The hum of corrupted energy rippled through the facility like a heartbeat—dark, unrelenting, and angry.
Kael stood with his scythe drawn, the curved blade humming with raw echo energy. Sparks danced along the weapon's surface, reacting to the pressure in the air.
Niko was still strapped to the slab, his body twitching from whatever Rift-infused ritual they had started.
Lysandra flickered again, her body partially intangible, her face hidden behind a twisted veil of Rift static.
"You're late," she cooed. "He was almost ready."
"Shut the hell up," Kael growled.
Terryl Gordon cracked his neck, blue circuits dancing across his arms as he activated multiple tracking nodes at once.
"You're playing with echoes you don't understand, freakshow," Terryl muttered. "Whatever this is, it's way above street-level harvesting. Who the hell are you working for?"
Lysandra tilted her head, amused.
"Still think you're asking the right questions, Tracker?"
Without warning, the lights overhead burst. The hum of the facility dropped into a deep rumble. Kael's instincts flared—his system whispering a warning.
[Danger: Rift Signature Surge Imminent]
Suddenly, a burst of corrupted Rift energy erupted from the walls behind Lysandra.
Out of the shadows crawled two Rift-born abominations—twisted humanoid shapes, their bodies half-fused with system runes and shadowy tendrils.
Their eyes burned violet.
"Guardians," Lysandra whispered. "I was hoping to test them on something… durable."
Terryl took a step forward. "You want durable? You should've built a third one."
Kael launched first, his scythe carving through the air as his body blurred into an echo flash. The first guardian raised an arm to block, but Kael vanished—reappearing above it mid-air.
He brought the scythe down in a clean arc.
KRACK!
The thing's arm cleaved in half, but no blood spilled.
Just dark matter and glitching fragments. It shrieked—a sound like broken glass and static—and retaliated with a pulse of destabilizing magic that forced Kael back.
Terryl ducked beneath a wild swing from the second guardian, his Trace Binder glyphs flaring on his skin.
He dropped to one knee, slammed his palm to the ground, and snarled.
"System Skill: Echo Lock!"
The floor beneath the guardian pulsed, freezing its movement for a full second.
Terryl drew a short-range energy pistol from his side and fired straight into its core.
Boom.
The creature buckled—but didn't fall.
"Kael!" Terryl shouted. "They don't run on hearts. Aim for the core runes in the chest! You see that spiraling glyph?"
Kael's eyes locked on the first creature's torso. A pulsing, almost serpentine rune twisted there—barely visible under the corruption.
"Got it."
Kael flickered forward, echo-dashing around the guardian's claws, then drove his scythe straight through the rune.
The creature screamed once more—then exploded into black mist.
Lysandra didn't flinch.
Terryl threw an EMP tracer at the remaining one, forcing it back with a howl of static.
"I'll keep this one busy. Get your damn brother!"
Kael turned toward the slab where Niko lay. His brother's eyes were glassy, distant—but he was conscious.
"Niko," Kael said, rushing over. "I'm here. I'm getting you out."
Niko's lips barely moved. "Kael… something's… wrong…"
"I know," Kael said, slicing through the restraints with one clean sweep. "But I've got you now."
The moment the restraints came loose, a shockwave burst from Niko's chest—slamming Kael back into the wall.
[Warning: Unknown Echo Signature Detected]
Kael's system blared in his mind. Niko was glowing—no, pulsing—with Rift energy. It wasn't like Kael's. This was raw, unstable, bleeding into the air like wildfire.
"Niko… what the hell did they do to you?"
Niko stumbled to his feet, clutching his chest. "I… I can't stop it…"
Lysandra clapped once, slow and venomous.
"Bravo," she said. "Phase one complete. The vessel has awakened."
Kael lunged at her.
She vanished in a flicker.
"Fight your own damn ghosts, Kael Riven."
The walls of the chamber began to crack. Red sirens flared. Automated warnings blared through the failing speakers"
"Core instability detected. Evacuation required."
Terryl punched the second guardian in the glyph, knocking it into the wall. "We're out of time!"
Kael grabbed Niko's arm. "Can you walk?"
Niko's breathing was shallow. His skin was glowing with dark blue veins. But he nodded.
"Yeah… I'll try."
Terryl moved fast, using his tracer glyphs to locate a safe exit path. "Follow me. These tunnels link to the old sub-access beneath the market.
We've got five minutes max before this place implodes!"
They ran—past cracked monitors, glowing veins of Rift energy, and the crumbling echoes of failed experiments. The facility wasn't built to contain what Lysandra had unleashed. It was breaking apart.
Halfway through the escape corridor, Niko staggered.
Kael caught him.
"Niko!"
Niko gritted his teeth. "It's burning… inside me…"
Kael's mind flashed with images—his own awakening, the pain, the confusion.
But this felt worse. Whatever Lysandra had done, it had jump-started something buried in Niko's core.
"Hold on. We're almost there."
Behind them, the ceiling collapsed.
Terryl spun around and activated a barrier node.
"Move!" he barked. "Tunnel's sealing!"
They dove through just as the tunnel caved in behind them.
—
Rift Market – Abandoned Vendor Hall
An old system access hatch creaked open, and Terryl climbed out first. Kael followed, helping Niko up.
The sky above was still dark—perpetually twilight in the Rift District. But the air was clean again. No static. No screams.
They were safe.
For now.
Kael helped Niko sit down on a nearby crate. His brother was pale, shaking.
Terryl wiped the sweat from his brow and collapsed onto a bench. "Well… that sucked."
Kael looked at him. "Thanks. You didn't have to come."
Terryl scoffed. "Kid, I'm getting too old to babysit System freaks, but I don't walk away from people like her. Whatever she was cooking up… it's just the start."
Kael turned to Niko. "We need to figure out what they did to you."
Niko looked up, pain in his eyes. "They said… I was a tether. Something about balancing the system… or breaking it."
Terryl's face darkened. "They're using Rift-born echoes to corrupt the balance of Arcadia. You? You're the match. He's the fuse."
Kael stood slowly, fists clenched.
"They want to use him to get to me."
Terryl nodded. "And you're not the only one on their list. I've seen other trails. Disappearances. Weird pulse patterns. The Eclipsed Thorn is prepping for something bigger."
Kael turned away, his scythe dissolving into echo fragments.
"I won't let them touch him again."
Terryl smirked. "Then you better get stronger. Fast."
He stood and pulled something from his coat—a folded data scroll.
"This? It's coordinates. Off-grid Rift site. I've been tracking movements. You want real answers? You'll find them there. But it won't be pretty."
Kael took it.
He looked at Niko, then at the scroll.
"I don't care how dark it gets. I'll find the source. I'll rip it out from the roots."
Terryl raised an eyebrow. "That's the Echo Reaper talking."
Kael nodded.
"No more running."Elsewhere…
In a dark chamber deep within the Rift's outer layer, Lysandra knelt before a large obsidian terminal. Data streams flowed around her like shadows.
"He awakened faster than expected," she said.
A voice replied—deep, cold, inhuman.
"Good. Phase two begins. Prepare the Reaper's next trial."
Lysandra bowed her head.
"Yes… Grand Echo."