Seth walked slowly. Each step stirred the ash gently, as if even the dust of this place was hesitant to disturb him. The tower before him was far larger than it had seemed from a distance. Its base was wide enough to house a city, and the blocks that formed it bore inscriptions that pulsed faintly — symbols that seemed to move when he wasn't looking at them directly.
When he reached fifty meters from the tower, a wave of energy rippled across the ground like the beat of an ancient drum. The earth trembled beneath his feet, and then, a line lit up before him. A streak of purple light ran along the ground from where he stood to the tower's entrance — which slowly opened with a sound like bones dragging over dry stone.
The interior was dark. A void so deep it swallowed what little light surrounded it.
'Even though it seems stupid to walk into a place like this, I'm not sensing anything that threatens my life… in fact, this place feels almost cozy…' he thought as he analyzed the entrance.
'Well, rewards come to those who take risks in this world.' Seth didn't hesitate and walked toward the entrance.
Inside, it looked like an abandoned cathedral built in another reality. Pillars floated, staircases twisted upward and downward, and the space seemed to reorganize itself whenever he looked away. A constant sense of dislocation followed him — as if he were walking inside a dreaming mind.
At the center stood an obsidian obelisk, encrusted with closed eyes. As Seth approached, they began to open one by one, revealing colorless pupils.
Suddenly, the ground vanished beneath his feet.
"What the hell?!" He fell. Not into a pit — but into himself.
Visions flooded his mind.
"You… do not belong to this world…" whispered a guttural voice in his head, as if each word were spoken by thousands of mouths. "And yet… you carry the scent of death and the void."
Seth clenched his teeth, trying to hold onto consciousness. His body was still, but his mind was being pulled by chains made of memories — some his, others… not.
"Choose…" the voice said, and then three choices appeared in floating boxes before him, made by the system — but different…
[1. The Flame That Consumes All]
[2. The Eye That Never Sleeps]
[3. The Hand That Steals Time]
"This is new…" Seth muttered. The interface wasn't like the usual bluish one from the System. It was a vivid, glowing purplish-violet — bright and striking.
[Choose a fragment of power.]
Seth looked at the System's interface and… raised his hand toward all three options — yes, all three. After all… the System never said he had to pick only one. Why shouldn't he try to select all three at once?... It was worth a shot.
He extended his hand, hesitating only for a moment... and then touched all three options simultaneously.
The moment his fingers passed through the icons, the world cracked.
Not metaphorically — the space around him actually fractured. The purplish boxes exploded into beams of light that intertwined like serpents made of living code. A high-pitched siren, almost inaudible, sounded from deep within what seemed to be the core of this place.
[WARNING: Interference in the Rules of the Umbral Fragment]
[Triple Selection is forbidden by ancestral protocols]
[Countermeasures generating...]
[Failure.]
[Failure.]
[Critical failure.]
[...]
[New rule written: "Exception: Protocol Seth"]
[Processing Existential Reconfiguration...]
Seth's body was lifted from the ground by an invisible force. Light and shadow clashed around him, and his veins began to glow with a complex pattern of arcane circuits. He would have screamed, but his voice was swallowed by the crushing pressure that suspended him between layers of reality.
"Uhhhgrrrtt!!!" he roared in pain as his body seemed to be torn apart from the inside out. It was a pain so intense that he began to fight just to remain conscious.
Whatever this agony was, it struck at his soul.
[Fragments absorbed: 3/3]
[Incompatibility detected. Solution: Experimental Fusion Initiated]
[New Title Granted: Bearer of the Primordial Sin]
[New Existential State: Anomalous]
[You have received three new abilities.]
The pain ceased suddenly — not because it was over, but because Seth could no longer tell where the agony ended and his new existence began. He dropped to his knees, gasping, feeling reality adjust around him.
Slowly, the system icons reappeared before him, but now pulsing with a deep crimson glow at their edges. They flickered, as if hesitating to grant him what no single being should have touched.
[Voidflame (Rank-S)]Description: A flame that burns not just matter, but everything it touches. Anything affected by this flame has its very existence corroded.
[Sovereign's Gaze (Rank-S)(Passive)]Description: You see beyond form. You perceive intentions, lies, weaknesses… and that which should not be seen. Even with closed eyes, your mind remains open.
[Dominion's Touch (Rank-S)(Evolving)]Description: Grants control and influence over physical objects. Proficiency varies with the weight of the object.Evolving Trait: With training and usage, the skill evolves more unpredictably compared to others.
Seth remained on his knees, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. The names, effects, and costs danced before his eyes as the System finalized:
[You are now: Bearer of the Primordial Sin]
[Warning: You have broken the balance of the Veil. Your presence is traceable.]
[Awakened Entities: 1]
[Time until Anomaly Manifestation: 01:14]
[Suggestion: IMMEDIATE ESCAPE]
"Three… at once," he muttered, rising to his feet with effort. "This is going to cost me."
The tower shook violently, and a crack in the ceiling widened, revealing crystalline shadow-claws gripping the edges of reality.
A massive eye began to form within the rift.
[ENTITY: THE FALLEN OF THE THRESHOLD — EMERGING]
[ESCAPE or RESIST.]
Seth gritted his teeth. His hands still trembled, but his eyes... his eyes saw beyond. He could see the fabric of the tower, the threads of time stitched between every stone, the forgotten echoes that held this twisted reality together.
"Alright... let's see how far I can carry this damned sin." He took a deep breath, his chest still heavy with the weight of transformation, and then looked up. Above him, the creature was taking form — a being that shouldn't exist, molded by the rift in the sky like a living scar on the cosmos.
"Besides… I need to get out of here, fast." The thought came quickly, precisely — slicing through the confusion like a blade. "Time moves slower here than in the real world. At least fifteen minutes must have passed out there... If I take too long, someone will notice I'm missing. And if Connie or Vixen decide to come looking…"
A chill ran down his spine. Not because of the entity about to emerge — but because of the two people he knew would chase him into hell itself. "Better end this quickly."
He rolled his shoulders, adjusted his stance, and faced the creature descending from the celestial crack — a shadow with claws made of silence, falling from above like a sentence.
And Seth… smiled.