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Chapter 66 - Glitch Duel: Round One

The Echo Shrine's dueling arena wasn't ominous.

No, no, no.

It was aesthetically traumatic.

Circular, obsidian-black stone. Floating runes twitching in midair like they were nervous. A ceiling that reflected the combatants' inner thoughts (no pressure), and a crowd of monks, professors, and students who were all way too excited to watch two Echo Vessels try to rip each other out of reality.

"I'm not doing this," I said, standing just outside the combat ward.

"You're absolutely doing this," said Spoon, who was floating next to me in what I can only describe as a striped referee tunic with a whistle. It was… aggressive.

"I'm unstable," I said.

"Correct."

"I'm glitching."

"Incredible form."

"I could die."

"All part of the curriculum."

I glared at him.

"You're enjoying this."

"Only because you're stalling with flair."

Inner Me:

This is fine. Just another magical duel where the loser ceases to exist in the linear timeline. Nothing new. No big deal.

Sarcium:

Say the line, Kael.

Me:

I miss being dead.

Across the arena stood my opponent.

They were tall, hooded, and radiating the kind of quiet intensity usually reserved for anime rivals who say things like "You and I are the same" right before punching you in the soul.

Their System name floated above them like a challenge:

[ECHO VESSEL CANDIDATE: 03-ZETA]

And underneath, the helpful subtitle:

"Stability: High. Permission Tier: Unknown. Identity: Redacted."

Well, that's comforting.

Nothing like fighting a mysterious Echo-coded murder enigma with redacted credentials.

Zeta stepped into the circle.

So did I.

The crowd hushed.

The ceiling shimmered, briefly reflecting my internal state—a swirling void of dread, sarcasm, and mild digestive issues.

Spoon's voice boomed magically across the arena.

"Welcome to the first official Echo Duel! Today's match: Kael of the Glitch vs Zeta of the Overclocked Emotional Trauma! First to collapse the other's reality wins. No killing unless narratively justified. Begin!"

Wait—what?

"NO KILLING UNLESS WHAT?!"

Too late. Zeta moved.

Magic surged.

Not the pretty, sparkly kind. The raw, fracturing kind. Reality tore in front of them like paper catching fire. Lines of code streamed from their fingertips—jagged glyphs shaped like claws—and slammed into me like a corrupted update.

I flew back.

Slammed into the barrier.

Coughed up sparkles.

"Okay," I wheezed. "That's not normal. That's not... licensed magic."

Zeta stepped forward, mask glowing.

"You're the anomaly," they said. "The glitch. You shouldn't exist."

"Jury's still out on that."

"I'm the real one."

Oh. So it's that kind of duel.

Inner Me:

Great. Existential violence. My favorite.

Sarcium:

Say something cool before you counterattack.

Me:

"I contain multitudes, but mostly poor decisions!"

I flung my hands forward.

My own Echo magic burst out—erratic, mismatched, chaotic. Fractals. Forked timelines. One version of me flickered in a side reality sipping tea. Another screamed.

Zeta recoiled.

I lunged.

We clashed—Echo pattern vs Echo pattern. The air cracked. Time bent.

At one point, I think we briefly dueled as babies in a parallel timeline (adorable, 10/10). Then we were old men yelling at each other across glitching lawns. Then back again.

And through it all, Zeta kept repeating:

"You're the fake."

"You're the error."

"You don't belong."

Narrator Voice (hi, it's me):

You ever get shouted at by someone who might be a version of yourself from a failed timeline, and they're mad you got the main-character slot?

No?

Just Kael things.

I tried not to let it get to me.

I really did.

But then they said it.

"You stole my resurrection."

And I faltered.

Just for a second.

But that was all they needed.

Zeta's blade—made of condensed echo-energy, because of course it was—cut through my glitch ward and slammed into my chest.

Pain lanced through me.

And I fell.

The world shimmered.

I hit the floor, bleeding spark-code, breath ragged.

Zeta loomed.

They raised their weapon for the final strike.

I blinked up at them, body broken, voice a whisper.

"You're not me."

"No," they said. "I'm who you should have been."

They swung.

And just before it landed—

Spoon intervened.

Barrier flash. Reality snapped. Magic screamed.

Time froze.

And then—

Zeta's blade stopped inches from my throat.

They staggered.

Glitched.

Cracked.

And smiled. Broken and awful.

"I was the real one," they whispered. "You're just the typo."

And they disappeared.

Like a file deleted from a folder that never existed.

Gone.

The crowd didn't cheer.

They just stared.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling reflection of my own broken face.

Inner Me:

What am I doing here?

Sarcium:

Existing. Barely. Beautifully.

Me:

I didn't want this.

Spoon landed beside me.

For once, no jokes.

Just a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay, kid?"

"No."

"Good. Means you're still human."

I sat up.

Eventually.

People dispersed.

But one person stayed.

Belladonna.

She didn't speak.

Just walked over.

Kneeling beside me.

And took my hand.

No lecture.

No accusation.

Just warmth.

Steady. Real.

Final System Ping:

[ECHO DUEL COMPLETE]

Outcome: Unstable Victory

Memory Score: Redacted

System Comment: "Yikes."

Next Time on Kaelverse:

Kael tries to cope with the emotional aftermath of Echo-violence. His friends try to help. Belladonna slaps sense into him. Spoon offers emotional support via chocolate. Fluffernox purrs like the world isn't falling apart.

Coming up:

Chapter 67 – "Echo Fatigue"

(Starring: one hug, one prayer, one slap, and Kael trying not to sob into his weird spoon dad's shoulder.)

Because healing?

Yeah. That's going to be the hard part.

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