Lightning split the sky above the ruined surface of Old Meridian. Eron stood at the edge of a shattered bridge, watching neon clouds swirl across the horizon. In his hand, the Echo Blade pulsed with an inner hum—restless, like it sensed what was coming.
Arin stood beside him, adjusting the dial lenses over her eyes. "The bounty was real. I've intercepted at least three squads closing in. Reclaimer elites. Not scouts—assassins."
"Good," Eron muttered.
Arin frowned. "You planning on dying gloriously, or do you have a plan?"
VIRA interjected.
Echo Network Alert: Three Hostile Echo Signatures Detected. Estimated strength: Class A.Recommended protocol: Phantom Step + Gravitic Warp. Sync level required: 11%.
"We're at nine percent," Eron said.
Then train faster.
He stepped off the bridge. Air bent around him as he slid down the wreckage, eyes gleaming with residual light. The deeper he synchronized, the less human he felt—yet the more complete he became.
Below the bridge, three Reclaimers waited. One wore a mask shaped like a hawk's beak. Another carried dual shock-tonfas that crackled with high-voltage plasma. The third simply raised her hand and shattered the ground around her with a wave of telekinetic force.
The battle was immediate.
Eron vanished into a blur, reappearing midair with the Echo Blade drawn, its form altered—now a double-edged glaive. His first strike cleaved through the hawk-mask's defenses. Sparks danced in the air. Arin shouted from above, throwing down a datapad.
"Use the resonance core! Now!"
New Tech Synced: Arin's Temporal Tether
Time snapped sideways.
Eron's next three seconds repeated on a loop—an echo of movement and death. By the end, all three Reclaimers were down, twitching and groaning in confusion.
Arin landed beside him. "We need to leave. There's more coming. Bigger fish."
"Let them come," Eron said, eyes burning silver. "I need more echoes."