The descent ended in silence. The stone beneath their feet shifted subtly as they entered a vast chamber of pure obsidian. The walls shimmered with runes that shifted like thoughts, pulsing gently in time with the breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding. The air was heavier here—thick with power, memory, and something older still.
"This isn't like the others," Aria said, her voice low.
"It's… watching us," Kai whispered, already clutching his bracer.
The Director stood at the front, gaze locked ahead. For the first time since they'd entered the Pit, he hesitated. "This room... was never meant for you."
From the center of the chamber, a ripple passed through the obsidian floor. The shadows coalesced into a figure—identical to the Director in every detail. Same pale skin, same slight frame, same piercing golden eyes.
But the energy was wrong. Oppressive. Unleashed.
The Echo stepped forward, smiling thinly. "So this is all that's left of me? You cut away your power, your ambition, your edge. And for what? Companionship? Weakness? Look at yourself now. You're nothing."
Roger instinctively stepped in front of Kai. Aria raised her blade.
The Director didn't move. "I had to. You would've consumed everything. I needed… focus."
The Echo laughed, bitter and cold. "You needed excuses."
Without warning, the Echo lunged. The chamber erupted into chaos.
---
Their clash sent shockwaves rippling through the obsidian room. Runes sparked like stars colliding. The Director met every strike with equal precision, but it was clear: the Echo was stronger—wilder. Every movement was imbued with devastating potential.
Roger stepped in to intercept a shockwave heading straight for Kai. The temporal orb flared, warping time around the blast. He grunted as it still knocked him off his feet.
Aria conjured a dense veil of mist, masking their positions from the Echo's bursts of spatial energy. "Fall back! He's not targeting us, but the backlash is lethal."
Kai, breathing hard, tried to trace runes mid-dodge. "He's using equations I've never even seen. This isn't just power—it's knowledge. Ancient. Personal."
The Director was being driven back, slowly, inexorably.
The Echo sneered mid-duel. "You've grown sentimental. Afraid. You buried me because you knew I'd win. And look what you've become—an errand boy guiding children through a tomb."
"They're more than that," the Director snapped, voice sharp. "And I did what I had to so they wouldn't suffer for what I've done."
"Then suffer alone."
The Echo's next attack cracked the floor itself. The chamber began to destabilize.
Roger growled and surged forward. "We're not letting you die here."
"Don't!" the Director shouted. "I have to finish this myself."
For a moment, the room froze. The Echo had paused too, as if waiting.
Then the Director drew a long breath and released something deeper—an ancient rune, one the Echo recognized.
Its smile faltered.
"You kept that one…"
A spiral of golden sigils encased the Echo. It struggled, but the sequence spiraled inward, burning reality as it collapsed.
"Someday," the Echo rasped as it began to vanish, "you'll need that power back. And when you do… what will you be?"
And it was gone.
---
The room calmed, shadows retreating. The group stood in stunned silence, smoke rising in wisps around them.
The Director lowered his hand slowly. His shoulders, once perfectly upright, sagged.
Kai stepped forward. "That was—how are you still standing?"
Roger looked furious. "You almost died. That thing almost killed us. You can't do that again."
The Director turned to face them. "That Echo… was me. Everything I had to shed to lead you without ruining you. The raw ambition. The lust for power. The things I did in the past to survive."
Aria stepped closer, blade still in hand. "So what happens now?"
He smiled softly. "Now? Now I go alone."
"No way," Roger growled.
"You're not ready," the Director said, gentler this time. "The Echo was a message—to me. A warning that deeper levels will require strength you don't yet have. If I stay with you, I put you all at risk."
Kai's voice cracked. "But we work together—"
"Which is why I have to leave." He touched Kai's shoulder. "I'll leave a trail. And when you reach Floor Twenty-Five… I'll be there. Stronger. And ready to explain everything."
The silence lingered, heavy.
Then, without another word, the Director stepped backward. A spatial fold shimmered behind him—and he vanished.
Aria stared at the space where he'd stood. "He's serious."
Roger clenched his fists. "Then we get stronger. Together."
Kai nodded, eyes shining. "He's counting on us."
They turned as one—wounded, shaken, but bound by the promise of reunion.
And deep in the Pit, the next floor waited.