To Sin Is Divine

"You broke the chains, thinking they bound you. But chains do not always enslave — sometimes, they keep the monster inside."

—Lucien, Voice of the First Sin

The Room Without Time

The Bearers passed through the final gate.

Beyond it was a cathedral that bent physics.

The floor stretched forever. The sky bled gold. Gravity felt… optional.

In the center sat a single throne — carved from the skulls of extinct angels, backlit by seven halos spinning in silence.

Lucien sat atop it.

Not aged. Not withered.

He was radiant. Divine. Still human. But something more.

Kael stepped forward. "It's over."

Lucien smiled.

"Oh, Kael. It's only beginning."

No Welcome, No Threat

The room was eerily quiet. Lucien didn't move. He didn't attack.

He simply looked at each of them like a father examining his children.

"Ten. Weapon born from trauma. Still swinging like it makes you clean."

"Ren. The fool who learned truth. Still wears a mask to comfort others."

"Serah. You fight for order — but secretly long for chaos."

Zayne stepped forward. "Speak again and I'll silence you."

Lucien raised a hand.

"You think I'm mocking you. I'm not. I'm grieving."

The Truth Behind the Codex

Lucien stood, and the cathedral shifted — its walls peeling back to reveal visions of the past.

A war before time

Seven angels corrupted by their own desire to protect mortals

The Codex forged from their wings, written in blood

"The Virtues were never blessings. They were limits. Moral programming designed to prevent mortals from becoming gods."

Serah whispered, "You knew."

Lucien nodded.

"Of course. And I knew the only way to break those limits… was to give mortals the illusion of choice."

The Bearers Were Not Chosen… They Were Grown

Lucien raised a mirror.

Inside it: moments from Chapters 1 to 23. Their failures. Their deaths. Their Mirror fights.

"You think you resisted me," Lucien said, "but I designed you."

"The Sin Mirrors weren't sent to break you. They were sent to forge you."

"You've become exactly what I needed. What the world needs."

Kael growled. "You mean soldiers."

Lucien stepped down the throne.

"No," he said.

"I mean gods."

The Offer

Lucien extended his hands.

"Take the throne. The Sevenfold Throne. Govern the world as you see fit. Keep the peace. End war. Control virtue, distribute sin. You've earned it."

"But know this: if you refuse, chaos returns. Nations collapse. Worship turns violent. The Codex will crack again."

The Bearers were silent.

Elyan whispered, "This is what he always wanted. Not followers — replacements."

Ren looked at Kael.

"Well?"

Kael turned to Lucien.

And asked just one question.

"Who are you without the throne?"

Lucien's Past Revealed

The golden walls twisted again — revealing a young man, once called Lucien, watching his mother burn as "unclean" in a pre-Church purge.

He was twelve.

"I built the Church to make the pain mean something."

"To ensure order had a price. To give guilt value."

"Because no one fears god unless sin is real."

Zayne's voice cracked. "You… were just trying to make sense of loss."

Lucien nodded. "And in the process, I made a world where no one could question mine."

Kael's Response

Kael stepped forward.

He dropped his blade at Lucien's feet.

"You're right," he said. "We are the result of everything you planned."

"But that doesn't mean we owe you our future."

Kael raised his hand — not in violence, but in refusal.

"We won't take the throne."

"We'll build something without one."

Lucien's face remained unreadable.

Then he asked, softly:

"Then who will carry the burden of sin?"

Kael looked to his team.

"All of us. Together."

Lucien's Final Smile

Lucien closed his eyes.

And for the first time in centuries…

He looked tired.

"Then come," he said.

"Prove it."

The cathedral darkened.

The halos above his head ignited with flame.

Lucien stepped down from the throne…

…and drew a blade forged from the final page of the Codex.