The sun never fully rose that day.A heavy gray mist clung to the skyline of Paris, turning the morning into a slow-moving nightmare.The city that had once sung of liberty now stood silent, its streets lined with armored vehicles marked with the sigil of The Heroic Dawn — a golden sun split by a sword.
Inside one of those buildings, high above the fog, a council of seven watched through reinforced glass as Project Purge began.
From their hidden bunkers beneath the old Catacombs, the Dawn's soldiers marched in unison — thousands of men and women infused with synthetic Emblems, weapons designed to mimic heroic power.
Lucienne stood at the forefront, clad in her new armor — polished white steel, trimmed in silver, a faint blue light pulsing at her chest where her Emblem core rested.Her eyes, once warm, now gleamed like frost.
"Begin the sweep," she commanded."Anyone marked by the Echo is to be captured or eliminated."
The officers saluted.And the city's hunt began.
Far from the chaos, Adrian stood in the shadow of a broken bridge overlooking the Seine.Rain fell in thin streaks, running down his coat as he watched the distant glow of explosions light up the skyline.
He didn't move. He didn't need to.The Echo's voice was already painting the picture in his mind — every squad's position, every hidden ambush, every trembling heartbeat of the soldiers who marched to kill him.
"They think they can cleanse the world by fire," the Echo whispered. "But they only spread the ashes."
Adrian's hand tightened around the hilt of his spectral blade."I'm done burning cities."
"Are you?"
He ignored the voice and turned to Selene, who stood a few meters behind him, soaked but steady."They've launched the Purge," she said. "We have less than a day before they reach our hideout."
"Then we'll move first."
Selene frowned. "To where?"
Adrian's eyes shifted toward the north — where the spire of the old Heroic Academy pierced through the fog like a memory that refused to die."To the source."
They traveled through the ruins in silence, the echo of their footsteps blending with distant gunfire.Every few blocks, they passed civilians hiding in doorways — eyes hollow, faces smudged with ash.Some recognized Adrian. Some whispered his name like a curse, others like a prayer.
When they reached the Academy, the gates were open. The once-glorious marble courtyard was cracked and overgrown, statues of legendary heroes toppled and broken.
Adrian stepped through slowly, remembering the faces that once filled these halls — laughing, mocking, alive.
"You were their failure," the Echo said. "Now you're their reckoning."
"Maybe," Adrian whispered, "but I don't feel like I've won."
"Victory is a lie men tell themselves to justify survival."
He almost smiled at that. Almost.
Inside, the Academy's grand hall still held the faint shimmer of protective wards. Faded banners hung from the ceiling, each representing an era of heroes long past.
In the center of the room stood a massive crystal pillar — the Spirit Archive Core, where the heroic essence of fallen Emblems was stored, studied, and replicated.
Adrian approached it slowly. The closer he came, the louder the voices grew — not just one Echo now, but thousands overlapping.
Kill the tyrant. Save the world. Protect. Destroy. Atone.
The cacophony slammed into his skull, forcing him to his knees.Selene rushed to his side. "Adrian!"
He raised a trembling hand. "Don't… touch me."
The Core pulsed violently.And then he saw her.
Lucienne.
Not in flesh — not yet — but in memory.Her image flickered inside the crystal, projected from some fragment of the system's database. She looked just as she had years ago — smiling, proud, untouched by the horror that would follow.
"Lucienne…"
"You can't save her," said the Echo. "You never could."
"Then why can't I stop seeing her?"
"Because you still want to be forgiven."
Adrian's jaw tightened. "I don't need forgiveness."
"Then why does her name still hurt?"
Outside, thunder rolled.And then — a voice echoed from beyond the hall.
"Adrian Valen."
The real Lucienne stepped through the broken doorway, flanked by two soldiers, her blade glowing faintly blue.Even through the rain and dust, her presence was radiant — not divine, not holy, but unyielding.
"I told them you were alive," she said softly. "Part of me almost hoped I was wrong."
Adrian rose to his feet, the Core's light painting half his face in violet."And yet here you are. The perfect hero, hunting the monster you helped create."
She didn't flinch. "You killed thousands in Lyon."
"I destroyed a lie," he replied. "You're just angry that I did it without permission."
Her voice trembled with restrained emotion. "You've become everything you once hated."
"And you've become everything you once feared."
For a moment, silence hung between them — heavy, unbearable.
Then she drew her sword."Project Purge wasn't meant for revenge. It's to cleanse the corruption — starting with you."
Adrian sighed. "So that's what they told you. That killing me will make you pure again."
Lucienne's expression hardened. "No. Killing you will make the world quiet again."
Their blades clashed.
The impact shook the hall, sending cracks spidering across the walls. Energy flared — violet against blue, chaos against order.Each strike echoed with fragments of memory — flashes of the past, their days as students, as rivals, as something almost like friends.
Selene shouted from behind a pillar, "Adrian! Don't—!"
But it was already too late.
Lucienne moved with terrifying precision, each motion guided by years of discipline. Adrian fought with instinct, his Echo-enhanced speed twisting her rhythm, his strikes unpredictable, raw, desperate.
At one point, their blades locked.
"Why, Adrian?" she whispered. "Why did you choose this path?"
"Because it's the only one that was ever open to me."
He pushed forward, the violet light flaring around him, hurling her backward into the crystal Core.The structure cracked, a spiderweb of light spreading across its surface.
The Echo's laughter filled the hall.
"Yes. Break it. Free us all."
Lucienne gasped, "Don't! You'll unleash—"
But the Core shattered.
A surge of energy erupted, hurling everyone to the ground. The air burned with spectral light as the trapped spirits poured free — countless Emblems, each one howling in confusion and rage.
Adrian staggered to his feet, the storm of souls swirling around him like a crown of ghosts.Lucienne stared in horror. "What have you done?"
He met her gaze, eyes glowing like molten glass."What the world refused to do — I set them free."
"No," said the Echo, its voice suddenly layered with thousands of tones. "You set us free."
Adrian froze.The air trembled.And in that instant, he realized — the Echo wasn't contained inside him anymore.
It was everywhere.
Lucienne stepped back, her voice breaking. "Adrian… what is this?"
He looked up. The sky above Paris had turned violet, clouds spiraling into a vast, living storm.
"I think," he said slowly, "we just ended the world."