The corridor beyond the defeated clone was silent. Not still—never still in the Citadel—but the kind of silence that comes before history rewrites itself.
Kade stepped into the chamber, boots echoing over metal floors etched with forgotten glyphs. At the center stood a single obsidian pillar, humming softly. A thousand data threads spilled from its apex, cascading into the air like liquid code.
Marei stared. "This isn't Catalyst tech."
"No," Kade said. "This predates it."
He placed his hand against the pillar.
The system reacted instantly.
System Alert:
Accessing Substructure Layer – Realm Memory Archives
Warning: These memories are not yours.
His breath caught. The room bled away.
He fell.
Fell—
—into a memory that wasn't his.
Fire. Screams. Skies split open like torn canvas. Armored titans clashed in the clouds, and at their feet, humans ran from burning cities. But no one could escape. Not really.
A voice rang through the chaos, too deep to be natural.
"Every timeline ends in ash… unless the king remembers what came before the beginning."
Kade jolted upright, heart pounding. Sweat beaded down his neck.
Marei steadied him. "What happened?"
He looked at her, eyes wide. "I just saw another reset. One that never made it to the archives. A pre-Catalyst event. They've been trying this for longer than anyone knows."
Marei nodded, her face pale. "How many worlds have they broken to get it right?"
"Too many," Kade whispered. "And we're standing on the wreckage of the last one."
The system pinged again.
New Quest Unlocked:
Decipher the Realm Below.
Objective: Locate Memory Shard – Pre-Genesis Record.
Time Limit: 72 hours.
Marei drew her weapon. "What's below?"
"Not what," Kade said. "Who."
Behind them, the chamber door sealed shut with a hiss. Lights dimmed.
And beneath the Citadel, the world began to shift again—corridors folding, timelines thinning, as if the fabric of reality was adjusting to accommodate one final truth:
This wasn't the beginning of the war.
It was the end of denial.