Sykaion
He stood.
Barefoot on cracked finance-stone, robe torn, feathers in both hands—one black-gold, one pulsing silver-blue.
Zeraphine at his side, her disguise barely holding, her eyes now fully Concordium cold. She had crossed the line. Broken the vow.
Behind them, the city roared like a collapsing vault.
Before them, Killmark raised a hand.
And the concept of distance vanished.
He was suddenly inches away.
> [Double Ledger Conflict – INITIATED]
Opponent: Killmark – Class: Terminal Enforcer
New Ability: Value Echo Split
Sykaion Kairo – Status: Unstable Core // Dual Anchor
Zeraphine – Status: Observer in Violation
Sykaion didn't blink.
"Stay out of this," he told her.
Zeraphine's response was steel.
"Not a chance."
Killmark struck.
---
There was no swordplay.
There was no choreography.
Only balance shifts.
Every blow removed something—a truth Sykaion once held, a thought Zeraphine never questioned. He fought not to kill, but to collect. To turn belief into compliance. Every swing of Killmark's will came with a clause—"Yield and you'll be spared."
But Sykaion had learned something.
Belief could be used like a blade.
He flared the second feather, and doubled himself.
Not clones.
Possibility echoes—what he might become.
Two Sykaions surged in opposite directions, each reflecting a different future.
One was ruthless.
One was kind.
Killmark faltered.
Just for a blink.
It was enough.
Zeraphine lunged, slamming a Violation Glyph into the ground, flooding the space with unaccounted chaos.
"Now!"
Sykaion converged his echoes.
And struck Killmark's contract seal directly.
A scream.
Not of pain.
Of incompletion.
Killmark stumbled—
—for the first time.
---
Arlyss
The sky over Veltrin dimmed.
Not like night.
But like faith being stolen.
She stood outside the remains of a minor trust bank, watching citizens scream as their account-lights blinked off one by one.
"Another blackout," muttered a shopkeeper beside her.
No.
Not a blackout.
A burnout.
She reached for her coin.
It flickered. Unresponsive.
She moved fast, past the tramlines, into the upper layers—only to see entire spires collapsing inward. No fire. No war. Just belief imploding as Syndicate agents flooded the sublayered banks.
They weren't stealing data.
They were unbuilding trust itself.
She felt her mark flare.
Sykaion.
Alive.
But in pain.
Her breath caught.
Something far bigger had begun.
---
Sykaion
Killmark dropped to one knee.
Sykaion stood over him, breathing hard, both feathers blazing.
"You came to collect a name," he said.
Killmark raised his head.
"And found a market."
Then he vanished—leaving only a contract shard behind.
Zeraphine touched Sykaion's arm.
He nearly fell.
"Easy," she whispered. "You're still whole."
"No," he said. "I'm something else now."
---
> [Trait Unlocked: Dual Ledger – First Manifestation Achieved]
Function: Echo Fate / Mirror Debt
Warning: You are no longer bound to a single timeline.
Faith branches will diverge.
Choose carefully who you allow to believe in you.
---
Far below, Arlyss ran into the fire—
Her city collapsing beneath her.
Her partner changed forever.
And Veltrin Sprawl began to fall.
To be continued in Chapter 16…