The sky above Valtheris tore apart like glass.
Shards of light fell in slow motion, each fragment reflecting another version of the world — distorted, inverted, wrong.
Eren stood in the center of the storm, sword drawn.
Across from him, the shadow creature watched in silence, its form shifting like smoke caught in wind.
[Enemy Identified: Riftborn — Class ???]
[Caution: System cannot analyze target parameters.]
The warning blinked red across his vision. No stats. No weakness.
Just the steady, crushing aura of something that shouldn't exist.
The creature tilted its head. "You carry the scent of another… the Unbound."
Eren's grip tightened. "You mean my brother?"
The thing laughed — a dry, hollow sound that scraped against his ears. "Brother? That bond is your flaw. You are a fragment, not a whole."
Eren didn't wait. He lunged forward, blade cutting through the distortion — but the shadow's body split apart like mist, reforming behind him.
Pain erupted across his back as dark claws raked his armor. He stumbled, rolling away, and the System flashed alerts in rapid succession.
[HP -42%]
[System Integrity Fluctuating.]
"Damn it—"
He steadied himself, forcing the pain aside. Every instinct screamed to flee, but another voice — faint and distant — whispered from the link burning on his arm.
"Eren… don't give in."
Riel's voice.
The moment he heard it, the mark pulsed — and his blade flared with blue light.
The shadow hissed. "Impossible. He bridges worlds already?"
Eren's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what that means, but I'll end this here."
He charged again, and this time, the blade connected. The air exploded in a shockwave of blue flame.
The Riftborn staggered, screeching, its smoky body unraveling.
But as it dissolved, it smiled. "You think this victory is yours… yet every strike only deepens the Link. The Rift watches both of you now."
Then it vanished — consumed by its own collapse.
Eren fell to one knee, gasping. His sword dimmed, and the mark on his arm cooled back to a faint glow.
[Quest Complete: Investigate Rift Activity.]
[New Objective Unlocked: Seek the Architect.]
He looked up at the words floating before him. "The Architect…?"
Before he could read further, his vision blurred — and the world flickered.
---
In another realm, Riel screamed as the backlash hit. The light threads around him snapped one by one, leaving trails of smoke. The floor shook violently, the walls of the orphanage ruins fracturing.
"Stop— stop—!" He clutched his head, but the flood of data wouldn't stop. Every heartbeat synced with Eren's — pain for pain, breath for breath.
[Link Instability: 82%]
[Emergency Override Initiated.]
Then, silence.
He lay there, breathing hard, surrounded by floating shards of the broken link — each one showing flickers of his brother's world.
He saw Eren kneeling in the field. The pulse of blue flame. The shadow's final words.
And behind all of it — a figure standing in a place of endless stars, eyes like shifting galaxies.
Riel whispered, "Who… are you?"
The figure raised a hand, as if sensing him across the rift.
"Watcher…" the voice echoed, deep and ancient. "Two threads intertwined beyond design. The Bound and the Unbound cannot coexist. The world must choose."
Riel tried to speak, but the vision shattered.
He woke hours later beneath the broken roof, the morning light spilling through. The System's voice was faint but clear now — no longer silent, no longer static.
[Unbound Protocol Phase II: Activated.]
[Mission Updated — Locate the Architect.]
Riel's eyes widened. "Same mission…"
Somehow, their Systems — though different — were syncing goals.
He stood, brushing dust from his cloak. "Then wherever he is, he's still alive."
For the first time since the Rift tore their lives apart, he smiled.
---
Back in Valtheris, Eren limped into the guild hall. The other adventurers turned to stare — armor cracked, eyes distant, yet burning with determination.
Kairn rose from his seat. "You look like death, rookie. What happened out there?"
Eren dropped the Rift Shard onto the counter. It glowed faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Something's coming," he said. "Something big. And it's not from this world."
The guildmaster, an old man with eyes sharp as blades, examined the shard carefully. "Rift energy this dense… I haven't seen anything like it since the fall of the Outer City."
Eren frowned. "You've seen it before?"
The old man's expression darkened. "We all have. Long ago, before the Systems were separated — before the world decided who would be Bound… and who would be left behind."
Eren froze. "Separated?"
The guildmaster nodded. "You're chasing ghosts, boy. But if you truly wish to find the truth— seek the Architect. He's the only one who remembers how the code was written."
Eren's mark burned faintly again — and somewhere, miles away, Riel's did too.
Two brothers.
Two Systems.
And a single word binding their fates: Architect.
---