The pillar of golden-emerald light carried the spirits of Squad 25 smoothly upward through the vast, starlit expanse of the Archive. Below them, the transformed white marble vaults glowed with peaceful, eternal warmth.
Around the ascending platform, rings of silver and amber stardust floated like rings around a radiant planet, holding the organized history of ancient Tasaka. The crushing weight that had threatened to destroy Sagiri's soul had vanished into pure harmony.
Just beneath the upper threshold where the blue sky of Karokai Valley was visible, the ascending light slowed to a gentle halt. A magnificent ring of translucent golden glass formed beneath their boots, resting at the very gate between the two worlds.
Standing in the center of the golden platform was a colossal silhouette of pure obsidian and starlight. Across its spectral chest hung the master sash of the First Keeper, the ancient ancestor who had forged the blade of Nokai five thousand years ago.
