The earth trembled with each passing second. Aiden felt the very pulse of the world shift beneath his feet. The downloaded Echo Archive was still syncing in fragments across his interface, but the warning was clear:
The next Echo will break more than just space. It will fracture will, time, and memory.
Brant stared at the sky, where cracks of aurora-like veins began to appear, rippling in unnatural colors—indigo, vermillion, void-black. "That's not a normal breach."
Kaela's voice was hoarse with dread. "It's a convergence point. Multiple layers folding into one."
Aiden's system chimed again.
[Warning: Dimensional Convergence Imminent]
[Estimated Time to Echo: 27 minutes]
[New Objective: Stabilize Leyline Anchor Nodes (3 Remaining)]
Aiden's gaze snapped to the minimap. Three glowing points flickered on his interface—leyline anchor nodes that had to be manually stabilized before the Rift hit, or the entire region would collapse into a singularity.
"Split up," Aiden ordered. "We don't have time to stay together."
Kaela immediately shook her head. "Too risky. If the nodes are guarded or corrupted, we're vulnerable alone."
Brant stepped forward. "We go fast, not stupid. Two teams. Kaela with me. You go for the central node, Aiden. You're the only one who can interface directly with the Core if it's destabilizing."
Aiden hesitated, but nodded. "Fine. We rendezvous at the Nexus Relay once the nodes are secured. If I'm not there in thirty minutes—"
"Then we come pull your ass out," Brant said with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Don't die, Warden."
They split.
Aiden moved like a ghost across the cracked terrain, Fracture Step blinking him across uneven ground with flickers of phase-light. The wind grew heavier the closer he got to the central node—air saturated with Rift energy, the scent like hot metal and broken stone.
The node stood atop a shattered obelisk—once a leyline stabilizer, now twisted into something else. Blackened roots of Rift corruption spread out like veins, pulsating in sync with the sky.
A figure was already waiting.
It wasn't Riftborne. It was human.
A young woman in battle-worn armor, eyes glowing with the same Riftlight that marked Aiden's arms. A Core shard pulsed at her neck, embedded like his own.
She turned slowly, her voice low and tired. "So… you're the other one."
Aiden halted. "Other one?"
"Warden," she said simply. "I was chosen too. A long time ago."
His system pinged again.
[Dimensional Signature: Elsira Varn – Former Warden of the Rift | Status: Inverted]
[Warning: Psychological and Energetic Instability Detected]
Elsira raised her blade, and it shimmered—not with light, but with absence, as though it had been carved from a tear in reality.
"You'll understand soon," she whispered. "The Rift doesn't choose saviors. It chooses sacrifices."
Aiden braced. "I didn't come to fight you."
"You don't have a choice," she replied, voice breaking. "Neither did I."
She moved like a blur.
Aiden barely parried in time, their blades clashing in a flash of violet and void. The feedback surged through his arms, threatening to tear muscle from bone.
[Skill Activated: Phase Anchor]
He locked her briefly in place, just long enough to slip past and slam his palm onto the corrupted leyline core.
The feedback hit like a tsunami.
[Interfacing with Node…]
[Stabilization in Progress: 39%… 58%…]
Elsira shrieked, eyes glowing wildly. "You'll damn us all!"
Aiden grit his teeth, resisting the flood of corrupted energy. "No. I'm ending this cycle."
[Node Stabilized – 100%]
[Dimensional Pressure Decreased]
Elsira collapsed to her knees, clutching her head. "They… used me. I thought I could stop it… but I became it."
Aiden stepped toward her cautiously. "Who used you?"
She looked up, tears mixing with Riftlight on her cheeks. "The Echo isn't random. It's a harvest. Every breach feeds something… something watching from the other side."
A deep, unnatural sound trembled through the air—like a heartbeat echoing across time.
Aiden's system flared.
[WARNING: Echo Manifestation Accelerated]
[Unstable Entity Approaching – Identity: UNKNOWN]
Kaela's voice crackled through the comm-link. "We've stabilized the eastern node! Brant's hurt, but alive. What's your status?"
"Central node secure. But something's coming." Aiden looked down at Elsira. "She was a Warden. She's not the enemy."
There was no time for debate. In the distance, the sky cracked open.
A figure emerged from the rift.
Tall. Emaciated. Crowned with flickering halos of broken light. Its face was blank, but its presence was overwhelming.
Kaela gasped through the comm. "That's not Riftborne. That's… something older."
[Entity Identified: Sovereign-Class Aberration]
[Designation: Null-Saint of the First Echo]
[Objective: Absorb Dimensional Core Fragment. Annihilate all witnesses.]
Aiden's hand tightened on his blade. Riftlight pulsed through him like a storm.
"Then we don't let it leave here alive."