---
"You're going to want to breathe slower."
Kiera's voice sliced through the silence as they moved deeper into the underground transit tunnels beneath Noxbridge. The lights overhead flickered, humming with static. Dust fell from the ceiling in slow motion. Every step echoed like thunder in Auron's ears.
"I am breathing," Auron muttered, hand twitching near the hilt of the stolen Reaper blade strapped to his back. "Barely."
She shot him a sideways glance. "Yeah. You sound like someone two heartbeats away from cardiac arrest."
Auron swallowed hard. This wasn't just a scouting mission. This was a test—one he hadn't signed up for.
> [Codex Trial Initiated: 'Hellwake Transit'] Objective: Retrieve Codex Core Fragment. Warning: Class-C Anomaly Detected. Survival Rate: 23%.
They turned a corner.
The tunnel ahead gaped open like the mouth of some sleeping beast. Twisted train cars littered the tracks, clawed open from the inside. Blood smeared the walls—old, dark, sticky. Lights dangled from the ceiling like severed nerves.
The smell hit next. Iron. Rot. Something else—wrong.
Kiera pulled two silver discs from her belt and activated them. Holographic shields flickered to life in her palms. "Once we're in," she said, "we move fast. No hesitation. If you freeze, I leave you. Clear?"
Auron nodded, jaw clenched.
"Good. Let's wake the ghosts."
They entered the terminal.
It was silent at first. Then—
> "Intrusion Detected." "Codex Anomaly: SCPR-09 Active." "Engaging."
The sound came from everywhere—metal shrieking, glass breaking, air pressurizing in a way that made Auron's bones ache. He turned—
And something fell from the ceiling.
It landed with a wet splat. No legs. All arms. Its face was a screen—flickering between static and footage of screaming civilians.
"What the—"
"Don't talk," Kiera snapped, launching her disc at it. The disc carved through one of its limbs—but it kept moving. The creature hissed like boiling flesh.
Auron ducked just as a razor-arm slashed past his head. He retaliated, blade drawn, slicing up in one clean motion. Sparks flew. It screeched.
More movement.
The walls rippled.
Dozens of them.
"We're surrounded," Auron said, his voice low.
"Not surrounded," Kiera replied, eyes narrowing. "Buried."
She activated a pulse bomb and hurled it into the swarm. The detonation was blinding. For a second, silence returned.
Then the floor beneath Auron cracked—*
He fell.
Hard.
---
Pain.
He groaned, rolling onto his back, only to be greeted by utter darkness. His interface flickered.
> Codex Signal Lost. Warning: Isolated from Team. Neural Link Offline.
He was alone.
Something wet dripped nearby.
Then a whisper—but not in his ears. In his mind.
"You're not ready, Auron..."
He stood, heart pounding. "Who's there?!"
A shape moved in the dark.
A mirror.
No—not a mirror. It looked like him. Same face. Same hair. But the eyes were pure black.
And it smiled.
"You're the reason they die," it whispered. "Kiera. Everyone. Because deep down, you know you don't belong here."
Auron's breathing hitched.
"No. Shut up."
He lunged—but the shadow caught him by the throat, lifting him with ease.
"You're not a hero, Auron. You're just a broken tool wrapped in someone else's power."
Then—light burst down from above.
Kiera dropped through the hole, guns blazing.
The shadow hissed and vanished.
She grabbed Auron by the arm, hauling him up. "You fall for one minute and start hallucinating? Grow a spine, Vale."
He coughed, staggering to his feet. "What was that?"
She didn't answer. Her expression darkened.
"You saw a Fragment Phantom," she said, voice low. "The Codex tests your mind as much as your body. If it breaks you, it replaces you."
"Replaces?"
"With itself."
Suddenly, alarms blared.
> Codex Core Fragment Located. Coordinates Locked. Time Limit: 03:00. Final Phase Initiated.
Kiera looked at him. "Ready to run for your life?"
Auron wiped the blood from his mouth and cracked his knuckles.
"Lead the way."