Code Ascendant: The Soldier Who Leveled Past Reality
Chapter 12 – Siege Protocol: The Architects Declare War
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The words echoed like a final bell toll across the sanctum of Haven-01.
> "Prepare for the Multiversal Siege."
Aaron Velcris stood at the convergence chamber's center, the reality-stabilizing threads of the Echo Core still humming within his body. His skin glowed faintly, like a living beacon of tethered timelines.
Nine forms surrounded him—The Architect Conclave.
They weren't gods, nor were they merely systems. They were laws made sentient. Embodiments of creation's scaffolding.
And they were afraid.
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Architect Conclave Members – Internal Brief
1. Erixon the Loopbound – Overseer of Time Corridors. Wears a fractal clock for a crown.
2. Kavora Zyn – Architect of Biological Realms. Exists as a morphing lattice of gene strings.
3. Orryx-Null – Machinemind of Mathematical Realities. Speaks only in equations.
4. Solenne Veyr – The Dreambound. Governs all imagined but unformed worlds.
5. Threm Vol-Rai – Flame Architect of Dying Suns.
6. Shi'Arin – Keeper of Forbidden Architectures.
7. The Vicar of Shardlight – A body of glass holding all destroyed universes.
8. Cynosura Prime – Star-Splicer; charts the destinies of celestial Realms.
9. The Ninth? – His form remained blank. No one named him. Not even the others.
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Orryx-Null's voice buzzed like living code.
> "Entity Architect-Eater has reactivated after 13.8 billion decay cycles. Core Warning Threshold breached."
Aaron raised his head. "What does he want?"
It was Cynosura Prime who answered. Her voice rang like chimes across galaxies.
> "He feeds on those like us—Architect-class stabilizers. If he consumes nine more, he becomes a new Root Law. That cannot be allowed."
Threm Vol-Rai's body burned bright.
> "You've inherited a Sculptor Core, Aaron Velcris. That makes you his favored prey."
Aaron clenched his fists.
"Then he'll choke on me."
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Reality Sync Interface – Emergency Patch Applied
> Designation: Aaron Velcris
Tier: Architect Class – Sculptor Rank
Patch Title: Siege Protocol I
▸ New Directive: Mobilize and defend vulnerable Realities under Architect threat.
▸ Unlock: Siegepoint Terminal – anchor-stabilization tool to repel incursion.
▸ Unlock: Phantom Cadre Deployment – summon alternate-universe versions of Squad 404.
> First Target: Reality Thread Gamma-IX – Status: Under Active Siege
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Scene Shift – Mission Room, Haven-01
Reen folded her arms. "Let me get this straight. You want to deploy us into a reality under direct attack from something that consumes timelines like candy?"
Aaron nodded. "It's either that or let them fall one by one. The siege starts here."
Vayne cracked his neck. "Then let's draw first blood."
Nessa blinked. "Can I bring all my weapons this time?"
Aaron smiled faintly. "You're going to need them."
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New Mechanic Unlocked: Phantom Cadre
> Symbiosis Thread Coherence Level: 94.3%
Eligible Echoes Detected: 31
▸ Select Echoes for Phantom Deployment
— Aaron Velcris: Commander (Baseline)
— Aarav of Earth Prime (Spec Ops Variant)
— Aaron D-77: Reaper-Thread Assassin
— Aaron the Starless: Failed Reality Mage
— Aaron: Inverted (System Hostile)
Phantom Echoes Selected: 3
Note: Do not summon more than 3 at a time unless inside a stabilized anchorfield.
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Scene: Gamma-IX – Siege Initiation
When the team arrived, Reality Gamma-IX was already unraveling.
The sky was split—red threads of code bleeding through as if the world itself had been slit open. Crystalline entities the size of buildings floated above the horizon, descending like judgment.
The Architect-Eater's scouts.
> System Warning: Anomaly Class – Echo Predators (Sentient Code Leechers)
▸ Primary Trait: Devour Architect Constructs
▸ Weakness: Anchorpoint Fluctuations
"Get the terminal online!" Aaron shouted.
Vayne and Reen broke off, engaging three of the crystalline horrors with synchronized movements while Aaron slammed the Siegepoint Terminal into the ground.
A blue pulse shot outward, forming a flickering dome of stability.
"NOW!"
The Phantom Cadres appeared like ghosts from other lives. Alternate Aarons—grizzled, calm, or blood-drenched—fought beside him in perfect rhythm.
But the longer they fought, the more Aaron felt it.
> A gaze.
Watching. Calculating. Feeding.
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Interlude – Inside the Architect-Eater's Mind
He had no name.
Not anymore.
He was once Architect #0. The first. The one who had created the Root. But when the others grew fearful of his hunger—for understanding, for power—they erased his designation.
They called him a threat.
He became what they feared.
The Devourer. The Architect-Eater.
And now…
> "Aaron Velcris… your symbiosis is… exquisite."
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Back to Battle
Just as the final predator collapsed, a new ripple exploded from the sky.
A piece of the Architect-Eater—a Herald Construct—descended.
Ten meters tall, plated in recursive metal. It moved like it was skipping frames in time.
> Boss Class Entity: Herald of the Eater – CODE: AZARIN-X
▸ Health: ???
▸ Reality Distortion Level: 79%
▸ Immunity: Normal Weapons
▸ Weakness: Architect-Originated Damage Only
Aaron activated Thread Genesis. His fingertips pulled glowing strings from the air.
"Squad 404, hold the line. Phantom Cadres, with me!"
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Boss Fight – AZARIN-X
The world cracked around them as they fought.
Reen fired solar beams that looped backward through time, trapping Azarin in a recursive prison. Vayne created afterimages that struck from all sides. Nessa created a false timeline where Azarin was already dead—and forced it into probability.
But Azarin adapted.
Aaron finally moved, forming a blade of pure architect code—Threadcutter.
One slash.
Azarin stopped mid-motion, staring in disbelief.
> [HOSTILE ENTITY TERMINATED]
▸ Anchorpoint Restored: Gamma-IX
▸ Siege Reversed.
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Post-Battle: Unexpected Revelation
As the world stabilized, something was left behind—a memory shard from Azarin's core.
Aaron touched it.
> Initiating Archive Access…
He saw flashes.
A time before Architects. A war of systems. A place where reality had been born not from creation—but from conflict.
The Architect-Eater hadn't been evil. He was evolution.
The Root System itself… had been born to resist him.
Aaron dropped the shard, breath shallow.
"We didn't win," he whispered.
Reen looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Aaron's eyes glowed faintly with the truth.
> "The siege was never about destruction."
"It's about assimilation."
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Scene: Haven-01 – Architect Summit (Private)
The Nine stared at him, unease visible even in beings who had shaped stars.
Cynosura Prime finally asked, "What did the Herald show you?"
Aaron looked up, a new resolve in his voice.
"A war older than the Root. One the systems have hidden. And a truth none of you told me."
Solenne Veyr answered carefully. "And what will you do now?"
Aaron stepped forward.
"I'm going to find the Original Architect. And I'm going to learn why he broke the universe apart to build a lie."
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>End of Chapter 12 –