Na'Sharra loomed ahead, a sphere of broken moons and bleeding skies. The Celestial Wound emerged from hypershift, its hull groaning under pressure no technology could explain. Space itself was distorted here—like thought had rewritten the laws of nature.
Jin Long stood at the bow of the ship, the Genesis Core within his chest resonating violently.
"She's here," he whispered.
Yue Lan joined him, her armor humming with elemental energy. "Then we're walking into her domain."
Below them, the temple of the Fifth Echo pulsed like a beating heart—its structure ever-shifting, formed from glass, memory, and whispers. No physical door led inside. Only intent could open the way.
Meiko activated the ship's defense wards. "If this goes wrong, I'll blast the place to hell."
Jin Long shook his head. "No. If you interfere, she'll latch onto your mind—and never let go. This is something only I can confront."
Yue Lan grabbed his wrist. "Not alone. We share this burden now."
He didn't argue.
Together, they descended.
—
The moment their feet touched the temple's obsidian floor, their perception shattered. The world twisted. Sounds bled into colors. Shapes rippled like thoughts half-remembered.
And then she appeared.
Nyra.
Floating above a spiral of inverted gravity, dressed in robes stitched from void silk, her eyes locked with Jin Long's.
"So… this is the mortal who holds the Core."
Her voice wasn't heard—it was felt, directly imprinted onto the soul.
Jin Long narrowed his eyes. "Why do the Echoes seek it? Why do you hunt me?"
She smiled, and galaxies shimmered in her gaze. "Because the Core was never meant to be held. It is choice. It is will. And will… must be broken."
She raised a hand, and the temple dissolved into memories.
—
Jin Long found himself standing in the ruins of his old village.
His mother alive.
His father smiling.
Yue Lan—gone.
Nyra stood beside him. "Stay," she whispered. "Abandon the burden. Live in peace. The Core will rest. And I will give you this world forever."
His hands trembled. It felt real. The warmth. The smell of firewood. The laughter of children.
But then he turned—and saw Yue Lan, shackled in chains of light, screaming his name through silent air.
"No," he muttered. "I've seen this illusion before. I've lived it."
The Genesis Core surged.
Reality cracked.
Nyra hissed as the illusion collapsed, her form shifting—briefly revealing her true shape: a swirling mass of minds devoured across millennia.
"You resist. Good. Then break for real."
The air shattered.
—
Back in the real world, Jin Long and Yue Lan fell to their knees, blood dripping from their noses. Nyra descended.
"No more games," she whispered.
But the Core spoke through Jin Long.
"Nyra, Fifth Echo. You are rejected."
A pulse of light erupted from Jin Long's body, casting Nyra backward into the spiraling void. For the first time, she screamed—a real scream. Not in rage, but pain.
The temple collapsed around them.
Jin Long collapsed too, barely breathing. Yue Lan caught him.
"We… pushed her back."
"No," he whispered. "We awakened her."
Far above, Zhan Wuhen watched from his throne of void.
"The Fifth Echo faltered," he murmured. "The others won't be so weak."
He turned toward a distant constellation.
"Send the Sixth."