The city of Argentos was on fire—metaphorically, at least. A thousand rumors spread through its digital underbelly like wildfire. From neon-lit towers to the shadowy data-bazaars beneath, one name had captured every tongue, every node, and every breath.
Kaius Zero.
The boy who had risen from the dust of Class Null was no longer a myth. His victories in the synthetic zones, his unlicensed Override of multiple Protocols, and most recently, the public defeat of Sentinel-Class Elite, were recorded, encrypted, and shared on every underground feed. His name was beginning to rival even Ascendant-tier Guildmasters.
But with fame came danger.
Kaius stood atop a maintenance rail overlooking the lower district of Sector D4. The blue glow of cyber veins pulsed beneath his boots, casting shifting light across his obsidian coat. His System interface flickered before him:
Protocol Synchronization Complete.[New Protocol Acquired: Chrono-Echo Lv. 1][Passive: Records micro-momentary states of combat environments. Can rewind movement within a 2-second buffer. Cooldown: 90 seconds.]
He exhaled, eyes narrowing.
"Time echoes, huh?" he murmured. "Now that's broken."
Beside him, Reika sat cross-legged, fingers rapidly weaving through a floating console of translucent circuits. She hadn't said a word in hours.
"You're still trying to break that firewall?" Kaius asked.
She didn't look up. "This isn't just any firewall. It's a Neuro-Eidetic Black Vault. Whatever's behind this encryption… even the major factions couldn't crack it. But you know what that means?"
Kaius smirked. "It means we're exactly where we should be."
Reika finally glanced over, eyes sharp as glass. "You understand this could trigger a war, right? That vault contains Protocol schematics marked Pre-Awakened Era. Some of this tech was banned even before the Ascension Protocols were initiated."
Kaius turned to the distant city lights. "Then we're not just rewriting the rules. We're burning the whole book."
Meanwhile, across the city's Inner Ring, alarms blared inside the mainframe of Arbiters' Nexus. A figure clad in liquid-crystal armor observed a rippling data-stream.
Subject: Kaius ZeroThreat Level: Escalated from Tier-3 to Tier-0Order: Terminate with Preemptive Authority
The figure's visor blinked once. "Deploy Phantom Circuit. Bring in Executor-class hunters. Target has gone rogue."
Back in Sector D4, the pair reached the final node of the data vault. A pulsating cube hovered between twin pylons of light, waiting.
Kaius extended his hand.
But the moment he touched it—
[ALERT: SYSTEM INTERFERENCE DETECTED.][Chrono-Thread Anomaly Incoming.]
The environment twisted.
Colors inverted. Sound became liquid. Gravity turned inside out. A split-second stretch into eternity. And then...
Kaius stood on the same platform—but Reika was gone.
A swirling rift hovered in her place. A deep, droning hum filled the air.
[Temporal Displacement Registered.][System Message: "Chrono Layer Breach."][Timeline: Divergent Node Detected.]
Kaius's fists clenched. "She got pulled into a broken thread…"
Before he could think, a figure stepped through the rift.
Tall. Armored in ancient alloy. A face beneath a helm like fractured glass.
"Protocol Bearer Kaius Zero," the figure's voice rang with mechanical gravity. "You stand at the edge of the Forbidden Layer."
Kaius activated his gauntlets, preparing for a fight.
"I don't care who you are. I'm bringing her back."
The being raised a hand. A golden sigil formed in the air, far more complex than any Protocol Kaius had ever seen.
"You possess the System—but not its true Origin."
The air split.
And the Trial of Echoes began.