The wind howled across the desolate plains of Ebonreach, carrying with it whispers that seemed almost sentient. Cracked stones jutted from the dry earth like the bones of a forgotten civilization, and the sky hung low with a sullen crimson hue. Kai stood at the edge of the Whispering Ruins, the coordinates given by the Protocol etched into the side of his system interface like a divine commandment:
[Objective: Investigate the anomaly at the Whispering Ruins. Danger Level: High. Reward: Unknown (Potential Path Unlock).]
Behind him, Aelira adjusted her gauntlet, her runic tattoos dimly pulsing. "This place gives me the creeps," she muttered, eyes scanning the perimeter.
"Same," Kai replied. "But the Protocol led us here. That means there's something important."
They had traveled across three continents since Kai's awakening in the Archives of Ascension. He was no longer the untrained boy who had barely survived the initiation. Now, he carried three awakened Pathways—Chrono-Foresight, Eclipse Binding, and the elusive Echo Pulse—each enhanced to Tier 2. The System hadn't revealed what lay beyond Tier 3, but a single phrase kept haunting his loading screens:
[Only through ruin can the Boundless emerge.]
The ruins shimmered faintly as they approached. Large obsidian pillars rose from the ground, some twisted unnaturally, others collapsed under their own impossible geometry. Aelira touched one, only to recoil instantly.
"I felt… voices. Like someone screaming inside my head."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "The anomaly isn't just physical—it's dimensional. This place might be a fragment of a collapsed realm."
Suddenly, the Protocol pinged again:
[New Entry: Realm Fragment Detected – "Altherion's Tomb"]Status: Reality Stability 9%. Collapse Imminent.]
Before they could retreat, the earth trembled. A shockwave of etheric energy burst outward, warping space around them. In a blink, they were no longer in the same place.
They landed in a twisted reflection of the ruins—a nightmarish echo, where the skies dripped with dark fluid and gravity pulsed in waves. The air was thick with static, and the shadows had shapes.
Aelira groaned. "What... was that?"
Kai's interface flared violently with warnings:
[You have entered a Semi-Stable Subdimension.]Access Granted: Time-Bound Zone.]
Then, in an unexpected shift, the Protocol added:
[Hidden Trial Initiated: Trial of the Forgotten Sovereign.]Success grants unique Path Access: [Paradox Dominion].Failure results in Memory Severance.]
Kai's breath caught. Paradox Dominion—a Path of untold power, spoken of only in fragmented lore within the Ancient Libraries. A Path that allowed one to bend probability, rewrite cause and effect—but at a heavy cost.
Before he could process further, a massive structure rose from the ground: a black citadel shaped like an hourglass, floating slightly above the broken earth. Around it, shades with half-formed faces and rusted armor emerged, dragging ethereal weapons behind them.
One of the shades screamed—not with sound, but with memory. Kai's vision flashed: a battlefield, thousands dead, and a king impaled on a throne of time.
"Those aren't just echoes," Kai said grimly. "They're fragments of Altherion's fallen timeline."
As they made their way toward the citadel, Aelira began to lose focus. Her movements staggered, her breath short.
"They're pulling my thoughts out—replacing them with... things that never happened."
Kai activated Chrono-Foresight, pushing his mental barriers into overdrive. The timeline fractured, momentarily showing him five possible outcomes. All ended in failure—except one. In that one, he made a decision that terrified him: to erase part of his own memory to shield Aelira from the anomaly.
He looked at her. She was struggling. The voices in the ruins were trying to overwrite her.
He turned to the Protocol.
[Emergency Override Detected.]Would you like to sacrifice a Memory Node to preserve Companion Integrity?]
Kai closed his eyes. "Do it."
The System pulsed.
[Memory Node 'Mother's Voice' has been sealed indefinitely.]Aelira's consciousness stabilized.]
She collapsed into his arms, breathing heavily but safe. Kai felt a strange emptiness in his chest, like something precious had been locked away behind an unbreakable wall. He couldn't remember what it was.
"Thank you," she whispered, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I… almost didn't make it."
He nodded, emotionless. "We need to keep moving. The trial won't wait."
At the citadel's gate, a colossal figure awaited. Draped in shattered armor and dragging a weapon made of broken timelines, it looked directly at Kai.
"You dare walk the path of the Boundless?" it intoned. "Then show me how much of yourself you're willing to abandon."
[Boss Encounter: The Forgotten Sovereign – Level ???]Adaptive Memory Phase Engaged. Combat Rules: Shifting Reality.]
Kai activated Eclipse Binding, chaining the creature's limbs to the fractured shadows around them. Aelira unleashed a sonic burst from her gauntlet, distorting time. The Sovereign didn't flinch. Instead, it struck with a blade that split probabilities.
Kai dodged—but in three out of four timelines, he was struck. He felt pain in his side even though he had avoided the attack. His interface bled data.
[Health Sync Across Realities: -27%]Warning: Multi-dimensional bleed detected.]
"This is insane," Aelira shouted. "How do we fight a being that exists in multiple outcomes?!"
Kai gritted his teeth and focused. If he could reach the Sovereign's core—where the collapsed timeline was tethered—he could sever it using Echo Pulse.
He rushed forward, his body splitting into mirrored versions of himself, each enacting a different timeline. One fell. Two vanished. But the last… pierced the core with a resonating blade of light.
The Sovereign screamed as it unraveled, memories scattering into the void.
The ruins around them began to restore. The warped skies cleared. The whispers silenced.
[Trial Complete.]New Path Unlocked: [Paradox Dominion].Kai Arclight – Boundless Ascension Rank: Advanced Tier III.]
But the Protocol wasn't finished.
[New Directive: Locate the Origin Gate.Warning: The next step cannot be reversed.]
Kai looked at Aelira, who was regaining her strength. "The Protocol is accelerating."
She nodded. "Then so are we."
They stepped through the collapsing citadel, into the unknown once more.