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Chapter 36 – The Seer Who Walks Through Fire
The corridor that opened from the shattered skies of Floor 54 wasn't one of cold steel or shifting simulations. It was a tunnel of ash and ember—walls lined with memories scorched into form, flickering like candles fighting against the void.
Erevan walked slowly, each step radiating low heat from the Living Flame embedded in his chest. Beside him, Arin's footsteps were silent, her form trailing motes of silvery-blue light as if her presence constantly unraveled reality and rewove it behind her.
They walked in silence for what felt like hours, but time in the Tower no longer moved linearly. Here, it was emotion that dictated progress. Pain that shifted walls. Resolve that opened doors.
And Erevan had plenty of both.
"Arin," he said at last. "What are you?"
She didn't stop walking. "I'm what you would've become if you hadn't stepped into the fire with rage."
"That's not an answer."
She turned to face him. "Then let me give you one that matters. I was born the moment you showed mercy to something you hated. Your trait didn't just evolve—it birthed me. I'm an echo of possibility. A Seer, yes, but only because you made the first choice to see something other than vengeance."
> [System Notice: Companion Synchronization at 25% — Link Incomplete.]
"Then what now?" Erevan asked, narrowing his eyes. "Are you here to guide me? Or test me again?"
"Neither," she replied. "I'm here to challenge you. Because mercy is easy when the enemy is broken. What about when they're strong? What about when sparing them costs you everything?"
He didn't answer.
Because deep inside, he knew she was right.
> [Floor 55 – Tower Bastion: The Mirror Legion]
[Objective: Defend the Flame. Destroy Yourself.]
Erevan's breath caught.
The corridor widened—became a vast arena made of polished obsidian, reflecting every step he took, every breath, every twitch of doubt. But these weren't just reflections.
They moved independently.
Each a version of himself from different floors.
Different lives.
One bore the warped armor of Floor 27, when he abandoned his team to save a child. Another wielded the twin voidblades of Floor 13, soaked in enemy blood. And one—
One wore the black-gold armor of Emperor Erevan, the version of himself who had taken the Tower in another timeline. Who ruled it with absolute precision and apathy.
The Mirror Legion.
> [Enemy Units: 6]
[Each is a perfected simulation of you from divergent possibilities.]
[Victory Condition: Keep the Flame Alive. Do not let them take Arin.]
Arin floated upward, her feet leaving the ground. Wings of glowing data unfurled behind her, casting light that forced the reflections to hiss and recoil—but only for a moment.
Then they charged.
The first clash came in a blur.
Erevan intercepted a voidblade aimed at Arin's heart, parried with a burst of Living Flame, and twisted into a brutal counter-punch that sent his Floor 13 self reeling.
But two more rushed in.
One struck his side with a spear of adaptive plasma. Another hurled a cascade of corrupted Remembrance, trying to overwrite his memories mid-fight.
Erevan roared—not just in pain, but in fury.
This was the system's new trick.
Weaponizing who he could have been.
> [Passive Triggered: Fragment Walker]
[New Sub-Path Available: Embody, Then Evolve.]
[You may choose to momentarily embrace a past version of yourself to gain its power.]
He gritted his teeth.
Then did something no version of him would expect.
He chose the weakest.
The one who failed the rebellion.
Who broke.
Who ran.
For a brief moment, his limbs felt slower, his instincts off. He felt fear again. But then—
He remembered what came after.
The lessons. The rebuilding. The absolute, unbreakable will to keep rising.
And from that flickering ember—
Power surged.
> [Trait Fusion: Living Flame + Fragment Walker]
[New Skill: Ashborn Ascension – The more broken your past, the brighter your future burns.]
[Unlocked Form: Echoflame Core.]
He erupted.
Flames spiraled from his body, not wild, but focused. Each jet of fire bore scenes—memories reforged into weapons.
He struck down the clone of Floor 27 with a blade formed from his guilt. Blocked Emperor Erevan's god-blast with a shield made of his own pain. Arin chanted beside him, her voice weaving illusions of timelines yet to come—confusing the Mirror Legion's vision.
Until only one remained.
Emperor Erevan.
Tall. Cold. Beautiful in the way a machine was. Efficient. Perfect.
"You'll never win," he said, voice devoid of hate or joy. "You are chaos. You are mercy. You are flawed."
Erevan stepped forward.
"I am human."
And drove a blazing fist straight into the Emperor's chest.
> [Mirror Legion Defeated.]
[Flame Preserved. Companion Link Strengthened.]
The obsidian cracked.
Light shone from beneath.
And Arin descended beside him, placing a hand on his scorched chest.
"You understand now," she said softly. "The war isn't just against the Tower. It's against what it wants you to become."
Erevan nodded slowly.
And for a moment, he wept.
Not for loss.
But for the strength it took not to lose himself.
> [Remembrance: 53%]
[Arin's Bond Strengthened: New Skill Unlocked – Starseer's Reversal – Once per floor, revert a fatal event by trading a memory.]
The door to Floor 56 opened before them.
And this time, Erevan didn't walk through it as a lone tyrant.
He walked through as a flamebearer.
And beside him—the seer who reminded him what light could still remain.
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