The Ember Spire key etched into Kian's palm pulsed faintly as they descended deeper into the ruin. The spiral stair behind the pillar hadn't ended—it bent, tunneled, and bled into corridors carved with patterns that looped endlessly. Stone and metal intertwined like something half-grown, half-forged.
There was no light source, yet the path glowed.
Kian didn't speak.
Neither did the others.
Some spaces weren't meant for conversation.
The corridor led to a doorway—a yawning stone arch with lines of script etched into its curve. It wasn't any Codex tongue or Glyphic Builder's Mark. It was fractured language, spliced together.
Kian stepped close.
"He tried to fix the world," he read. "But he failed. And he never left."
Veyna drew her blades. "Who's 'he'?"
Gellon's voice came sharp. "Movement inside."
Then the doorway opened.
They entered what looked like a hall of mirrors—but none showed reflections.
Instead, each panel showed a Kian.
One cloaked in red, arms bloody, standing atop a ruined city.
One buried beneath stone, eyes lifeless.
One bowed to a throne made of bones.
They all looked at him.
And whispered in perfect unity.
"You made the wrong choice."
Kian's systems flared without command.
[Codex Instability Detected]
Echo Layer Collision: Memory vs Timeline Sync
[Predation Response: Hostile Construct Identified]
▸ Adaptive Echo Signature… MATCH CONFIRMED
Warning: You are being hunted by a fragment of yourself
The center of the room darkened.
A single figure stepped out—a man wearing the same armor Kian wore when he first awakened Codex, but burned, melted, distorted. His eyes were white fire. A crystal spike jutted from his spine.
He smiled without lips.
"You let them live," he said. "That's why you failed."
Kian summoned his weapon without thinking.
"Who are you?"
The echo tilted his head. "I'm you—if you had chosen differently."
The chamber warped, and the mirrors shattered.
The world blinked—suddenly they were alone in a dark arena formed from shards and stone.
The other Kian raised his hand, and a surge of Codex-forged spears fired from the ground.
Kian rolled left, his Echo-Ghost triggering behind him—
[Echo-Ghost Activated]
▸ Residual clone mirrors movement
▸ Clone absorbs 1 hit / deals 50% return damage
The ghost copied his motion and absorbed the first strike, retaliating with a half-speed dash that staggered the doppelgänger just long enough for Kian to close the distance.
Steel met steel.
Memory met failure.
They clashed—system threads colliding with each strike. Kian's movements were faster, more precise, driven not by rage but by rhythm.
The other version fought brutally, without caution, sacrificing stability for power.
"You died alone," Kian snarled mid-swing.
"I died free," the echo growled back.
Gellon, Veyna, and Kess could only watch. Any attempt to enter the arena caused their system threads to fracture and blink.
"This is a duel of echoes," Kess said. "We intervene, we die."
Kian saw it—a flicker of memory not his own, pouring off the echo's skin.
That Kian had chosen Predation, consumed kingdoms, slaughtered even allies for power. He had no Codex, only strength. Only isolation.
And when the world turned to ash, he was left screaming alone in a tower of bones.
Kian's fury surged—not at his twin, but at the systems themselves.
"You pit us against our own regrets," he shouted.
"And call it learning."
He swept low, disarmed the echo, and drove his weapon into its chest.
The other Kian grinned.
"You remember me now."
He dissolved into crystal dust—and vanished.
[System Victory – Timeline Echo Defeated]
New Trait Gained: Echo Rejection
▸ Kian gains 5% resistance to all future Echo-type illusions or mental intrusions
Memory Fragment: Stabilized (62%)
Codex Resync: Success
▸ Bonus Gained: Expanded Blueprint Storage (x3)
Level Up: Kian – Level 14
When the mirrors reformed, they showed only Kian.
And his team behind him.
He turned—and smiled faintly.
"I'm not the one who failed."
End of Chapter 29