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Chapter 20 - Episode 20: Ambush at Dawnspire

The morning began like any other in Ashveil—with the city hissing, bleeding steam, and bartering trauma like currency.

Kael and his squad were assigned to Dawnspire, an abandoned lookout once used to monitor dimensional rifts in Zone 4.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Then, chaos.

Figures emerged from the shadows—cloaked in tattered black, masked by encrypted war sigils. Their weapons shimmered with dark resonance—energy sourced from banned protocols.

Echo's voice screamed through Kael's mind.

"AMBUSH – UNREGISTERED ENTITIES DETECTED!"

The fight was ruthless. Ayla unleashed rewritten code like wildfire, blinking across space with glitch-speed. Echo, now semi-corporeal, sliced through two enemies before flickering out.

Kael fought like a revenant—channeling rage, memory, and instinct. The Shardblade burned with unrelenting pressure. Every movement felt guided—almost as if someone else were helping.

And then, silence.

The attackers fell.

But before they disappeared, one knelt and bled onto the stone, inscribing a message in pulsing red code.

"You're marked. The Nexus watches."

Kael stared at it. Then at Echo. Then at the rising sun that never truly warmed the city.

"They know," he said.

Echo's voice trembled. "They've always known. We're no longer just players. We're threats."

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