The rain poured over the desolate remains of Seoul's Exclusion Zone, where towering husks of old skyscrapers loomed like forgotten titans. In the center of the ruins stood Spire 7, a pillar of obsidian steel and flickering crimson lights. No one had entered it in five years—not without being erased by automated defenses or Executioner patrols.
Tonight, Raon planned to break that streak.
He crouched atop a broken overpass with Kira, Yuna, Han Ji-Woo, and two new recruits: Min-Jae, a kinetic displacer who once worked in Council logistics, and Lena, a former Infiltrator with a ghost-class stealth module embedded in her spine.
"Last chance to back out," Raon muttered, eyes scanning the towering fortress. "This isn't a mission. It's suicide with better lighting."
Kira grinned and cracked her knuckles. "My favorite kind."
Yuna's aura flickered with violet-blue energy. "I can feel something inside. The vault's not just holding Core Dust—it's housing something alive."
Min-Jae nodded nervously. "Whatever it is, we've got ten minutes between sensor loops. After that... it's war."
Raon activated the squad's mission interface.
> [Mission Start: Spire Heist – Level 7 Clearance Required]
[Time Limit: 45 minutes]
[Fail Condition: Any Alert Reaches Red Tier]
[Bonus Objective: Extract Prototype Class Chip – Location Unknown]
---
Phase One – Ghost Entry
Lena dropped first.
She vanished mid-air, her stealth module refracting her body into shadow. "I'll disable the west sentry line," she whispered over comms. "If I don't check in in three minutes... assume I'm dead."
Kira and Min-Jae followed next, rappelling into a breach point along the spire's ventilation core.
Raon and Yuna took the direct route—through the upper strut tower, guarded by a Class IV Mech Guardian.
"Give me thirty seconds," Yuna said, stepping forward.
Her eyes flared, and violet chains of energy spiraled from her hands into the machine's core.
> [Override Successful – Mech Core Purged]
[System Feedback: NULL ENTITY DETECTED – Security Priority Updated]
Yuna collapsed briefly, blood trailing from her nose. Raon caught her, then glanced up.
"Security's noticed. We need to move fast."
---
Phase Two – Descent into Hell
Inside Spire 7, it was colder than death.
Fluorescent lights flickered against walls stained with dried plasma. Drones hung silently from the ceiling, deactivated—yet watching.
Min-Jae led them through maintenance tunnels, each sealed with biometric locks.
"Spire security is based on intent," he explained. "The system scans brainwaves. If it detects fear or guilt—instant lockdown."
Raon raised an eyebrow. "So we fake confidence?"
"No," Yuna murmured. "We believe it."
They passed dozens of sealed chambers, each marked with symbols in the ancient language of dragons—glyphs Raon instinctively understood now.
One door pulsed faintly.
Lena's voice cut in. "I found something. Not the Core Dust—but… Raon, you're going to want to see this."
---
The Forgotten Prototype
Room 47X was sealed behind ten layers of kinetic fields. Inside was a tube—and inside the tube floated a boy.
Maybe fifteen.
His skin was etched with glowing lines. His eyes were closed. But the moment Raon stepped close, they opened.
And they were identical to Raon's.
"…You're me," Raon whispered.
"No," the boy said. "I'm what you were supposed to be."
> [Designation: Variant-0 – Azure Template Predecessor]
[Status: Dormant for 11 Years]
[Cognition: Active]
[Warning: This Entity Carries Pre-System Evolution Traits]
Raon's hands trembled.
"Why are you locked here?"
The boy smiled faintly. "Because the system feared what I'd become. And now… you've come to finish the cycle."
Suddenly, alarms screamed.
> [Security Tier Red – Level Omega Response Activated]
[Autonomous Executioners En Route – ETA: 02:45]
---
The Final Rush
"Split up!" Raon barked. "Min-Jae, get the Dust! Lena, prep evac. Kira, you're with me. We get the Prototype."
Yuna stood at the hallway's end, eyes burning. "I'll buy us time."
She stepped into the corridor just as a wave of Executioners rounded the bend—twelve of them, armed with plasma lances and suppression runes.
"Yuna, wait—" Raon called.
But it was too late.
She opened her arms.
And unleashed the Null Spark.
The entire hallway folded—walls crushed inward, light distorted, time twisted. The Executioners vanished into a rift of nothingness.
But so did Yuna.
> [Entity Teleported – Destination: Cradle Tracepoint Alpha]
Raon screamed her name—but the portal had already closed.
---
Extraction
Kira punched the security node. "We're out of time, Raon!"
Raon turned to the prototype. "Can you move?"
The boy nodded and stepped free of the tank. "I can fight."
They blasted upward through collapsing stairwells. Explosions rocked the tower. Drones reactivated. Defense systems howled.
Lena's evac shuttle appeared above the rooftop like a phantom.
Min-Jae emerged from the shadows, his pack clinking with canisters of glowing blue dust. "Got it!"
Raon, bloodied and furious, carried the prototype in one arm as Kira covered their ascent.
As the shuttle broke atmosphere, Spire 7 erupted behind them in a burst of violet and blue flame.
---
Aftermath – Missing and Found
Back in Aetherhold, Raon sat on the command deck.
Yuna was gone. And now, they had a prototype with answers, a device to locate the Cradle, and Core Dust ready to power the Aether Compass.
But Raon's hands trembled.
He turned to the boy. "What's your name?"
The boy hesitated.
Then answered, "I was called Echo."
Kira narrowed her eyes. "What happens now?"
Raon stood, fire in his eyes.
"We find the Cradle. We find Yuna. And we end this game."