The gate devoured them.
No light. No transition. Just absence.
One moment Kael stepped through a wound in the sky—then the world snapped into place with a scream of wind and gravity.
He landed hard, boots crushing glass-like soil beneath his feet.
The Zenith Rift wasn't a normal dungeon.
It was a dead zone.
No sky, no stars, no system notifications.
Only an endless, blood-hued wasteland of twisted roots crawling through broken stone like veins.
A sun hung low above them—dull, unmoving. A false light bleeding across a dying world.
"This isn't a dungeon," Lyra murmured, voice trembling. "This is… a grave."
Drayke cracked his neck. "Then let's wake the corpse."
Kael's steps left trails of ember ash as they walked.
His Ashcore aura flared in pulses, syncing with the corrupted terrain. The longer he was inside, the more he could feel the world around him—as if the very soil whispered back in pieces of forgotten language.
Echoes.
He knelt beside a cracked pillar covered in spiraling glyphs.
"They're not from Aurenya," Zera said quietly.
"They're not from any world," Kael replied, tracing the carvings with two fingers. "This was made before."
"Before what?" Veyl asked, eyes narrowing.
"Before the System. Before order. Before the Eternal War even had names."
Kael stood.
"This place is a Seeder's garden."
[System Override – Aura Trace Detected]
Origin: Seeder-Class Eternal "N'xirath, Root of Unbirth"
Threat Level: Cataclysmic – Aura Signature Bound to Environment]
Drayke groaned. "Why do they all have names that sound like diseases?"
Zera's face was pale. "That thing doesn't just corrupt. It plants itself inside the leylines of a region and feeds. Once it anchors, it births new Spawn indefinitely."
"So we cut the root," Kael said.
"You don't cut a Seeder," Zera whispered. "You burn it, seal it, and pray it never remembers you."
Kael grinned slightly. "Good thing I brought a flame."
They traversed deeper into the Rift, the terrain pulsing with sick life.
Lyra's Sunveil aura flickered—dimmed.
"It's draining me," she said through gritted teeth. "My healing's getting heavier."
"This place rejects purity," Zera said. "Only corrupted or anchored aura can survive long."
Kael's steps never faltered.
His aura thrived here.
He was no longer resisting the corruption.
He was speaking its language.
They reached the heart of the rift.
A monolithic tree loomed before them—roots bleeding black liquid, branches made of rib-like bone, leaves like razors catching false sunlight.
It pulsed like a heartbeat.
And from within the trunk… a voice emerged.
Not spoken.
Not heard.
Felt.
"Wrought-Bound… you still breathe. Still burn. Again and again you return, ash-born and blind."
"You are a mistake carved into time. But mistakes can be… corrected.*"
The ground exploded outward.
A creature dragged itself from the earth—taller than any monster Kael had faced, its face split in four directions, revealing a mass of twitching eyes and whispering mouths.
Its body was shaped like a humanoid fused with the roots of the tree, half-grown and half-rotted.
N'xirath, Root of Unbirth.
Seeder of Realms.
[Boss Battle Initiated – Cataclysm-Class]
Domain Perk: N'xirath regenerates from any root connection. Severed limbs restore after 30 seconds unless cauterized by Divine or Ashen-tier flame.]
Kael stepped forward.
The others hesitated.
"You sure you don't want backup this time?" Drayke asked.
Kael didn't answer.
His Ashcore form flared—blazing with deep orange light, turning the crimson sky black.
"Haaah…"
Kael's voice dropped low.
A grin pulled at the corner of his lips.
"What a strong aura."
Kael vanished in a flash of ember.
His blade met N'xirath's tendrils mid-swing—slashing through three of them in a single arc, the severed roots hissing as they tried to regrow.
"Soul Scorch: Ignition Arc!"
His strike ignited the wounds—not with fire, but memory. The roots screamed, writhing as their attempt to regenerate looped endlessly in a burning cycle.
"He's searing its regeneration," Zera whispered. "Using the Echo to trap the root's identity."
Lyra's jaw dropped. "That's… not possible. That's soul-level warfare."
"That's Kael," Drayke said proudly. "Our little nightmare."
The Seeder retaliated.
Spines of bone and root shot from its back, forming tendrils that struck the ground and bloomed into twisted versions of themselves—miniature spawns crawling with rot.
"Minions," Veyl growled. "Of course it has minions."
She raised her glaive, light flaring, and charged.
The battle split.
Kael remained locked with N'xirath while the others handled the spawn.
Zera triggered her Wraith Bell, echoing a death knell that stunned the approaching wave.
Drayke hurled a pillar of flame, laughing like a lunatic.
"If I can't burn it, I'll break it—"
He slammed his gauntlets into the ground, sending an aura shockwave that split the terrain.
"—and if I can't break it, I'll still try!"
Kael felt the Ashcore tremble.
Not with pain.
With agreement.
His Echo was watching.
Feeding.
Learning.
He didn't resist it.
He embraced it.
"Ashen Domain: Blight Pyre!"
A black flame exploded beneath N'xirath, forming a ring of pulsing fire. Every time the Seeder moved, the flame shifted with it—chained to its steps, forcing it into a burning dance.
Kael's blade glowed red-hot.
"Burnout Dash!"
He vanished.
Reappeared behind N'xirath.
Then above.
Then below.
Each slash wasn't just physical—it carried echoes. Memories of death the Seeder had inflicted… thrown back at it with every strike.
"YOU REMEMBER NOTHING," the Seeder bellowed. "YOU ARE A VESSEL OF LOST WARS!"
"Exactly," Kael said, grinning. "And that means I know how this ends."
[System Notice – Echo Saturation Threshold Breached]
Passive Skill Evolved: Ashmirror – Reflects 5% of enemy aura skills as Echo backlash. Usable only within corrupted domains.
Kael's next strike wasn't his.
It was the Seeder's—reflected back, inverted, twisted.
The tendril lash snapped back toward its own face, tearing through its mass.
"This is for Solmaris."
Another slash.
"For the devoured wards."
Another strike.
"For all the Bound you buried."
Final slash.
"And for me."
The Seeder screamed.
Its body ruptured—roots torn from earth, aura flailing.
It launched one final attack—a blast of core energy aimed not at Kael, but the others.
Zera turned too late.
"NO!" Kael shouted.
He moved.
Faster than thought.
Ash erupted—
[Critical Aura Transfer – Host Shield Activated]
Status: Critical Damage Prevented – Soul Burn Accumulating]
The blast struck.
Silence.
Then… Kael dropped to one knee.
Smoke curled from his body.
The Ashcore pulsed erratically.
His hand trembled.
Zera rushed to his side, kneeling.
"You shouldn't have done that—your Echo is fraying!"
Kael smirked weakly.
"Better me… than you."
Then—
A seed bloomed in his chest.
Black. Pulsing.
Alive.