it! Because we are guardians of the truth! We are soldiers of God!"

He looked each one in the eyes, one by one.

"Some of you..." his voice becoming serious, heavy, "...will not see the mortal tomorrow."

Tense silence.

"Some will fall. Some will bleed. Some... will not return home." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He raised his staff high, gleaming gold.

"But by God... if I have to descend into hell to admonish the demons... I’ll go a thousand times over!"

"And you’ll come with me!"

Shouts of agreement, some saints raised their hands.

"FOR THE CATHEDRAL!"

"FOR THE TRUTH!"

Father Elias suddenly fell silent, raising his hand for silence.

Everyone stopped.

He looked at the distant door.

"They’re coming..."

The custodians opened the door to the basement room, emerging in perfect formation.

The doors closed behind them, a heavy sound echoing.

All the saints there stepped back, forming a circle around the altar.

They began to pray, their voices low, harmonious, their holy energy increasing.

Father Elias stood there alone in the center, his eyes gleaming in the darkness, staff in hand.

"Codex Veritas..." he thought, gazing at the empty altar.

"Incomplete resonance, combined and powerful."

"And because it is incomplete, I can only reveal who is who within it and drain power.",

He looked at the saints around him, all praying.

"That’s why I need them. To send me holiness."

Moments later...

Suddenly, voices and the sound of people fighting behind the giant door, muffled explosions, screams, metal clanging.

Father Elias stared at the door with a serious expression, without fear, only determination.

Lilithine was anxious like everyone else there, but then she felt something, a familiar aura, distant but clear, and her heart raced without understanding why.

"Now..." Father whispered.

The Custodians outside entered, deliberately leaving the door open.

The Gamers rushed in, desperate, some wounded.

They saw Father Elias alone in the center.

They saw the empty altar.

Father Elias began the incantation.

"By the heavens that watch over the fallen,

By the light that exposes the lie,

By the word that judges the lost,

By the truth that never expires..."

Father Elias appeared in the shadows, only a silhouette, an open book floating before him, shining gold.

His voice continued:

"I invoke the Sacred Codex,

Eternal record of the soul,

May each name be revealed,

May each mask dissolve into calm..."

The book shone intensely, pages turning on their own, golden runes emerging.

Father Elias raised his hand:

"RESONANCE: CODEX VERITAS!"

As soon as he finished, all the saints there in the shadows shone, and were lifted up, rising slowly, gravity no longer mattering.

When Lilithine opened her eyes, she was in the heavens, an infinite golden sky all around, shimmering clouds below.

Enveloped in a bright aura with the other saints, they looked like angels.

Wings of light on their backs. Glowing halos. White robes floating.

Lilithine remembered what Father Elias had added after the meeting:

"You will then chant the following praise..."

Papers from his office had floated into each of their hands.

Then Lilithine, with all the others there, began to chant the praise, harmonious, angelic, pure voices.

Energy flowed from them to the Father below, threads of golden light connecting heaven and earth.

Lilithine saw below, a mound of Gamers, each on a platform, in a golden celestial void.

It was chaos up there, people jumping, chains flying, screams echoing.

Not much time passed in the sky.

Lilithine opened her eyes and noticed a Gamer jumping wildly between platforms.

His aura was strangely familiar.