■ Crater Zero — 14 Minutes After Omega Corruption
Everything was silent.
The Vault was gone—reduced to a hollow scar of scorched stone, suspended in a mist of frozen code.
At the center stood Yuto.
Barefoot.
Half-wrapped in cracked, pulsing silk.
His form had shifted again—less larval now, more hybrid. Eyes that once shimmered like an insect's now bore streaks of violet flame.
Nyx whispered:
[Status: Stable.]
[You just corrupted a universal command and didn't get erased. You're not a bug anymore… you're a system hazard.]
"So they'll send something worse next time," Yuto muttered. "Let them."
Then the air bent.
No Spiral gate. No thread rupture.
Just a flicker of existence—like someone edited reality.
A woman appeared.
She wore no armor, no markings.
Just a black Spiral agent's coat left unbuttoned, revealing a bodysuit laced with flickering runes.
Half her face was machine, the other—uncomfortably human.
One eye glowed with golden code. The other was tired.
"So you're the bug who infected the Reset Clock."
Yuto raised his guard.
"Spiral?"
"Yes," she said. "But I'm also... done being Spiral."
■ Codename: Broken Hand
She bowed—strangely respectful.
"Designation: Codename 'Broken Hand.' I was once the Spiral's 5th Architect."
Yuto flinched.
"You're one of them?!"
"Was," she corrected. "Now I want you to help me kill another Architect."
Silence.
Nyx buzzed furiously.
[This is insane! The Architects are Spiral Prime Class! Why would one defect?!]
Yuto didn't lower his threads.
"Why betray them?"
Broken Hand's expression hardened.
She raised her arm—the metal one—and tore her coat sleeve.
Underneath: chains of golden light, spiraling around her flesh.
"Because I disobeyed. I let an anomaly live once."
"And they grafted loyalty code into my bones."
She looked him dead in the eye.
"I want them dead. And I think you're the only being glitched enough to help me."
■ Alliance Proposal
She tossed something to Yuto—a crystal, humming.
"This holds my root permission key. It lets you enter Architect-tier zones without Spiral alerts."
"Use it. Come with me."
"And help me assassinate Architect #3: Kovalein, the Dream-Crafter."
Yuto caught the crystal.
Nyx buzzed again:
[This is beyond reckless—but... this could be your way in.]
[Architects don't just hold Spiral power. They define it. Kill one, and the system bends.]
Yuto looked at Broken Hand.
"If I do this... I'm not your pawn."
"Of course not," she smiled bitterly. "You're the virus. I'm just feeding it."
[System Update:]
→ New Quest: "Architect Slayer – Dream of Kovalein"
→ Status: Optional
→ Reward: World Rewrite Permission Fragment
→ Warning: Accepting marks you as a Betrayer-Class Anomaly
Yuto grinned.
"Then let's go break an Architect's dream."