The gate pulsed like a heartbeat.
Serida stood before it, blood on her sword, eyes fixed on the glowing archway covered in unknown runes. Ailen whispered something behind her — the words of a language long dead.
"It's not just a door," he said. "It's a threshold."
Vexa tossed a charred Augmented body aside. "Threshold to what?"
Ailen didn't answer. Because the gate opened.
Behind it, a hallway that bent sideways, like memory itself was curling inward. Serida stepped in first.
The moment they crossed, the air changed — heavier, thicker, echoing with faint voices. Kael's voice. Lira's. Screams. Laughter.
Whispers of the first Echoes.
And deep below…
The Core awoke.
---
Chapter Thirty-Three: The Forgotten Room
Kael and Lira were led into another chamber — quieter, cleaner, lit with floating memory crystals. This one wasn't made for torture.
It was made for truth.
A mural lined the far wall, painted in gold and ink: dozens of faces, all versions of Kael, spanning ages, kingdoms, and lifetimes.
Each one ended in fire.
A projection lit up — not a memory, but a holographic echo recorded by the original Kael.
> "If you're hearing this…
you've remembered enough to be dangerous."
> "I left pieces of myself locked in this place. Powers. Fail-safes. Warnings."
> "But if you came this far…
it means someone has awakened the Core without your consent."
Lira stepped forward. "You left this for yourself."
Kael turned to her, voice low.
> "I think… I'm not the last Kael either."
Suddenly — the crystal shattered.
The walls pulsed red.
And the door exploded inward.
---
Chapter Thirty-Four: Teeth of the Cradle
The air split open as two masked figures stepped through — not Augmented. Not foot soldiers.
Executors of the Inner Circle.
Their bodies shimmered with stolen Echoes — dozens of lives forced into them like armor.
The first moved without weight, bending space with a gesture.
The second controlled light itself — a living illusionist who could twist Kael's own shadow into a blade.
Lira stepped forward. "You fight. I seal the door."
Kael's eyes glowed faintly.
He didn't know who he was.
But he knew how to fight.
The chamber turned into chaos — blasts of Echo-force, shattered walls, screams. Kael pushed harder than ever before — and something inside him laughed.
He saw a glimpse of her again — the girl from a past life he once loved and betrayed.
Then the fight shifted.
Lira finished the seal.
Kael tore through one Executor's illusion — only to see his own face underneath the mask.
Not a brother.
A clone.
Created to test what Kael might become.
The real one laughed. "This was never about your escape. You're already inside the cage you built."