He hit the ground hard.
Stone cracked beneath his shoulder as he rolled through a courtyard too perfect to exist. Fountains sprayed water in elegant arcs—mid-air, frozen, unspilling. Statues of heroes and angels lined the walls, each face carved in eerie familiarity.
No pain.
Just heat.
A soft pulse behind his eyes reminded him the skill was still active.
[SHATTER//TRUTH - LV.1 ACTIVE][DURATION: 12 SECONDS]
In the distorted haze of his vision, the world around him flickered. Marble peeled like paper. Statues bled. Fountains warped, revealing chains beneath the water. A girl stood by the far archway—frozen like the others.
But in this view, her face wasn't peaceful.
It was screaming.
The skill wore off. The illusion reformed.
Kairo forced himself up.
Then, the pressure returned.
Not from Eiras.
From something else.
The shadows at the far end of the courtyard twisted, curling like smoke. And from that smoke stepped a figure draped in priest's robes—white and gold, pristine. But the skin beneath was cracked. Burned. Twitching.
The figure wore a broken mask with a single slit down the center.
[ENTITY IDENTIFIED: SIN ARCHBISHOP – PRIDE // DESIGNATION: LUCEN]
[WARNING: LEVEL UNKNOWN // SYSTEM UNSTABLE]
The figure raised its hand, slow and ritualistic.
"You are not welcome here," Lucen said. His voice was calm. Melodic. A preacher at a funeral.
"I've heard that before," Kairo muttered, stepping back.
Lucen tilted his head.
"You were made by Her Grace. You are part of the sacred symmetry. And now you disturb it."
Kairo's system flared with conflict.
[AUTO-SKILL: TRACE//FORCE - READY][REWRITE THRESHOLD: 62%]
"I'm not part of anything," he said. "Especially not hers."
Lucen spread his arms.
"Then you are a mistake."
With no further warning, light exploded outward. Kairo braced, raising his arm—the attack didn't come from in front.
It came from above.
A mirror.
A floating shard of polished sky reflected Kairo's pose, then reversed it. His own defensive stance became an attack—slamming him into the ground with a force not his own.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
[INTERNAL DAMAGE: MODERATE][REBOOT NOT RECOMMENDED DURING COMBAT]
Kairo groaned, clutching his ribs.
Lucen stepped closer, unhurried. "She made us all to be flawless. When flaws arise... we repurpose them."
He raised both hands.
All around the courtyard, the statues turned toward Kairo.
Every one wore his face.
They began to move.
[SYSTEM ALERT: RECURSIVE REPLICATION IN PLAY]
[SKILL: REFLECT//PAIN - UNLOCKED // SINGLE USE]
Kairo clenched his jaw.
"Then maybe it's time," he spat, "for your goddess of symmetry to see what a crack looks like."
He activated the skill.
Pain mirrored. Multiplied.
The world bent. All the false statues seized at once. Lucen flinched, the slit in his mask warping as if his face distorted underneath.
Kairo didn't wait.
He charged.
[TRACE//FORCE – ENGAGED]
His body blurred, skipping space. One strike. Then another. His fist connected with Lucen's ribs—no blood, but a shudder that echoed in Kairo's bones.
Lucen staggered.
Not because of the blow—
But because his mask cracked.
A thin line ran down the center.
"You shouldn't exist," Lucen whispered.
And Kairo smiled, blood on his teeth.
"Too late."
Lucen vanished.
Not fled—collapsed into light, like a deleted file.
The courtyard went still.
All the statues froze again.
Kairo dropped to one knee.
[VOIDPOINT +1 EARNED]
[SYSTEM NOTE: SHARD OF PRIDE DETECTED]
On the stone before him, where Lucen had fallen, shimmered a single glowing fragment—silver, pulsing, wrapped in runes.
He reached for it—
And froze.
Because in the broken reflection of a fallen statue's face, he saw something.
Not Eiras.
Not Lucen.
Himself.
Grinning.
And behind him, barely visible, seven thrones stood in darkness.
One was now empty.