[Intro - Long breathy openings over slow, tense synth and distant choir; voice warm then drawn out] [Breath] I remember dawns in low desert light, [Breath] I remember hands that raised a blade to night. [Verse 1 - Quiet, deliberate, restrained delivery; steady plucked rhythm under voice] I was a child who learned to hold the spark, Taught under arches where the Masters walked. They wore the weight of peace upon their shoulders, They moved like anchors in a world grown colder. I learned the Code, the meditations and the tenets, I watched them stand where fear had no semblance. [Pre-Chorus - Rising, urgency building; percussion enters] But whispers sit heavy in the halls of glass, Doubt sits at the Council when shadows pass. They call me storm and temper my desire, They hold the torch but never fan the fire. [Chorus - Hard, anthemic, short lines, percussive delivery] [Intense] MASK OF DICHOTOMY! [I] Half a knight, half a war. MASK OF DICHOTOMY! [I] I wear the oath, I feel the scar. MASK OF DICHOTOMY! We are the heroes they once named, MASK OF DICHOTOMY! I will stand—though they doubt my flame. [Verse 2 - More forceful, guitar texture; references to service and loss] I kept the promise on storm-shattered decks, I sided with small worlds, I paid their checks. They called for calm while children burned and bled, I chose action when the dying begged to be led. They praised the order’s balance in the light, But turned away when balance asked for fight. [Pre-Chorus - Tighter rhythm, higher stakes] The Council speaks in measured, careful tones, While I hold ghosts that whisper in my bones. They teach restraint but I have felt the cost— The things I saved, the faces that were lost. [Chorus - Repeat, more force, shorter gaps] [Intense] MASK OF DICHOTOMY! [I] Half a knight, half a war. MASK OF DICHOTOMY! [I] I wear the oath, I feel the scar. MASK OF DICHOTOMY! We are the heroes they once named, MASK OF DICHOTOMY! I will stand—though they doubt my flame. [Bridge - Abrupt, anger and devotion collide; rapid drums, staccato strings] I swore to guard the weak in smoky alleys, I raced the suns where law left gaping valleys. The Prophecy hung like a weight I did not choose, They call me chosen, but never knew my bruise. If I must bend to catch the falling world, Then let the Code be tempered by my word. [Instrumental - Furious guitar solo with soaring lead, strings swell, then cut to whispering synth] [Breakdown - Quiet, single vocal line, breath held long] [Breath] I will be the blade they teach but never swing. [Breath] I will be the light they worship—on my terms. [Final Chorus - Full force, choir backing, echoing I-prefix for emphasis] [Intense] MASK OF DICHOTOMY! [I] Half a knight, half a war. MASK OF DICHOTOMY! [I] I wear the oath, I feel the scar. MASK OF DICHOTOMY! We are the heroes they once named, MASK OF DICHOTOMY! I will stand—though they doubt my flame. [Outro - Slower, breathy, resigned but resolute; sparse strings and a single distant bell] [Whispered] I keep their image in the dark— Their colors worn upon my heart. [Whispered] I walk the path they carved in stone, I will bring the light to every unknown.
