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."