The red moon pulsed like a heartbeat.
Brent, Rae, and Lysa staggered to their feet as the trembling subsided, but the unease remained. Above, the crimson eye did not fade. It stared.
"That's not just a moon," Lysa whispered. "It's looking back."
[SYSTEM ALERT: Dimensional Watch Triggered][Entity Status: Unknown | Observer Class: High Sovereign or Greater]
The platform beneath them groaned, the music of the arena fading into silence. But the echo of something older lingered—like a lullaby half-remembered.
Suddenly, reality folded.
The Gate shattered outward. Not open—broken. As if something had forced its way through from the other side.
From the mist walked a figure—robed in obsidian cloth, with glowing crimson threads pulsating from their arms. Its face was not visible, hidden behind a porcelain mask with a single tear painted beneath the left eye.
"You've sung too loudly," the figure said, its voice both male and female. "Now She knows where you are."
Rae stepped forward, energy crackling along her dual-core. "Who are you?"
"A Sentinel of What Was Lost. A Herald of the Echoing Gate. And... your trial."
Without another word, the Herald raised its hand. Shadows and flames burst forth—twisted echoes of Brent's and Rae's powers. They were fighting a being who knew their rhythm.
[SYSTEM CHALLENGE: Gate Entity Confrontation]Type: Adaptive Reflection Duel Time Limit: 7 Minutes Before Memory Collapse]
Lysa sprang to Brent's side, her flames forming sigils midair. Rae ducked and flipped behind the Herald, unleashing the Twilight Flame Choir's full harmony—light and shadow blending in crescendo.
The Herald countered with perfect mimicry.
Every strike Brent landed was reflected. Every burst of flame Rae summoned was mirrored. It wasn't just copying them—it was learning.
"We need to disrupt its rhythm," Brent said through gritted teeth. "Overload it!"
Rae nodded. "Chaos harmonics."
Lysa threw herself into the center of the battlefield, channeling Harmonic Ember Manipulation to reverse keynotes of their attacks, distorting the battlefield into a cacophony of unstable frequency.
It worked. The Herald faltered—just long enough.
Brent charged. His sword, now burning with pure Twilight Flame, cleaved through the mask.
Behind it was nothing but a fragment of night sky.
The Herald dissolved into smoke.
[CHALLENGE COMPLETE: SYSTEM UPDATE IN PROGRESS] [Brent Level: 47 → 48] [New Trait: Echo Disruption Granted]
The Gate pulsed again.
And through the tear in space, they saw what lay beyond:
A floating city of spires and broken orbs, chained in place by silver anchors. Souls drifted in and out of its towers. Guardians of light and shadow knelt in rows before a crystal throne—and seated on it...
A version of Her they had never seen.
Younger. Alive. Watching.
The City of Chains
The vision beyond the Gate did not fade.
The floating city shimmered with spectral heat—its towers not built but grown from crystal and memory. Arcs of energy tethered the structure to invisible forces in the void, each anchor pulsing with forgotten laws. Souls drifted like fireflies through its corridors, flickering in and out of phase with time itself.
Brent stepped forward, his heart hammering in his chest.
"That's the Throne of Resonance," Rae whispered. "It was only a myth in old Keeper records. They said it held the reflection of the first bond ever formed."
Lysa's flames dimmed as she pressed closer. "That version of Her... she's not corrupted. Not yet."
The younger Her stood, golden hair flowing, eyes closed—but as if aware of their presence, her head turned slowly toward them. Her lips moved.
No voice.
But Brent heard it anyway—within his soul:
"Come and see what you were never meant to find."
Before they could respond, the vision snapped shut like a book slammed shut by unseen hands. The Gate sealed, the red moon's glow vanishing as if it had never existed.
They stood in silence.
[SYSTEM UPDATE COMPLETE] [Access to Path of Echoes Unlocked] [New Module Installed: Echo Thread – Time-Locked Memory Keys]
Brent felt it immediately—his Twilight Flame core shimmered with added weight. The shadows within him had grown more still, more aware.
"We have to go there," Brent said.
"We're not ready," Rae replied. "But we will be."
—Meanwhile, in the remnants of the First Gate—
Vaelrick's shattered form hovered above a scorched platform. His eyes, barely human now, were locked on the closing image of the floating city. Smoke coiled from his severed wrist, his body only held together by threads of foreign energy.
And beside him... a second version of Kalen stood. Not twisted or decaying—but untouched. Preserved.
A clone?
No. A backup.
"They're evolving too fast," Kalen said, a strange detachment in his voice. "They've seen the city."
Vaelrick's eyes burned. "Then we'll tear the sky open. We don't need the Gate anymore. We just need her blood. And his Echo."
He held up a shard—black glass, humming with Brent's resonance.
"Soon, the Path of Echoes will be ours to rewrite."
—Back at the camp outside the second Gate—
Training resumed with new urgency.
Brent had begun his mastery over the Echo Disruption trait—sparring with Rae in harmonic rhythm battles, forcing his system to adapt his Twilight Flame into more than just a weapon.
With his Flame Resonance at 100%, his merged techniques evolved:
Twilight Guard: A shield that bends sound and light to disrupt tracking spells.
Ashen Stride: Combines flame blink with echo-phase shadowsteps.
Soul Beacon Blade: Amplifies Rae's resonance while creating a harmonic burst.
Shadow Resonance ticked up slowly... now at 56%, increasingly aware of his emotions. It responded not to rage, but clarity.
Rae trained in dreamwalking memory streams, learning to project illusions that could temporarily rewrite battlefield rules—perfect for disrupting powerful foes.
Lysa grew stronger as well. Her Ember Trails could now sync with Brent's Echoes, creating explosive rhythm detonations.
All three were no longer students. They were beginning to resemble legends.
But they knew it wasn't enough.
The City of Chains waited.
And Her younger self had called Brent by name.