The scent of iron and scorched ash clung to the air as we left the Warden's ruins behind.
Even after hours of walking, the tension refused to leave my shoulders. Every step deeper into the abyssal wilds of the Demon Realm felt like wading into a realm where sanity no longer held dominion. The sky above twisted in sick hues of crimson and violet, and the ground pulsed beneath our feet with subtle, living energy—like it resented our presence.
> [World Map Unlocked: South-Eastern Fringe – Path to Kharos]
Warning: Area Influence Detected – "Authority Domain: 4th Heir – Zepar Nocturn"
Risk Level: High
Zepar.
Even the name left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I had yet to meet him, but the whispers among the lesser demons in the Citadel said enough—Fourth Heir of Destruction, Prince of Ruin, and Bearer of the Hundred Curses. Unlike Lilith, who ruled with command and charisma, Zepar had built his reputation through dominance, dread, and a trail of broken challengers.
And now, we were heading straight into his territory.
"This is madness," Nyx growled, eyes flickering with spectral flame. "You saw the system's warning. That territory belongs to him. He'll know we're coming."
"I want him to know," I replied, gripping my blackened dagger tighter. "Let him see me coming and feel something he's probably never felt before—fear."
Nyx let out a dark chuckle. "You're starting to sound like a proper Demon Princess."
We descended through a shattered canyon known as the Mawsplit Ridge, where even the stone looked like it had been torn apart by screams. Bones littered the trail—some fresh, others ancient. Broken banners of forgotten demon clans fluttered limply from jagged rocks.
This was a place of trials.
And death.
Hours later, we set up a temporary camp near the edge of a ruined outpost. What once must've been a forward watchtower for the Demon King's legions was now a skeleton of ash and twisted black iron.
I unrolled the quest log on the translucent system screen.
> [Main Quest: Echo Hunt – Fragment 2: The Weeping Knight]
Location: Ruins of Kharos
Objective: Defeat the Weeping Knight and claim the Echo Fragment
Current Challenge: Survive Zepar's Domain
Bonus Objective: Uncover the Knight's Tragedy (Hidden Memory Thread)
A soft wind passed through the ruins, carrying a faint, melodic whisper.
"Do you hear that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
Nyx lifted his head. "Yeah. That's not wind."
The sound came again—clearer now. Like an old soldier's lullaby, sung through broken teeth.
Without warning, the ground beneath us shifted. A tremor, subtle but deliberate.
> [Zone Disturbance Detected]
Enemy Spawn: Class – Forgotten Legionnaire (Lv. 21)
Type: Echo-Bound Revenant
Group: 4 Units Approaching
"Here we go," I hissed, drawing my dagger.
Shadows coalesced in front of us—four spectral warriors clad in cracked armor and draped in tattered red sashes. Their eyes glowed an eerie pale green, and their movements were unnatural—jerking, twitching, yet purposeful.
"State your allegiance," one croaked, his voice layered with a thousand overlapping echoes.
I stepped forward.
"I am Sylvia Plath, Tenth Daughter of the Demon King. I've come to claim the legacy of the Weeping Knight."
A pause.
Then—screams. Bloodcurdling, layered, looping over each other like madness made manifest.
They charged.
The first swung a rusted halberd—slow, but heavy. I ducked under it, slashing low with my blade, aiming for the exposed gap in his leg armor. My dagger tore through the ghostflesh like slicing smoke—but it left a trail of cold fire in its wake.
Nyx darted in beside me, fangs glowing with dark flame. He tackled the second revenant, pinning it to the ground before ripping through its chest.
The third struck me with a gauntlet, and I felt something unreal enter my body—a curse. I staggered, heart skipping beats.
> [Status Effect Gained: Echo Curse – Soul Bleed]
Gradual HP Drain – Immunity to natural regen temporarily disabled
"Not good," I hissed, slamming my palm into the revenant's face and activating my newest skill.
> [Skill: Shadow Displacement – Rank I]
Effect: Instant 10-meter teleport + brief invisibility (0.5 seconds)
Darkness swallowed me, and I reappeared behind the fourth revenant. I didn't hesitate.
Blade. Throat. Rip.
He dropped.
> [Enemy Defeated: Echo-Bound Revenant – XP Gained: 220]
[New Drop: Memory Fragment – "A Knight's Betrayal (1/3)"]
Just as the last one fell to Nyx's jaws, I stumbled, coughing up a drop of dark blood. The Echo Curse was eating into me.
"I need time," I panted.
Nyx nodded. "We'll rest. But we can't stay here long. This wasn't a random patrol. That was a test."
"And we passed."
For now.
I leaned against a cracked pillar, opening the new Memory Fragment.
> [Memory Thread Accessed – The Betrayal Begins]
"He was our commander. Our pride. Then he wept and left us to die. But I saw it… the chains around his heart. We never knew if he was crying for us… or himself."
Chains again. Another Knight bound by sorrow and guilt.
Whatever had happened in Kharos... it had broken something more than just walls.
And I would find out what.
As I sat in the dead quiet of the ruin, the firelight flickering against Nyx's silver eyes, I realized something—
These weren't just echoes of history.
They were warnings.
This realm remembers. And it punishes those who forget.
I would not forget.
Not the Warden's scream.
Not the Legion's curse.
And not the face of the next heir I was bound to meet in blood.
I didn't sleep.
Sleep was for creatures not hunted by history itself.
Even resting beneath the faint glow of Nyx's soulflame, I felt the weight of this place crawling beneath my skin. The Ruins of Kharos whispered in my ears like worms, spinning memories that weren't mine.
"He wept… and the gates bled…"
I sat cross-legged, eyes fixed on the flickering projection of the Memory Fragment in front of me. The soldiers hadn't lied—the Weeping Knight had abandoned them. But something about it didn't add up. The way their voices shook… it wasn't hatred.
It was sorrow.
And fear.
> [Quest Update: Bonus Objective Revealed – Investigate the Binding Ritual of the Weeping Knight]
Progress: 1/3 Memory Threads Found
"What binds a soul like his?" I murmured.
"Guilt," Nyx replied, lying beside me. "Sometimes, even demons break when they remember what they once were."
I tilted my head. "Are you saying he was… good?"
"I'm saying he regretted. That's rare enough down here."
Before I could respond, the fire dimmed. The air shifted. Not cold—but pressurized. Like something massive and ancient was passing above us, unseen.
> [System Alert – Authority Pulse Detected]
Source: Zepar Nocturn – 4th Heir
Effect: Domain Awakening in Progress (Stage 1)
I stood. "He knows we're here."
"No. He wants you to feel that he knows," Nyx growled. "It's a show of dominance."
"Then let's give him a proper audience."
We reached the Gates of Kharos by mid-cycle—an arch of crimson bone and twisted blacksteel, half-collapsed and smeared with dry blood. The skeletal remains of giant siege beasts lay shattered nearby, their ribcages turned into nests for razor-winged vultures.
The gate bore a single inscription, etched in silver flame:
> "Abandon your title. Bleed for entry."
Typical.
I approached, examining the seal. A dark glyph hovered over the gate—arcane, complex, and pulsing with infernal energy.
> [Gate Sigil Detected – Bloodlock Seal]
Requirement: Offer of Demon Royal Blood
"Guess this is where my birthright pays off," I muttered.
Nyx looked concerned. "This kind of seal doesn't just read blood. It reads intent. You walk up there with doubt, hesitation, or fear—those things feed the gate."
I extended my hand, cutting across my palm with the dagger.
"I am Sylvia Plath," I said, voice steady. "10th Daughter of the Great Demon King. I walk this cursed road not in his shadow, but against it. I will break the chains that bind this realm."
I slammed my bleeding palm against the gate.
Silence.
Then—screaming metal, groaning bone. The seal cracked. The archway split open.
> [Bloodlock Seal Broken – Access Granted to Inner Kharos]
The air beyond was thick with red fog. Shadows danced between shattered pillars, and something… watched from above.
We stepped through.
Inside Kharos was like walking into a memory twisted by madness. Time itself seemed shattered here. Ancient banners still hung in midair, frozen mid-burn. Soldiers' bodies stood impaled on spears—suspended as if gravity had forgotten them.
And in the center of it all, stood the Bleeding Statue.
A knight, kneeling, with blade plunged through his own chest. Blood eternally flowed from the wound like a river of black oil, feeding a channel that led deeper underground.
> [Area Discovered: Shrine of the Broken Vow]
A hidden trial lies ahead.
I approached the statue slowly. My hand trembled slightly as I reached out.
Suddenly—a voice.
Not Nyx's.
Not human.
Not even demonic.
But a soul.
"Will you weep with me?"
My vision warped.
The world flashed.
> [Memory Thread Absorbed – A Knight's Betrayal (2/3)]
Vision Initiated…
I stood not as Sylvia—but in the eyes of the Weeping Knight.
I saw a boy in silver armor kneel before the Demon King—trembling, uncertain.
I felt the brand burned into my back—the mark of loyalty.
And then, the moment of betrayal.
An order.
A city.
A genocide.
My hands, soaked in the blood of those I once swore to protect.
And then… the blade.
My own.
In my own chest.
"I broke my oath… so they would live. But no one ever remembered the choice—only the crime."
> [You Have Gained a Unique Trait – "Oathpiercer (Dormant)"]
The power of defiance against fate lies within you. Awaken under dire cost.
I collapsed, gasping as the memory snapped back.
Nyx was already beside me. "You saw it?"
"He… wasn't a traitor," I breathed. "He was sacrificed. They twisted the story."
"And now he waits," Nyx said grimly, eyes on the path of blood flowing from the statue. "For someone to undo his chains."
I stood, voice hard.
"Then I'll break them."
Because I knew now—
This wasn't just about collecting fragments.
It was about restoring the truth.
And if Zepar stood in the way of that truth—
Then the 4th heir would bleed.
We descended into the blood-carved tunnel beneath the Bleeding Statue. Each step was a whisper, each breath a warning. Nyx moved beside me like liquid shadow, eyes narrowed, soulflame flickering in sync with the strange pulses coming from the stone walls.
"This place is alive," he muttered.
"It's remembering," I replied, touching the blood-lined channel. "And we're walking inside its memory."
> [Area: Memory Vein – Bloodbound Trial Chamber]
Hazard Level: Tier III
Objective: Face the Guardian of the Echo to unlock the Final Fragment.
The air reeked of regret. Not rot. Not death. Regret. As if thousands of unspoken apologies had been etched into the bones of this realm.
And then the walls screamed.
Metal tore. Flesh groaned.
And out of the crimson fog came the Guardian of the Echo—a twisted knight formed of armor and phantom, his face a smear of static and shadow, his sword longer than my body and stitched from broken oaths.
> [Warning – Echobound Guardian Engaged!]
[HP: ???], [Level: Unknown], [Soul-Bound to the Echo Trial]
"Hostile confirmed," Nyx growled, bracing his stance.
"I don't think talking this one down will work," I said dryly, activating my interface.
> [Skill Activated – Demonic Instinct: Phase Sight Lv. 2]
My vision shimmered, and I caught a flicker of the guardian's rhythm—slightly off-beat, fractured by internal pain. I could predict that.
He lunged.
I ducked, barely missing a horizontal slash that sent razor-sharp blood shards exploding from the wall behind me. One grazed my cheek—it stung like fire and screamed like a dying child.
> [HP -17] – Blood of the Forgotten deals Psychic Damage]
"Charming," I spat, flipping back and drawing my blade. "Nyx, split him!"
Nyx surged forward, his body shifting into a cloud of shadows and fangs. The Guardian responded with a roar that shattered three nearby statues, its sword spinning in a spiral arc—
—But I was already beneath it.
> [Skill Activated – Flashstep: Demontrail Lv. 1]
I teleported a short distance behind him, slashing through the ghostly bindings at his back. His form flickered, roaring in glitching static.
"It's not just his body," I said aloud. "His regret is part of his armor. We need to strike where it remembers."
"Then find where it hurts most," Nyx snarled. "I'll keep his nightmares busy."
The fight blurred into a storm of shadows and shattered echoes.
Every time we landed a strike, the room shifted—a new memory bleeding into view. Children crying. A fortress burning. A silver knight screaming at the sky.
And then I saw it—his face.
Not a monster.
Just… a man.
Broken.
Trapped.
Alone.
That was my target.
> [Skill Fusion – Authority Pulse + Soul Piercer Activated]
New Technique Unlocked – "Judgement Carve"
I summoned every ounce of rage, clarity, and inherited wrath and leapt, blade glowing with crimson light and flickering system glyphs. The Guardian turned too late.
"Rest, Sir Otheniel," I whispered. "You are remembered."
My blade passed through his heart like a prayer.
Silence fell.
The phantom disintegrated, piece by piece, until only a glimmering shard remained hovering in the air.
> [Final Memory Fragment Acquired – The Knight's Redemption (3/3)]
Quest Complete – "Echo Hunting: Kharos Trial"
Reward:
• EXP +5200
• Trait Awakened: [Oathpiercer – Stage I]
• System Update: [Legacy Echo Slot Unlocked]
• Soulbound Passive: [Redemption Surge] – Increases resistance to corrupted mental effects.
I collapsed to my knees, chest heaving.
That was… too close.
Nyx padded over silently. "That blade move was new."
"It was born from pain," I murmured. "His. Mine. This whole place…"
I stood, wiping my blade clean.
"Let's get out of here. I've had enough echoes for one night."
But as we turned, a new message blinked onto my interface.
> [Unknown Signal Detected – Intercepting Authority Link...]
[Source Identified: Zepar Nocturn – 4th Heir]
"You broke his chains. I'm almost impressed, little sister."
"Shall we see how well you fare against me next?"
I narrowed my eyes.
Bring it.