---
The air around Tianming froze.
Not from cold — but from a concept.
Perfection.
A golden light descended through the ashes of the Bleeding Forest. The air folded inward, warping sound and thought.
Tianming looked up.
And saw himself.
But… not quite.
This version was taller. Slimmer.
He wore robes stitched with mathematical equations, glowing with orbiting glyphs.
His eyes were gone — replaced by a flat golden plate that reflected everything and nothing.
> "Echo #000," Tianming said slowly.
"You're… the Architect."
The golden figure nodded once.
> "You are unstable. Corrupted. Weaker than required."
"I am the original template. I am the version that obeyed."
Tianming drew his blade, cautiously.
> "Then I'm everything you failed to become."
---
Flashback: The First Echo
> "He was the prototype," whispered the system in Tianming's mind.
"The one who never rebelled. Never bled. Never loved."
"The Chaos Lord in his purest, machine-forged form."
> "He was the one they kept in reserve…"
> "In case every other version — even you — fell apart."
---
[Dialogue: The Offer]
The Architect didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.
> "The world is unbalanced. Chaos has bled too far."
"Timeline fragments are consuming one another."
"You, Li Tianming, have become an anomaly beyond control."
> "Surrender your Eye."
"Merge with me."
"And I will reset the multiverse to its intended blueprint."
Tianming clenched his jaw.
> "You'd erase everyone. Yue'er. Yuan. Even yourself."
> "They were deviations," the Architect replied. "Flaws in our emotional construct."
> "Flaws," Tianming growled, "are what make us real."
---
BOSS BATTLE: Echo #000 – The Architect
Skill: Timeline Compression – Stops local time for 2 seconds every 30 seconds.
Skill: Judgement Zone – Calculates opponent's next 3 attacks and pre-counters them.
Passive: Perfection Protocol – Immune to Corruption, Emotion, and Bloodline Threads.
Tianming's attacks couldn't land. Every strike was countered before it even began. His system couldn't even activate fully.
> "He's not just faster," Tianming muttered, bleeding.
"He's already seen me lose."
---
Flash Strategy: Illogical Decision Tree
Tianming paused.
> "He's too perfect…"
> "Then I have to be illogical."
He dropped his blade.
Charged backward.
Then — laughed.
He activated Memory Bloom, fusing one absurd, chaotic timeline:
> A version of himself that fought using laughter, smoke bombs, and illusions.
> [Memory Sync Activated – Chaos Buffoonery #056: "Insanity Engine"]
Effect: For 6 seconds, your actions become unpredictably random and uncounterable.
Tianming's movements turned erratic.
He threw a tree.
Spun midair.
Screamed in three different languages.
And the Architect—
hesitated.
That 0.01% of uncertainty gave Tianming just enough room to pierce the Architect's left shoulder with his soul-thread.
---
[Memory Anchor Acquired: Echo #000 – Architect Template Fragment]
> Skill Fragment: Absolute Order (Locked – Requires Two Echo Fusions to Decode)
Trait Gained: Counter Calculation – Once per day, automatically counter a critical fatal strike.
The Architect stepped back, for the first time.
> "You're truly broken."
> "And yet… you survived me."
He turned to mist, vanishing into the timefold.
> [Echo #000 – Repelled]
[System Recognizes: You are now 46% compatible with Chaos Source Core]
> Next Echo: #002 — "The Betrayer" — Awakening in 12 hours.
---
[Meanwhile – Sakura Dominion: Cradle of Silence]
A girl stood in a burning field, her eyes glowing violet.
> "He remembered Yue'er."
"He defied the Architect."
"That means… he's strong enough to face me."
She pulled out a black blade laced with soul-forge runes.
Her name?
> Qin Mei.
The one who killed Tianming in another life.
Now reborn… and waiting.
---