The Riftlight flared.
One of the creatures lunged at Arix from behind—but the system moved faster.
> [Counter Protocol: Engaged]
Arix spun and drove his blade upward, catching the attacker under the chin. The force of the strike lifted the creature off its feet. It spasmed once, then collapsed in a heap of twitching limbs.
Kael grunted as he loosed another burst into the fray. "Too many!"
"We push now!" Calyx called. "Toward the obelisk!"
Arix didn't hesitate.
The team broke formation, converging on the fractured structure. The glyphs carved into its stone pulsed brighter with every step, responding to their presence—or Arix's proximity. He could feel the shard beneath them. Not just energy. Not just power. Something aware.
Thorne slammed his hammer into the ground as one creature tried to flank them. The shockwave threw the attacker aside, bones snapping audibly.
"Move!" Thorne roared. "I've got rear!"
They reached the obelisk base, half-buried in the snow. Jagged stone jutted like ribs from the crater. At the center was a sinkhole, wide and dark, with Riftlight spilling up from below.
> [Echo Fragment: Confirmed Location – Subterranean Access Required]
Calyx dropped a flare into the opening. It disappeared fast, swallowed by the dark.
"We drop," she said.
Selis blinked. "You serious?"
"Do you want to fight these things all night?" Calyx replied.
One by one, they leapt. Thorne dropped first, slamming down like a meteor. Kael followed. Then Selis.
Calyx looked to Arix.
"You first."
He nodded.
And jumped.
---
The descent was a blur of motion and cold. Arix twisted as he fell, his boots striking an angled wall before sliding to a rough stop on a frozen slope. He hit the ground in a crouch, rolling with the momentum.
Dark.
But not silent.
The chamber they'd dropped into was massive—vaulted ceilings coated in frost, old tech embedded in the walls like organs in a ribcage. The Riftlight flowed in thin veins through the stone. The architecture was alien, like the Vault had reshaped itself to contain something it feared.
The air was thicker down here, laced with something metallic and sharp, like ozone before a storm. Every breath Arix took tasted like memory.
> [System Interface: Echo Zone Stabilizing...]
[Warning: Anomaly Detected Below Core Level]
[Emotional Signature Syncing – Elevated]
Kael landed next, his boots crunching ice. Thorne's impact sent tremors across the chamber. Selis and Calyx dropped in behind them, forming a loose perimeter.
"Clear for now," Kael muttered, scanning the room.
Calyx took point, rifle raised. Her voice was steady. "Fan out. Minimal noise. The fragment is close."
Arix moved with her. The pull in his chest was stronger now, like the shard was calling—not just to be found, but to be claimed. It didn't feel hostile.
It felt familiar.
They passed a ruined altar—its surface etched with glyphs that shimmered faintly in his periphery. Not Obsidian. Not human. Something older. Thorne brushed frost from the top with a gloved hand.
"This isn't cult work," he said. "This is Vault origin script."
Selis checked her scanner. "Multiple life signs below us. Big ones. No movement yet, but it's not dormant."
The path narrowed before opening into a vast chamber where the walls curved into a dome. A broken crystalline column stood at the center. Fragments floated in the air around it like frozen debris in zero-gravity. In its heart was a shard of violet light, pulsing slowly, rhythmically.
> [Echo Fragment Detected – Initiate Sync?]
[Warning: Fragment Integrity Unstable. Guardian Presence Imminent.]
Arix took a step forward.
"Wait," Calyx said. "Something's—"
The floor exploded.
A tendril of black crystal burst from below, slamming into the ceiling. Another whipped across the chamber, knocking Thorne aside like a ragdoll. Selis screamed. The Riftlight dimmed as the air turned electric.
> [New Entity: Designation Unknown. Classification: Aberrant Guardian. Threat Level: Severe.]
Arix dropped into a defensive stance. The entity rose from the pit—twisted, towering, plated in shifting shards of black and violet crystal. It had no face, only a mouthless mask split down the center, Riftlight bleeding from the cracks.
Kael fired first—a high-velocity burst into its core. The rounds shattered harmlessly against its armor.
"Spread out!" Calyx shouted. "Don't let it fix on one target!"
The entity roared—no sound, only a shockwave that knocked Selis back and sent Kael crashing into a wall. Arix braced himself and charged, slashing across one of its limbs. The blade sparked, leaving only a shallow gash.
> [System Sync Surge: Echo Resonance Amplified]
[Combat Adaptation – Tier 1 Unlocked: Reactive Focus]
His vision narrowed. Every movement slowed. He could see the Guardian preparing its next strike—an arm coiling like a spring before it lashed out. Arix ducked, slashed again, this time severing a smaller tendril.
"Center mass is protected," he called. "We need to destabilize the shell!"
Thorne roared back into the fray, swinging his hammer in an overhead arc that cracked one of the entity's shoulders. The impact shook the entire chamber.
Selis launched a cryo-pulse, freezing part of the floor and forcing the Guardian to shift its stance.
Calyx moved in tandem with Arix, covering his flank. "It's responding to you," she said. "The shard—it's synced with you."
"I know," he said. "I can feel it."
The Guardian reeled back and slammed its fists into the ground, sending a pulse through the floor that fractured the stone. The platform beneath the shard began to crumble.
> [Fragment Stability: Failing. Sync Must Be Completed Immediately.]
Arix sprinted forward, weaving between tendrils. A scream ripped from his throat as he dove through falling debris, rolling to his feet just in front of the fragment.
> [Initiating Fragment Integration... Hold Position.]
Violet light enveloped him. The Guardian lunged.
Calyx tackled Arix just as the Guardian's claw crashed down where he'd stood. Thorne intercepted the next blow, hammering the beast away.
> [Integration 67%... 78%... 91%...]
Arix pushed himself upright and slammed a hand onto the crystal.
> [Echo Fragment Integrated. New Ability Unlocked: Rift Pulse Lv.1]
The Rift exploded outward in a wave of violet force.
The Guardian screamed—this time audible. The shockwave shredded its limbs, flinging it across the chamber. The lights dimmed. The walls cracked.
And the Guardian stilled.
Ash drifted in the air.
Silence followed.
Arix dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
> [System Update: Fragment Bound. Emotional Divergence: 17%]
Calyx knelt beside him. "You good?"
He nodded. "I am now."
Behind them, the Guardian's corpse twitched.
> [Warning: Secondary Core Detected – Resurrection Cycle Possible]
Arix grinned tiredly. "Of course it is."
And the shard in his chest pulsed again.