The stairs wound downward into oblivion.
There was no torchlight, no flickering flame to guide us—only the faint silver glow that clung to the edges of my vision, a residue of the soulkindled flame and the memory of Seluriel.
Each step creaked under our weight. Not from wear—but from something deeper. As if the temple itself remembered pain.
"Do you feel that?" Lira whispered behind me.
I nodded. The pressure in the air was mounting. Like we were walking into the center of a storm that hadn't broken yet. Not just physical weight—but spiritual.
[System Notice: Passive Will Resistance Engaged – Spiral Influence: Low][Spiral Resistance I mitigating mental interference]
The stone changed after a while.
It became smoother. Polished. But unnaturally so—too perfect, as if carved not by hands, but by intention. Spirals etched into the walls pulsed faintly with each breath I took, as if mirroring my heartbeat.
And then we reached the bottom.
A circular chamber opened before us, lined with statues that had once been beautiful—now warped and cracked. They all depicted the same woman: Seluriel. But in each one, her pose changed. In one, she knelt in prayer. In another, she held a sword wreathed in flame. And in the last… she wept.
At the center stood a dais. Upon it, a crystalline flame hovered—pale red, flickering weakly.
A fragment of her soul.
But we weren't alone.
The moment we entered, the statues groaned.
And then they moved.
Not all of them—just one.
It cracked apart, revealing something hidden within.
A guardian.
[Echo Construct: Flamebound Sorrow – Rank C+]Type: Memory ManifestationThreat: Moderate to HighBehavior: Defensive, Emotionally Anchored
The figure stepped forward.
It wore the shape of Seluriel—but younger. Her face was twisted not in grief, but confusion and betrayal. Her robes were priestly—but tattered and scorched at the sleeves.
She raised her hand, and a chain of spiraling glyphs wrapped around her arm.
"I trusted them," she whispered, her voice layered—fragmented. "They gave me fire… and left me in ashes."
Without another word, the echo attacked.
I barely dodged the first strike.
The flaming chain cracked toward me like a whip, slicing stone. I activated Clawing Swipe, rushing low beneath the arc and striking her midsection.
My claws grazed the echo, but she didn't bleed. Instead, memory poured from the wound like ink—glimpses of a temple in flame, a spiral moon breaking above a sea of fire.
Lira circled left, staff ready.
"I'll cover you—watch the glyphs!"
Another chain shot out from the echo's other arm, forcing me to parry with the spectral dagger I'd forged through Soul Echo. Sparks exploded. My arms trembled under the force.
The echo howled. "They watched me BURN!"
The entire chamber pulsed.
[System Notice: Mental Strain Rising – Echo Memory Overload Detected]
'Then let me remember for you.'
I activated Devourer's Core and lunged. Not to kill. To connect.
My palm struck her chest.
[Devourer's Core – Rank EX]Triggering Soul Resonance…
Our minds collided.
Flashes of chained priests. A moonlit sacrificial rite. A silent betrayal in the name of balance.
And then—
Peace.
The echo faltered.
The chains fell limp.
She stepped back, her face softening. "You… carry flame, too."
She smiled—sadly.
And then faded.
[Echo Defeated – Soul Fragment Absorbed][INT +2, WIL +1 (Soul Echo)][Memory Fragment Acquired – Flamebound Testament I][1 of 3 Spiral Sigils Retrieved]
The chamber fell still.
The crystalline flame above the dais lowered gently into my hand. It didn't burn—it hummed. Like it recognized me.
"Are you alright?" Lira asked, voice low.
I exhaled. "No. But I will be."
The system chimed again.
[Updated Objective: Seek the Second Spiral Sigil – Location: Temple Depths – Chamber of Binding Echoes][Warning: Spiral Influence Increases With Each Sigil Awakened]
I looked at Lira.
"We keep going."
She nodded. "Until the Spiral burns out."
And once more, we stepped into the darkness.