"If you reach too far into the void, beware—sometimes, the void reaches back."
— Inscription found on a shattered sword beneath the Library of Forgotten Codes
**
The moment Kayn stepped into the sealed chamber beneath the Interdimensional Sword Academy, his body stiffened.
The air was thick with time, heavy with whispers that had no mouths and memories that didn't belong to him. The torches lining the walls weren't burning—they were breathing, inhaling darkness and exhaling ancient light.
The System pinged.
Secret Zone Unlocked: The Crypt of Echoes
Class Restriction: Forbidden to all below Tier Celestial Core
Penalty for Trespass: Temporal Fragmentation
"You shouldn't be here," a voice echoed. But it wasn't the System.
It was Lyana.
Except… not this Lyana. The voice sounded older. Wiser. Heartbroken.
**
[One hour earlier, Above Ground – Academy Training Hall]
"Your form is too tight," Master Jian said, as his steel-like fingers snapped Kayn's sword upward. "You're channeling divine rage, not celestial control."
Kayn wiped the sweat from his brow. Not divine rage, he thought, just deeply buried hatred and a lifetime of betrayal.
Around them, other students sparred under holographic sky domes. Glowing trees shifted according to the intensity of combat, syncing to each participant's energy flow. The academy wasn't just testing sword technique—it was testing emotional equilibrium.
"I don't need control to cut down gods," Kayn muttered.
Jian raised a brow. "Then I suggest you find the Crypt of Echoes. If the Academy still allows it…" His voice drifted into something more warning than suggestion.
Kayn's gaze sharpened.
That name again… The Crypt. The place whispered of in shadows. The place said to predate even the multiverse integration.
He left the courtyard within minutes.
**
[Now – Deep below the Academy Grounds]
Système : Temporal anomaly detected
Initiating Parallel Sync...
A swirling image appeared mid-air, like a mirror made of broken glass. In it, Kayn saw himself—but older, cloaked in a darker robe, with blood dripping from the hilt of a blade shaped like a fang.
He was standing beside a woman.
Lyana.
But this version of her was different. Her eyes weren't kind—they were haunted. Her aura bled starlight and sorrow.
New Memory Fragment Recovered
[Fragment 1 of 3: The Bloodmoon Pact]
Kayn blinked, and the vision vanished.
He was alone again. Or so he thought.
"Azarel," came the voice again. This time, it came with presence.
He turned.
From the center of the room, an Ancient Sword rose slowly from a pedestal of obsidian. Runes pulsed along its edge like a heartbeat. It wasn't just a blade. It was a lock.
And Kayn—Azarel—was the key.
Forbidden Skill Learned: [Voidrend Slash – Rank Omega]
Warning: This skill breaks dimensional equilibrium and may awaken sealed entities.
Kayn stepped forward.
"I'll take the risk."
As his fingers touched the hilt, a rush of energy exploded through his limbs. Visions rained down like meteors: War. Betrayal. A kiss beneath dying stars. Lyana screaming his name as the multiverse cracked in half.
Legacy Memory Integration: 12%
New Title Gained: Echo of the Fallen God
And then…
The ground quaked.
A gate of bones and stars cracked open at the far end of the chamber.
**
[Elsewhere – Lyana's Quarters, 5th Tower of the Academy]
Lyana gasped. Her fingers clutched the pendant on her chest—the one she had never removed since waking in this life. It burned now, like it remembered something before she could.
"Azarel…" she whispered, though she had no reason to know the name.
And yet, in her dreams, that name always echoed across flames, across galaxies, across heartbreak.
Her window shattered inward. A raven made of code and ink landed on her bed.
A message.
From Varion.
I know you feel it too.
He's waking up. And the pact will soon call for your soul.
Remember your place, bride of the tyrant.
— V
Lyana's hands trembled. For a second, her celestial aura flared—her true power, sealed until now. It flickered, shattering the walls of her room.
But just as quickly, it was gone.
She fell to her knees, a single tear falling onto the cold floor.
**
[Back Underground – Crypt of Echoes]
Three figures emerged from the Gate of Bones. They didn't walk—they glitched into reality, as if forced through corrupted lines of fate.
The middle one spoke.
"Azarel of the Lost Epoch. You should not have remembered."
They were Guardians of the Echo Lock—beings not tied to time, but to the secrets time forgets.
Kayn drew the Voidrend Sword.
"Then why do I feel so alive?"
The fight was instantaneous. They attacked with spells made of unspoken words. Kayn countered with moves he didn't remember learning—but his body remembered. His soul did.
Blades clashed. Time twisted. For every strike Kayn took, he gave two in return. One Guardian fell, torn in half by the Voidrend Slash. Another dissolved into stardust.
The last one froze.
"You think you've remembered enough to fight fate?" it said, laughing bitterly. "The real war hasn't even begun."
Then it disintegrated into particles shaped like black snow.
Quest Complete: Defy the Echoes
Reward Unlocked: [Fragmented Soul of the Legendary Wife – Part 1]
A glowing shard floated into Kayn's palm.
Inside, he saw Lyana, lying in a crystal coffin… somewhere between dimensions.
**
[Meanwhile – Council of Dimensional Overseers]
High above all realities, twelve cosmic thrones trembled.
"He has unlocked the Voidrend."
"Fools. The Echoes weren't enough. We should have erased his soul completely."
"But he bears the mark… The Legendary Wife's seal glows again."
Varion stood among them, arms crossed. He wore a crooked smile.
"Let him come," he said softly. "Let him remember everything. When he does, she will choose me again. Just like before."
The others said nothing.
Even gods sometimes feared the madness of a man obsessed with rewriting love.
**
[Final Scene – Kayn's Dormitory, Later that Night]
The stars outside the window had changed alignment. Not visibly—but subtly. The System confirmed it.
Universal Thread Shift Detected
The Fates are no longer fixed
Kayn sat by the open window, the shard of Lyana's soul held in his hand. He felt her presence in the fragment—quiet, but real. He couldn't explain how, but holding it made the pain in his chest ache less.
The System remained silent.
Finally, Kayn spoke into the darkness.
"Lyana… Even if the stars rewrite themselves, I'll find you again. And this time... I won't lose you."
Behind him, the Voidrend Sword began to hum. Faintly. Like it was singing a lullaby from a life long gone.
**
Kayn unlocks a forbidden technique that reveals pieces of his lost past with Lyana, triggering hidden enemies and shifting cosmic forces that now hunt them both.
End of Chapter 13
Next: Chapter 14 – Heirs of the Primordial Flame
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