Kael stood in the alley's shadows, the blood still not fully dried on his boots.
The air felt colder tonight.
He pulled his hood lower and glanced at the skyline. Core Tower glittered like a dagger in the sky, stabbing downward toward the slums. Every light in that place meant someone who didn't worry about rent. Someone who didn't bleed for platinum.
He turned into a narrow backstreet. Broken neon signs buzzed overhead. Garbage littered the ground, and mutated rats skittered under foot. When he finally reached the shack, he let out a tired breath.
The door creaked open.
Niko sat at the small table, steaming stew in front of him. His eyes lit up the second Kael walked in.
"You're back," he said, smiling. "And… you're not limping."
Kael shrugged, setting down a bag of meds. "I heal fast. Always have."
Niko frowned. "So, those guys…?"
Kael didn't look up. "Won't be a problem anymore."
There was a pause. Niko lowered his spoon.
"Kael… I saw the news."
Kael slowly turned. The old holo-screen in the corner crackled with static, then the image came into focus:
"Authorities are investigating a gruesome scene in Sector 7, where multiple C-rank Ascendants were found dead in what appears to be a rogue system incident. Eyewitnesses describe a figure cloaked in black, masked, and surrounded by smoke. The Ascendant Bureau has yet to comment…"
Niko stared at the screen, then back at his brother.
"That wasn't you… right?"
Kael's gaze was flat. Calm. "If someone like that is out there… they better keep far away from us."
Niko didn't respond. He just went back to his stew, a little more quietly.Core Tower – Ascendant Bureau: Internal Briefing Room
S-class System Enforcer Veylan Rhoke stood at the head of the long table, watching the footage.
The table was glass and steel, the walls adorned with the insignia of the Ascendant Order. The room was silent except for the replay: a surveillance drone's black-and-white footage.
It caught only fragments—a blur of movement, a shadow crashing into the warehouse, screams cut short, and then nothing.
"Play it again," Veylan said.
A technician flinched but obeyed.
A crackling voice echoed from the recording:
"…What the hell is that?!"
"Dumbass in a Halloween—"
Then the feed cut to static.
Veylan rubbed his jaw. His right eye was cybernetic—glowing red, scanning, analyzing.
"That's Echo-class energy," he muttered. "And it's evolving."
Across the room, a junior officer spoke up. "Sir… the system has flagged this as a Class Black—Rogue Protocol Awakening. Do we send in an eradication unit?"
"No," Veylan said, eyes narrowing. "We don't send units for ghosts."
He turned, walking toward the open window that overlooked Arcadia.
"I'll bury this one myself."Eclipsed Thorn – Shadow Branch
Selric Vane stood in the back room of a wine bar that served as a front for Eclipsed Thorn.
He adjusted his green tie and tapped his silver glasses, bringing up a floating feed of the same news footage. Unlike the Bureau, he had a clearer image—Kael's masked form surrounded by writhing black energy.
"So it's true," he whispered. "The Echo Protocol survived."
A voice buzzed through his earpiece. "Do we eliminate him?"
Selric smiled faintly. "No. Not yet."
He walked to a massive board, covered in moving strings, faces, and holographic dossiers. Kael's image blinked to the center.
"We observe. If the Protocol's host stabilizes, he may become our greatest asset. Or our final weapon."Back in the Slums – Midnight
Kael sat on the roof, staring out at the broken skyline. The air was still, thick with smog. Sirens wailed in the distance.
He could feel it again—that presence inside him.
The Protocol.
"You killed efficiently," the voice echoed inside his mind. "Your instincts are aligning."
"Shut up," Kael muttered.
"You deny what you are. But you activated me. You fed me echoes. You felt it—the power."
Kael gritted his teeth. "I didn't have a choice."
"You always have a choice, Kael Riven. And you chose survival. You chose strength."
The Rift Job – The Next Morning
Kael signed up for a basic Rift Response job. Low-risk, low-pay, just enough to keep things quiet for a while.
He was paired with two F-ranks and a D-rank healer. None of them recognized him.
The job was simple: clear a mutated flora outbreak in a sub-rift zone. Kael barely lifted a finger—the Protocol's passives let him sense the core infection immediately. One strike, one silent kill, and the job was done.
But something strange happened as they returned to the Bureau outpost.
Kael's vision glitched.
SYSTEM ALERT: PROXIMITY BREACH – ENFORCER UNIT DETECTED
His HUD flashed crimson. A new symbol burned onto his forearm like a brand—spiraling red circuitry overlaying his skin.
"WARNING: YOU ARE BEING TRACKED."
Kael's eyes widened.
He didn't wait.
He bolted.
The others called out, confused, but he didn't respond. He cut through alleys, ducked behind collapsed buildings, activated Phantom Step to phase through a crumbling wall. The slums blurred around him.
But the warnings only got louder.
Tracking Lock: 2.1 km… 1.4 km… 600 meters…
Kael dove into a sewer tunnel, heart pounding.
He heard it.
The sound of impact. Heavy boots slamming onto concrete. The tunnel shook slightly. Kael turned just as the massive silhouette dropped into view at the far end of the corridor.
S-rank presence.
The man was tall—over two meters—wearing obsidian armor lined with System glyphs. His hair was silver, eyes cold steel. And on his chest was the mark of the Ascendant Bureau.
Veylan Rhoke.
"You shouldn't exist, Ghost," he said.
Kael raised his hand, shadows flickering behind his fingers.
Kael activated Echo Protocol.
The mask snapped into place. The black armor and the black hooded cape grew over his body like living smoke, crackling with new energy from the recent level-up.
[PHANTOM STEP – READY]
[SPECTRAL CHAIN – READY]
[New Skill: Phantom Dash – 2.5s intangibility]
Veylan cracked his knuckles.
"Your Protocol's unstable. The Bureau will extract and erase it."
Kael's voice was cold behind the mask. "Try."
The tunnel exploded into chaos.
Kael dashed forward, Scythe drawn, shadows screaming in his wake.
Veylan raised a massive energy shield and caught the strike—barely. The ground cracked beneath them. The impact forced both back, but Veylan didn't flinch.
Kael slid to the side and vanished with Phantom Step, reappearing behind Veylan and striking at his side. Veylan spun, blocking with a gauntlet and countering with a brutal punch.
Kael flew backward, smashing into a wall, gasping for breath.
[SYSTEM: Damage sustained – minor fractures. Echo Stabilization at 52%.]
Kael gritted his teeth and rose.
"Why are you chasing me?" he growled.
Veylan didn't hesitate.
"Because people like you break the world. Protocols like yours destroy order. You're a glitch, and I erase glitches."
Kael's eyes burned.
"No. I'm what your world created when it chose to abandon us."
Veylan charged again, and Kael braced himself—
[WARNING: Critical Threat Detected. Echo Evolution Suggested.]
ECHO SYNC AT 60%… Initiating Passive Unlock…
Kael's body begins to glow with unstable energy.
A second mask—half-formed—emerges beside his own.
A whisper.
"Let me help you… just this once."