The moment Kael stepped through the shimmering gateway left behind by the Elder Sigil, a wave of disorienting vertigo hit him. The world spun, colors inverted, and for a brief second, he thought he was falling through a kaleidoscope of memories and time. Then everything went silent—utterly, hauntingly silent.
When his senses stabilized, Kael found himself standing in a completely different realm.
It wasn't like the realms he'd explored before—not the floating islands of Tempest Hollow, not the crystal catacombs beneath Vyrion, nor the living jungle of Nyxara. This place... felt ancient. Forgotten.
He stood atop a massive circular platform hovering over a void of nothingness. Above him stretched an endless black sky, yet the surface of the platform shimmered faintly, as if the stars were beneath his feet instead of above.
Before he could react, a notification window appeared in his peripheral vision, accompanied by a low hum.
System Update Detected: Time-Lost Realm AccessedInitiating environmental scan…Warning: All known laws of time, space, and causality may not apply.Protocol Override Enabled: Ascendant Core Sync at 12.3%Unlocking [Chrono-Sigil: Fragment of the Lost Architects]
Kael's heart thumped. Chrono-Sigil? Lost Architects? Every name sounded like it carried centuries of weight.
"Where... am I?" he whispered.
"Where time forgot its name," a voice echoed.
Kael turned sharply.
A figure stood at the far edge of the platform. Not quite human, not quite anything he'd seen before. Its form shimmered like static, constantly shifting between dozens of different species, genders, and appearances.
"I am the Remnant," it said, "one of the last echoes of the Architects—the ones who built the original System."
Kael's mouth went dry. He could feel the sheer power radiating from the entity. It wasn't hostile, but it wasn't exactly friendly either. More like… curious. Analytical.
"You wield the Ascension Protocol," the Remnant said. "Unstable. Evolving. Dangerous. You should not possess it, and yet… here you are. And it has accepted you."
Kael took a step forward. "What do you mean by the original System? The Ascension Protocol was made by the Overseers."
The Remnant's form flickered. A laugh, eerie and hollow, echoed through the space. "Child of entropy, the Overseers merely copied the designs. They found fragments of our work, reverse-engineered it to suit their petty hierarchies. The true System was not meant to bind; it was meant to liberate. You… may yet reclaim that vision."
Suddenly, the platform shifted. Panels and lines began lighting up beneath Kael's feet, forming intricate sigils made of pure light. A sphere of data rose from the center, and the System UI glitched wildly for a second.
WARNING: Core Sync DetectedBackup Systems Interfacing with Primary HostInitiating Trial of Continuity: The Lost Sequence
Before Kael could ask, the sphere released a beam of light that struck his chest. His entire body jolted. Energy coursed through him like electricity in a storm.
Trial Objective: Survive Temporal Collapse for 5 MinutesEnemies: Echo-Beasts, Fractured Architects, Time AberrantsFailure: Protocol Lockout. Memory Wipe. Permanent Death Risk 89%.
Kael barely had time to process the message before the first creature emerged—an Echo-Beast, a grotesque amalgamation of flesh and circuitry, its body glitching in and out of existence. It shrieked, charging toward him with claws that shimmered with paradox energy.
Instinct kicked in. Kael summoned his Chrono Blade, now pulsing with new runes. Time slowed around him—not due to skill activation, but the very realm itself warping to his presence.
He ducked under the creature's swipe, slashing across its neck with precision. Sparks flew as the thing dissolved into digital dust, but more came. Dozens more.
A countdown began in his vision—4:59... 4:58...
The battlefield became chaos. The Echo-Beasts swarmed. Then came the Fractured Architects, towering constructs made of luminous stone and broken logic. Their attacks bent reality—some made Kael's blade pass through them, others reversed his movements or duplicated his last action unpredictably.
He activated his Overdrive Sync, boosting all stats by 60% for 30 seconds. It wasn't enough. He had to think beyond simple strength.
Then it clicked—the sigils on the ground weren't just decoration. They were Time Anchors. If he stood on them in a specific sequence, he could trigger anomalies—short bursts of reversed time, frozen frames, or healing pulses from past versions of himself.
Dodging, ducking, rolling, and calculating, Kael made his way through the sequence.
At 2:15, he was bloodied and nearly down. At 1:40, he activated a rare ability—Foresight Burst, granting him a 3-second glimpse into the next 5 actions of enemies.
At 0:30, the Time Aberrant appeared. A massive serpent-like being, its face a hollow clock. Its presence alone distorted space. Kael couldn't even tell which direction was up or down anymore.
The Remnant spoke again, distant and warped: "This is what lies ahead should you continue your path. Power beyond comprehension... but also danger beyond reason."
Kael gritted his teeth. His aura surged. The Ascension Protocol pulsed inside him.
Ascendant Core Synchronization at 15.1%Unlocking Ability: [Temporal Pulse – Collapse All Active Paradoxes in 10m Radius]
"Do it!" he roared.
Kael activated the ability. A shockwave of pure logic erupted from him, undoing contradictions, stabilizing time, and reducing the Aberrant to static.
Time Remaining: 0:01... 0:00Trial Complete.
Everything fell silent again.
The platform returned to stillness. The Remnant watched him with unreadable eyes.
"You are more than anomaly now," it said. "You are a pivot. The System will fear you. The Overseers will hunt you. The Architects may awaken."
The light beneath Kael faded.
Trial Complete – Reward: Fragment of Lost Architect's Will+1 Passive: [Temporal Equilibrium]+1 Active: [Chrono Anchor: Bind a moment in time and return to it once per day]
"You are not ready for the whole truth," the Remnant whispered as the realm began collapsing. "But you are no longer bound by their rules. Find the others. Before the System does."
And with that, Kael was ejected from the Time-Lost Realm.
Back in reality, he fell to one knee, panting. The sky of Aetherion was clear. His friends were rushing toward him, worried—but Kael's eyes were distant.
He had seen too much.
And he knew now… the true game had only just begun.