The energy tore through Kael like a storm.
His muscles tensed, his bones groaned, and his breath caught in his throat. His body flickered between form and shadow, stuck between what he was and what the Protocol was trying to turn him into.
[ECHO SYNC: 64%… 68%… 73%]
[NEW PASSIVE DETECTED: DUAL CONSCIOUSNESS – ACCESSING SEALED LAYER…]
Kael screamed. But it wasn't just pain—it was division.
Two minds.
Two voices.
His, and something far older.
The second mask—half-spectral—hovered beside his vision, coalescing into the faint silhouette of a man cloaked in voidlight. Eyes of pure white, no pupils, no humanity. Just hunger.
"You are not the first."
"But you may be the last."
Kael gasped. "What… what the hell are you?"
"The Echo before you. The Reaper before you. The broken soul who burned a world trying to be saved."
Kael fell to one knee, clutching his chest. His vision wavered. He saw flashes—ruined cities, blackened skies, a lone figure standing atop a mountain of shattered System Cores.
"Let me in," the voice whispered. "Let me show you how to win."
The enforcer moved with terrifying speed.
He crossed the tunnel in a blur, gauntlet wreathed in blue flame. Kael barely blinked before the fist slammed into his side, sending him hurtling through a rusted pipe and into an abandoned platform.
Kael coughed blood. His vision doubled. "Shit."
[WARNING: Internal injuries. Rib fractures. Stabilization Required.]
"Get up," Veylan said, stepping through the debris, calm and merciless. "I want to see what this Protocol really looks like."
Kael looked up through blood and grit.
Kael screamed "Ahhhh!"
"You want it?"
The Protocol roared awake.
Shadow surged from Kael's spine, forming armor, claws, and glowing sigils down his arms. The second mask didn't attach—it hovered behind him, whispering.
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED – RAVEN VEIL]
[Effect: Temporarily fuses host with Echo Persona. Gains enhanced reflexes, dark vision, and psychic backlash resistance. Duration: 45 seconds.]
Kael stood.
Something in his stance had changed.
Kael vanished. Not with Phantom Step—but pure speed.
He reappeared above Veylan and drove a double-helix slash toward his exposed collar. Veylan blocked, but this time he staggered.
Kael twisted mid-air, summoned a Spectral Chain, and lashed it toward a support beam. It struck and yanked him out of range of Veylan's counterattack, then slingshot him back with brutal momentum.
His Scythe carved along Veylan's left gauntlet, sending sparks flying.
Veylan's eyes narrowed.
"Faster," he muttered. "Cleaner."
He unleashed a Shock Pulse, knocking Kael back—but not down.
Kael spun mid-air and landed on all fours, a dark aura leaking from his back like wings made of fog.
[RAVEN VEIL – 32s remaining]
Veylan realized something in that moment.
Kael wasn't just surviving.
He was adapting.
"Damn glitch really learns mid-fight…"Meanwhile – Elsewhere in Arcadia
Selene Mora stood on a rooftop overlooking the Rift District. She takes 5 deep breaths in.
Her chrono-scanner buzzed faintly, triangulating high-level system pulses.
Kael's energy signature had just spiked into S-rank territory for 2.7 seconds.
She smirked.
"Well, well… looks like the little ghost's got fangs now. The protocol doesn't stop it always finds its host"
Behind her, an Astral Vanguard scout hesitated. "Should we report to High Seer Mora?"
Selene shook her head.
"No. Not yet. I want to see where this goes." She starts to chuckle "I like when shit like this happens."
She tapped her watch and vanished in a blink of chrono light. Back in the Fight
Kael was tiring.
His mind buzzed with too many voices. His own, the Protocol's, and now the Echo Persona's.
He ducked a wide blow from Veylan, rolled under a punch, and tried to counter—but Veylan had adapted too. He caught Kael mid-swing, lifted him by the throat, and slammed him into a support pillar hard enough to crack stone.
[CRITICAL DAMAGE – System Stability: 41%]
Kael gasped, barely conscious spitting out blood.
"You are not enough," the second voice whispered inside him. "But I am."
[ECHO SYNC – 82%]
[FORCED MERGE AVAILABLE – WARNING: Host Identity Integrity at Risk]
Kael hesitated.
"Why does it have to come down to this" he whispered under his breath. He stood up "Do it."
The second mask slammed into his face like a bullet of light and shadow.
His entire body arched. His arms spread. Shadow bled from every inch of his skin, forming spectral armor with sharp, jagged edges. His voice split—two tones speaking in sync. His Scythe had purple aura surrounding it.
"System Override: Reaper State – Initiated."
Time slowed for Kael.
Veylan lunged.
Kael moved.
Too fast. Too fluid. Too much.
He dodged Veylan's strike before it even launched, pivoted behind the enforcer, and slammed his blade through the older man's armor.
Veylan grunted, surprised—but not dead. He activated Iron Shell, ejecting Kael with an energy burst. Kael skidded across the platform but stayed upright.
He laughed.
Not cold. Not cruel.
But free.
For the first time, he felt like he was flying.
Echo Reaper – Form One
[Black Requiem – Locked]
[Current Echoes Equipped: 4]
[Stability: 67%]
[Reaper State Duration: 90 seconds]
Veylan studied him now, more cautious.
"I see," he muttered. "The Echo Protocol didn't just survive—it evolved."
Kael stood, cloak billowing, mask glowing.
"I'm not your enemy," he said. "I didn't choose this. I didn't ask for it"
"You used it," Veylan replied. "And now you're a threat to every rule the System stands for."
Kael lowered his blade.
"I didn't break your rules. They broke me first!" He shouted
Interruption – Rift Surge
Suddenly, both fighters froze.
The ground trembled.
A pulse of dark energy ripped through the tunnel—then the walls exploded inward. A creature burst through—a Voidspawn Alpha, 4 meters tall, dripping with shadow ichor and void radiation.
Kael and Veylan both staggered back as the monster roared.
The Rift… had followed Kael.
[SYSTEM EVENT – RIFT BLEED: ZONE 12B]
[S-CLASS THREAT – VOIDSPAWN ALPHA: "LURKMAW"]
Kael cursed.
Veylan stepped forward. "You're still under arrest."
Kael raised a brow. "You gonna cuff me, or save your ass?"
The Voidspawn lunged.
Kael and Veylan moved as one.
For the first time—they fought together. The Battle Turns
Kael dashed left, slashing at the creature's legs with a double strike. Veylan launched a kinetic barrier to trap the beast momentarily. It burst free seconds later, but Kael used Spectral Chain to wrap one of its arms and yank it downward—Veylan slammed a plasma fist into its skull.
It screamed, but it didn't fall.
[Reaper State: 23s remaining]
"Shit I don't have much time. This form is fun." Kael chuckled.
Kael pushed harder, blade glowing, tapping into stored Echoes—an elemental Slash from a fire-user, a momentum booster from a speed-type, and a final spectral burst.
He climbed the beast's back and drove his Scythe deep into the skull.
The creature thrashed—then collapsed.
Dead. Aftermath
Smoke drifted from the broken tunnel. Kael stood above the Voidspawn, chest heaving. Veylan pulled himself to his feet, bloody but alive.
They stared at each other in silence.
Finally, Veylan spoke.
"You don't belong in a prison," he said.
Kael's hand tightened on his scythe.
"But I will find out who let you awaken this."
Kael nodded once.
"You're not the only one hunting answers."
Veylan turned to leave.
"Next time we meet, don't expect mercy."
Kael vanished into the smoke, cloak trailing behind him.Final Scene – A Warning
Back in the Rift District, Kael returned to the shack.
Niko was gone.
A single note lay on the table.
"They came looking for you. Said they'd trade me for the truth about your system. I knew it was you that did that to the C ranks. But congrats of having a system. I'm okay. Don't come alone."
Kael crushed the paper in his fist.
His eyes glowed with rising rage—and fear.
Not for himself.
But for whoever dared take his brother.
[Echo Protocol Update – New Objective: Recover Niko Riven]
[Optional: Unleash Black Requiem]
"Who ever took him is going to fucking pay!" Kael shouted.