> "When you stare into the System's code long enough... sometimes it stares back."
---
🔻 Labyrinth Core – Shard Judgement Room
The final gate pulsed with a sigil made of fractal data. No keyhole. No door. Only a single prompt floated in the air before Kael:
> [TO PROCEED: ANSWER TRUTHFULLY]
[WHAT DO YOU FEAR LOSING MOST?]
Kael's hand hovered in the air.
His team?
His identity?
Or the memories of a self that never existed… yet still shaped him?
The answer whispered from his soul.
> "Control."
The gate shattered.
---
🌀 ENTER: SHARD JUDGEMENT ROOM
A circular arena spread before them, made of silver and static. The sky above no longer shimmered with mirrored glitches—instead, it was still. Too still. Like a paused recording.
Kael, Seris, and Thorne stepped inside.
At the far end, seated on a floating platform of obsidian code, was the Architect's Shadow.
A perfect silhouette. No face. No voice. Only a stream of System commands looping behind him like a halo.
> [SHARD-EXECUTOR: SHADOW PROXY OF THE ARCHITECT]
[CLASS: NULL]
[RANK: ???]
[DIALOGUE ACCESS — UNLOCKED]
It spoke—not with sound, but with code.
> "Kael. Rejected Class. Crimson Carrier. You were not meant to survive Cycle 17."
Kael took a step forward.
"Then you should've made better rules."
---
🩸 Battle Commences: System vs. Shard
> [SHADOW PROXY — INITIATES CODEFIELD ENTROPY]
[SERIS'S CLASS: TEMPORARILY NULLIFIED]
[THORNE'S ARMOR: DEGRADED BY 43%]
[KAEL'S SHARD REACTS]
"Let's rewrite your authority."
Kael surged forward, channeling his inner chaos. The Crimson Shard pulsed with rage, recursion, and identity—the three keys that defied the Architect's sterile order.
> [SHARD RESONANCE — LEVEL 2 AWAKENED]
[NEW SKILL: CODE RUPTURE – Minor Reality Distortion]
Kael struck.
And the Shadow screamed.
It didn't bleed. It didn't break. It simply glitched—its form distorting, lines of code unraveling.
But it fought back.
---
⚔️ The System Fights Dirty
> [SYSTEM: EMOTIONAL OVERRIDE DETECTED]
[REPLAYING MEMORY FILE: "CYCLE 22 – TEAM BETRAYAL"]
Kael's vision blurred.
Suddenly—he saw Thorne plunging a blade into his back. A lie. A memory. A distortion.
"Don't believe it!" Seris shouted, casting a defensive barrier around him. "It's recursive bait! Your soul's being rewritten!"
But the images kept flashing.
Betrayal.
Failure.
The Architect's whispers.
---
🧠 Willpower Clash
Kael roared, pushing through the illusion.
He focused not on the past—nor the fake memories—but on the choice before him.
> [PLAYER-KAEL RESISTS SYSTEM SCRIPT INJECTION]
[CRIMSON SHARD – SYNCHRONIZATION 62%]
Kael launched a final strike—no weapons, no skills.
Just will.
And with that…
> [SHADOW PROXY: DESTABILIZED]
[ARCHITECT OBSERVATION: HALTED]
[ESCAPE ROUTE UNLOCKED – CYCLE REJOINED]
---
🌌 Exit from the Labyrinth
The world cracked open.
The arena faded into dust and light.
Kael, Seris, and Thorne fell—no, floated—back into a world they barely remembered.
Their bodies landed in a vast, ancient ruin. Stars spun overhead. The real sky. Real ground.
> [YOU HAVE ESCAPED THE CYCLE TRAP]
[SYSTEM ANOMALY: PERMANENT FLAGGED STATUS INITIATED]
[YOU ARE NOW BEING HUNTED BY THE SYSTEM]
Kael opened his eyes and whispered,
"Let it come."
---
🧷 Author's Note
> That wraps up the Architect's Labyrinth Arc—a milestone in Kael's transformation from rogue survivor to true System anomaly.
🔥 What did you think of the Shadow Proxy fight? The memory attack? And Kael's evolving Shard powers?
Share your thoughts in the comments below, and if you've been enjoying this first novel of mine, please leave a review—it really helps keep this story alive!
— Your author, Talent Engraver 🖋️