The Shattered Path
The Ruined Expanse was shifting again.
Each step forward felt heavier, as if the world itself was resisting their presence. The ground trembled with unseen forces, and in the sky, fractures of light pulsed, revealing glimpses of different times—past, present, and something else entirely.
Kain glanced up warily. "That's not normal."
Nova exhaled sharply. "Nothing here is normal."
MC ran a hand over their arm, feeling the strange static charge in the air. The illusion they had just escaped had left something behind—a residual energy clinging to their bodies, like a mark from the past.
Vera, still gripping her spear tightly, narrowed her eyes. "We need to move faster. If that was a trap, then Elias is either being held somewhere… or he doesn't want us to find him."
Phantom smirked. "I say we give him no choice."
MC looked ahead. The expanse stretched on, but now, in the distance, they could see it—a towering structure, flickering between existence and erasure.
The Heart of the Expanse.
And deep within it, Elias was waiting.
---
A Trail of Shadows
They moved quickly, weaving through the decayed remnants of a city that had long since been erased. Broken buildings floated, disconnected from reality, while figures—half-formed Remnants—wandered in endless loops.
One of them turned its head toward MC as they passed.
It had no face. Just a blur of shifting static where its features should be.
A whisper crawled through the air.
> "…we… were… forgotten…"
Nova's grip on her weapon tightened. "They're not hostile—yet. Don't make eye contact."
MC forced themselves to keep moving, but the weight of those words clung to them.
Forgotten.
Was this what happened to those who opposed the System?
A warning. A fate worse than death.
Phantom's voice cut through the tension. "Heads up. We're not alone."
MC turned sharply—just in time to see a figure watching them from the rooftops.
Not a Remnant.
Not a ghost unit.
But a person.
And then—they vanished.
---
The Pursuer
A split second later, an explosion erupted from the side street.
MC barely had time to react before something rushed toward them—fast.
A blur of motion, a cloak of shifting colors, and then—blades.
MC dodged, barely avoiding the first strike. The figure twisted midair, landing lightly, twin daggers in hand.
They wore a mask—smooth, featureless, except for a single glowing eye.
Nova swore. "Damn it. We've got a problem."
Vera's stance shifted. "An Eclipse Hunter."
MC's stomach clenched. Eclipse Hunters were elite assassins—agents of the Eye sent to eliminate rogue elements before they became true threats.
And they had just been marked.
The Hunter's voice was calm. Measured.
> "You should not be here."
Phantom grinned, stepping forward. "And yet, here we are."
The Hunter didn't hesitate.
They attacked.
---
Battle in the Ruins
The fight was a blur of speed.
The Hunter moved like a ghost, phasing in and out of sight. Their daggers left trails of disruptive energy, cutting through the very fabric of reality.
MC barely blocked the next strike, feeling the force ripple through their entire body. It wasn't just physical—it was System energy, designed to erase.
Kain fired a shot—missed. The Hunter twisted through the air, dodging with inhuman agility.
Vera lunged, her spear igniting. "Stay still and fight!"
The Hunter vanished, reappearing behind her.
> "You do not understand."
Their blade struck.
But before it could land, MC reacted.
A burst of energy surged through them—a reflex, a power they barely understood.
Reality bent around them.
The Hunter's strike missed. Not because they dodged—but because the attack had never happened.
Time itself had shifted for a split second.
Everyone froze.
The Hunter slowly stepped back, tilting their head. "Interesting."
Nova's voice was sharp. "What the hell was that?"
MC didn't know.
But the Hunter did.
> "You are unregistered."
A pause.
Then, for the first time, something like hesitation entered their voice.
> "…Perhaps I was wrong. You are not the enemy. Not yet."
And just like that—they vanished.
---
A Message Left Behind
Silence.
MC's heart pounded, adrenaline still surging.
Phantom let out a low whistle. "Well. That was fun."
Vera scowled. "They let us go. Why?"
Nova exhaled. "I don't think they were trying to kill us. Not yet."
MC looked down—realizing that, in the place where the Hunter had stood last, something was glowing.
A small device.
A data shard.
MC picked it up. The moment their fingers touched it, a message flashed through their mind.
> "The Eye is watching."
"Elias knows the truth."
"Find him before they do."
MC's breath caught.
That meant one thing.
Elias wasn't just hiding. He was running from something even worse than the System.
And they were running out of time.
Nova stepped beside them, eyes dark. "What did it say?"
MC clenched their fists.
"We need to find Elias. Now."
With that, they pressed forward—toward the Heart of the Expanse.
And toward the answers waiting inside.
---
Into the Heart of the Expanse
The Threshold
The ruins were shifting again.
As MC and their team pressed forward, the world around them bent and warped, as if reality itself was struggling to remain stable. The sky overhead flickered between deep black voids and a storm of fragmented light.
Ahead, the Heart of the Expanse loomed—a colossal structure of twisted architecture, flickering between past and present.
Vera stopped, gripping her spear tightly. "This place… doesn't want us here."
Nova's expression was grim. "That makes two of us."
MC felt a pulse beneath their skin—a deep, resonating force. The closer they got, the stronger it became. Like a presence watching them.
Or waiting for them.
Phantom smirked. "Well, no point in standing around. Let's knock on the front door."
Without another word, they stepped forward—into the unknown.
---
The Guardian of the Gate
The entrance was marked by a towering archway of black stone, inscribed with shifting symbols—ones MC instinctively recognized.
System Code.
Before they could react, the symbols lit up.
A wave of energy surged outward, and from the darkness beyond the gate, something stepped forward.
A figure—tall, shrouded in a cloak of pure data, its face an empty void. In its hands, a massive greatsword hummed with unstable power.
Nova cursed under her breath. "A Warden."
MC's heart pounded.
Wardens were ancient constructs, created to guard places the System didn't want touched.
And now, one stood in their way.
The Warden's voice echoed—not spoken, but transmitted directly into their minds.
> "Unregistered entities detected."
"You do not have clearance."
"Leave, or be erased."
Phantom cracked his knuckles. "Well, that's not very welcoming."
Vera rolled her shoulders. "We're not leaving."
MC's grip tightened. "Then we fight."
---
Battle Against the Warden
The Warden moved instantly.
One moment, it was standing still—the next, it was already swinging.
MC barely dodged as the greatsword tore through the air, leaving behind a trail of fractured reality.
Kain fired his rifle—only for the bullets to freeze mid-air, then disassemble into particles of data.
Nova swore. "It's overriding physical matter."
Vera charged, spear igniting with plasma energy. She struck—only for the Warden to catch her weapon with one hand.
Its fingers phased through the energy, as if it wasn't bound by normal physics.
Then, with a casual flick, it sent Vera flying.
MC reacted on instinct.
A surge of power coursed through them, and suddenly—time slowed.
Everything became clear. The angle of the Warden's next attack, the weak points in its shifting form—they saw everything.
Without thinking, they moved.
They dodged the Warden's next strike before it even happened, weaving through the battlefield with unnatural precision.
The others noticed.
Nova's eyes widened. "MC… what the hell is that?"
MC didn't answer. They couldn't.
Because the Warden had finally taken them seriously.
> "User anomaly detected."
"Adjusting combat protocols."
The symbols on its body shifted.
Then, reality itself collapsed inward.
---
The Fractured Battle
The world around them shattered.
MC found themselves standing in a different battlefield—a place outside of time, where past and present overlapped.
Echoes of other battles played out around them—warriors from forgotten eras fighting against the same Warden.
All of them had fallen.
MC gritted their teeth. Not this time.
The Warden appeared before them, greatsword raised.
> "Final phase initiated."
It struck.
MC raised their hand.
And caught the blade.
The moment their fingers touched it, a surge of raw System energy flooded through them.
Memories that weren't their own—codes, equations, commands—flashed through their mind.
They understood now.
The Warden wasn't just a guardian.
It was a gatekeeper. A test.
One meant to keep out the weak—or awaken the strong.
MC exhaled.
Then, with a single thought—they rewrote the battle.
The greatsword shattered into data.
The Warden froze.
> "Override… complete…"
Then, without another word, it dissolved.
The battlefield returned to normal.
---
The Path Forward
MC staggered back, breath heavy. The others rushed to them.
Nova looked at them like they were something impossible. "That… wasn't normal."
Kain frowned. "You didn't just beat it. You rewrote it."
MC's hands trembled. They didn't know how—but they had commanded System energy.
And that meant one thing.
Vera looked toward the now-open gate. "Whatever's in there… it's waiting for you."
MC nodded. "Then let's not keep it waiting."
With that, they stepped forward—into the Heart of the Expanse.
And into the true unknown.