The anchor's glow softened to a low pulse. The zone felt quiet. Not calm, but waiting.
Jaden stood near the center. Stable, breathing, alert.
Kael exhaled. "Nobody's dead. That's a win."
Rowan scanned the perimeter. "No movement. System's holding steady."
But Silas didn't respond. He wasn't watching the readout. His eyes were locked on the far edge of the platform where the glitch line shimmered faintly.
Jaden turned toward him. "What is it?"
Silas's voice dropped. "Someone followed me."
---
The air rippled.
A figure stepped through the distortion.
They walked slowly and deliberately. White robes dragged behind them, feathers stained and bent at the edges. A cracked porcelain mask covered most of their face. Every step felt heavy, but sure.
Rowan's HUD flared in warning.
> ENTITY: UNKNOWN
CLASSIFICATION: FORMER DIVINE
STATUS: SYSTEM-BONDED
He muttered, "That's not just corruption."
Aya glanced over. "System-bonded? What even is that?"
Rowan kept his eyes on the data. "Usually the System just manages zones. It wipes areas, resets timers, spawns threats. Think of it like a cleanup protocol after the Collapse."
Jaden frowned. "But this is different."
Rowan nodded slowly. "It's been shifting. Some of the anomalies have started learning, changing faster. I think it's evolving. Like the System wants to be more than just code."
"You mean it's sentient?" Kael asked.
"Not exactly alive," Rowan said, "but something close. And if he's system-bonded, he's not just infected. He's a vessel."
Niko's eyes narrowed. "So it's using him."
---
Silas stepped forward.
"I know who it is. His name was Vaerin."
The masked figure stopped a few steps from the anchor. His voice was calm and unsettlingly even.
"You always were hard to follow, Silas."
Kael lit his hands with flame. "Old friend?"
"Mentor," Silas said quietly.
Vaerin turned his masked gaze toward Jaden.
"The one you broke Heaven's code for."
Silas stepped directly in front of Jaden. "You don't get to speak to him."
"I'm not here for him," Vaerin replied. "Not directly. I came for you."
---
The temperature in the zone dropped.
The glow of the anchor dimmed slightly.
Vaerin took one more step closer.
"I followed you when no one else did. Not out of loyalty. Curiosity. But I never reached you."
He paused.
"The System found me first."
Rowan's scanner glitched, picking up overlapping code strings around Vaerin's body.
Jaden's eyes sharpened. "You're not corrupted."
Vaerin slowly removed his mask.
His face looked untouched. No scars. No decay. But his eyes glowed faint red, and faint circuit lines marked his temple like burned-in sigils.
"I'm not corrupted," he said. "I'm integrated."
---
Kael muttered, "You let it in?"
Vaerin shook his head.
"I didn't let anything in. It rewrote me. I remember everything, but none of it feels like mine."
Silas's wings opened. Light rolled off him in steady waves, like pressure rising before a storm.
"You were stronger than this," he said.
"And you were colder," Vaerin replied. "Now look at us."
---
Jaden stepped beside Silas. "Then why come here?"
Vaerin looked at him fully.
"Because I was the prototype."
He hesitated, then added quietly.
"You're the next."
---
> ALERT: SYSTEM TARGETING VARIABLE
ANCHOR STABILITY AT RISK
The light beneath Jaden's feet flickered.
Silas immediately stepped in front of him, radiant wings spread wide.
"You're not touching him."
"I don't have to," Vaerin said. "He's already part of it. He entered the sync when he stabilized the core."
Vaerin's expression softened, almost like regret.
"I only came to see if you'd defend him. Just like they predicted."
"They?" Rowan asked.
But Vaerin was already turning.
His body started to fragment, line by line, dissolving into the glitch layer again.
"I was the test."
His voice echoed as it vanished.
"You're the key."
---
> SYSTEM NOTICE: PATHWAY OPENED THROUGH ANCHOR CORE
STABILITY RATING: REDUCED
SITUATION: UNRESOLVED
Silas lowered himself back to the ground. His wings still shimmered faintly.
"He's not gone. He's regrouping."
Jaden looked at the core, now dimming again.
"And next time?" Niko asked.
Silas stared into the distance.
"He won't come alone."
---
They stood in silence.
The System wasn't watching them anymore.
It was waiting.
And whatever came next would come for Jaden first.
---
End of Chapter 25
Author's Note :
Me writing this chapter:
"I'll let the team rest after that boss fight."
Spawns Silas's ex-mentor out of a glitch
"Just a chill lore drop."
System possession, emotional trauma, and glowing red eyes
"Let's keep it subtle."
Has him call Jaden 'the key' like it's Kingdom Hearts
"I'll explain the System naturally."
Rowan starts narrating like he's teaching a crash course at Glitch University
"Okay but no plot twist."
Deletes that idea and does the opposite
Wipes single tear
This was supposed to be a coffee break chapter.
I'm dead again and broke.