The library was silent.
But not empty.
At its deepest level — beneath light, beneath noise — a door had opened.
Not because Kirito had the key.
But because it had been waiting for him.
---
He stepped through a gate lined with obsidian runes.
Each letter pulsed with mana older than the Dominion.
The book on the pedestal wasn't bound in leather.
It was bone.
Veined with gold. Screaming without sound.
> "The Tome of the Forsaken Line."
He touched it.
It bled.
---
Pages fluttered on their own — not with wind, but will.
And then:
> A single line appeared in divine script.
Not written.
Branded.
> "The one who bleeds willingly shall carry all wounds — and shatter all gods."
---
Kirito's hands trembled.
Because he knew who it meant.
> Ash.
And beneath that line, more letters burned through.
> "But one must watch him fall. One must hold silence, even as the world begs for noise."
> "The Painweaver cannot rise alone."
Kirito swallowed.
This wasn't just prophecy.
It was command.
---
Behind him, a figure appeared in the dark.
White robes. Gold-threaded hood. Face hidden.
"You weren't meant to read that yet."
Kirito didn't turn.
Didn't flinch.
> "Then your wards were weak."
The figure stepped forward.
"You still don't understand what he is, do you?"
Kirito closed the book.
His voice low. Controlled.
> "He's not a god."
> "He's what gods fear."
---
Elsewhere…
Ash stood outside the academy infirmary.
Watching a boy he saved the week before — still asleep, wounds slowly fading.
He pressed a hand to his own chest.
Still aching.
Still cursed.
> "Why does it never get lighter?"
Seraphina approached.
"You keep taking more."
He looked at her. Quietly.
"I don't know how to stop."
She didn't answer.
She just touched his shoulder.
> "Then I'll learn how to carry it with you."
---
Back in the library, Kirito closed the tome.
His eyes burned.
> Because he knew what he had to do next.
Not fight.
Not hide.
But dig deeper.
Because if Ash was the Painweaver...
> Then Kirito was the Anchor.
And anchors don't break.
They sink beneath storms — and hold the world still.