Ficool

Chapter 23 - Chapter 23 – “Forest of Bleeding Futures”

---

The land before him was unnatural.

A crimson fog rolled over shattered roots and skeletal branches.

Trees weren't made of wood here — but veins.

They pulsed.

Dripped.

Screamed.

> [Location: Crownfall Gravepath – Memory Forest Detected]

[Status: Temporally Unstable]

[Echo Presence Confirmed: ID #003 – "The Forgiver"]

Li Tianming took a slow breath.

> "Forgiver…? That's a new one."

He stepped into the bleeding forest — and time fractured.

---

Inside the Gravepath

With every step, Tianming saw a different future.

A girl running toward him with bright eyes and a bloody letter: "You saved us."

A tower burning as a crowd screamed his name: "You monster!"

His own corpse being dragged across a battlefield by mechanical worms.

> "These aren't dreams," he muttered.

"They're futures that could've happened… if I chose differently."

The forest was alive with possibility.

And pain.

> [System Suppressed]

[Chaos Eye: Passive Only]

[No Skills Available – Memory Anchor Field Engaged]

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the trees.

Gentle.

Tired.

> "I know what you're thinking, Tianming."

"You think you're the only one who carried the guilt."

> "But I chose something worse than destruction."

Tianming turned — and saw himself.

Wearing white.

No weapons.

No system mark.

Eyes dull… but kind.

> "You're Echo #003," Tianming said.

> "You were me in a timeline where I never fought back."

The Forgiver nodded.

> "I let them take Yue'er. I let them kill the Architects. I let the Empress rewrite the world… because I thought mercy would save us."

> "But mercy didn't stop the world from burning."

He gestured to the trees.

> "This forest? These roots? They're made of futures I didn't fight for."

---

[Scene Shift – The Heart of the Forest]

The Forgiver knelt at a tree wrapped in blood-crystal vines.

Inside it… was a young girl suspended in memory.

> "Yue'er," Tianming whispered.

The Forgiver looked up.

> "You wanted power so you could save her.

I gave it up… so I wouldn't hurt her."

> "We both failed."

---

Internal Battle: Mind vs Mind

> "So what now?" Tianming asked.

> "Do we fight?"

> "No," the Forgiver said. "I want to fuse."

Tianming's blade trembled.

> "What?"

> "You have the will. I have the heart."

> "Together, we can rewrite better than either of us alone."

---

[System Reactivated – Fusion Protocol Engaged]

> Echo #003 has offered merger. Resulting traits may mutate.

Warning: Emotional Overload Possible

Accept or Reject Fusion?

Tianming hesitated.

Then stepped forward.

The two versions of himself placed palms together—

and fused.

---

[NEW TRAIT ACQUIRED: Echo of Mercy]

> 🔹 Passive – Dual Instinct: You now feel both logical and emotional path outcomes for all decisions.

🔹 Skill – Memory Bloom: For 3 seconds, anchor one future path as reality (cooldown: 1/day).

🔹 Soul Harmony: Slight corruption resistance (-2%)

> [Corruption Level Dropped: 24.8% → 22.3%]

[Mind Stabilized]

---

[Forest – Clearing]

The bleeding stopped.

The trees turned to ash.

Yue'er's image faded from the blood-vine.

And Tianming stood taller.

Not just as a warrior.

But as something more.

> "I don't have to erase everything to win."

> "Some memories deserve to be kept."

---

[Meanwhile – Eagle Dominion, Dimensional Core Vault]

A mechanical voice shrieked to life.

> "Echo Fusion Detected. Prototype 001 has merged timelines."

> "Initiate Deployment of Echo #000: The Architect."

A door opened.

Chains clattered.

And a figure with a gold face and no eyes stepped into the living void.

---

More Chapters