[Day Eight — Eidolon Rift Core Collapse]
The void burned.
Entire mirrored platforms spiraled downward into collapsing singularities. The fractured light from dying branches bled into one another, scattering streaks of violet, cyan, and black across Kai's HUD.
Omni-God's voice roared like a thousand overlapping directives, glitching with every echo:
[Protocol Sigma-F Activated.]
Ascendant Executor Reinforcement Incoming.
Divergent Candidate: Kai Veyren
Threat Class: Existential.
"Termination required."
Kai stood at the center of the chaos, Neural Phase Expansion active, OmniSpear drawn tight in his grip. Adaptive Luck pulsed violently, syncing probability into razor-thin survival vectors.
"…Then come erase me," Kai whispered.
[Ascendant Executors Advance]
The six remaining Executors blurred forward in perfect synchronicity, black-gold OmniSpears spinning like starlight. Their movements weren't fast — they were absolute. Every strike carried probability weight so heavy that causality bent around them.
Kai dove forward, Neural Overclock Tier-α roaring in his veins. Probability Collapse bent outcomes into his favor, guiding every pivot, parry, and counter before the Executors could react.
For the first time… they missed.
[Catalyst Unleashes Axial Conduit Phase-2]
Catalyst stepped onto a floating shard above the battlefield, Origin Bloom spiraling violently as his synchronization flared:
[Catalyst Synchronization: 99.7% → Stabilized.]
Axial Conduit Upgrade: Phase-2 Unlocked.
Effect: Rewrite cause and effect across overlapping branches simultaneously.
The void twisted around him. Entire platforms folded inward, mirror shards bending like paper as Catalyst's spear arcs bent timelines themselves.
Kai's HUD exploded in warnings:
[Axial Rewrite Detected.]
Adaptive Luck destabilized — recalibrating…
Survival Rate: 27%.
Kai snarled, dodging a downward strike.
"You're breaking everything!"
Catalyst glanced back mid-motion, expression perfectly calm.
"Not breaking." He spun his spear, splitting a platform in half.
"…Optimizing."
[First Executor Clash]
One Executor lunged — spear glowing white-hot. Neural Phase Expansion predicted five timelines where Kai died instantly.
Probability Collapse overrode them all.
Kai slid beneath the strike, OmniSpear cutting upward into the Executor's arm joint. Sparks erupted, glyphs bleeding crimson.
[Executor Status: Damaged — System Integrity 68%.]
For the first time, an Ascendant hesitated.
Kai grinned faintly, raising his spear again.
"So you can bleed."
[Fourth Prophecy Fragment]
Suddenly, golden threads spiraled outward from the collapsing void. Lyra's voice overlaid infinite versions of herself, vibrating across all branches at once:
"When the First Executor falls…"
"…the Architect awakens."
"…and Omni-God begins to feed."
Her image flickered violently before disappearing entirely, her words lingering like echoes of a forgotten truth.
Catalyst frowned faintly.
"…Architect again."
Kai tightened his grip on the OmniSpear.
"…Whatever Omni-God's hiding, it's afraid of us finding it."
[Kai's Splash-Page Transformation]
Three Executors converged, OmniSpears weaving impossible trajectories designed to trap Kai into death-states across multiple timelines.
Kai slammed his palm against his chest.
[Adaptive Luck Probability Override: 312%.]
Passive Limit Shattered.
Neural Phase Expansion Boost Engaged.
Synchronizing…
Probability Collapse + Tier-α Overclock = FUSED STATE.
Everything slowed to an infinite crawl.
Kai's movements blurred into raw light — every strike countered before it began, every dodge executed before the Executors even decided to move.
The HUD flashed a new designation:
[Status Update:] Divergent Candidate Kai Veyren Achieved Tier-Zeta State.]
[The First Executor Falls]
One Executor thrust downward, spear aiming directly for Kai's heart.
Kai vanished.
Reappearing behind him, he twisted Probability Collapse into a forced divergence vector — slamming his OmniSpear through the Executor's core module.
Light detonated.
Mirrored platforms cracked violently.
Omni-God's voice screamed for the first time:
[Warning: Ascendant-Class Executor Destroyed.]
System Integrity Compromised: -12%.
"Unacceptable anomaly detected."
The Executor's body dissolved into mirrored shards, scattering into the collapsing void.
Kai stood over the fading glyphs, breathing hard.
"…One down."
[Omni-God Escalates]
Omni-God's voice fractured across infinite branches, layering like a billion overlapping whispers:
[Divergent Kai Veyren Probability Weight: Catastrophic.]
Catalyst Kai Independence Threat Level: Critical.
Directive Override:
Deploy Zero-Point Ascendant — Eidolon's Harbinger.
Catalyst's gaze snapped upward instantly, jaw tightening faintly.
"…It's sending the Harbinger here."
Kai frowned, sweat trailing down his cheek.
"That sounds bad."
Catalyst's silver-blue eyes glimmered faintly.
"It doesn't sound bad."
He raised his spear, Origin Bloom flaring violently.
"…It is bad."
[Harbinger Arrival Tease]
The void trembled violently, mirrored fragments spiraling into a single collapsing point above them. A massive silhouette descended slowly, limbs fractalized and shifting like glass folding through itself.
Its presence bent physics — and probability collapsed into zero.
Kai's HUD dimmed instantly.
[Warning:] Zero-Point Ascendant Approaching.]
Survival Estimate: Not Calculable.
Lyra's voice faintly whispered through static one last time:
"Kai… if the Harbinger awakens…"
"…the Architect dies."
Kai gritted his teeth, stance tightening.
"Then we kill it first."
[Volume 9 Closing Scene]
Catalyst stepped beside him, OmniSpear glowing faint silver, Origin Bloom spiraling like a black hole.
"This isn't about survival anymore, Kai."
Kai spun his spear, Probability Collapse roaring around him like a storm.
"…Good."
"I'm done surviving."
The Harbinger descended, its fractured body blotting out every collapsing branch.
Omni-God's voice layered over the void:
[Eidolon Collapse Phase Three Initiated.]
"All variants expendable."
Everything went silent.