There was no landing.
No descent.
Only the tearing.
Kai screamed as the transfer pulled him apart—not body, not mind, but something deeper. Soul-code. The core lines of his identity twisted into knots, then rewoven under different rules. The threads of his connections tried to follow, but were yanked taut, bleeding sparks into the void.
[Entering: Floor ??? – Unregistered Territory]
[System Authority: Unknown]
[Warning: No Safety Protocols Active]
They didn't land in a room.
They arrived in a concept.
A corridor of shifting thought. Doors hovered in the air, flickering in and out of existence. Gravity was optional. Sound moved in reverse. The floor was language—literal script that coiled like snakes beneath their feet.
Lyra dropped Kai gently, panting, pale. "Someone... explain where the fuck we are."
Selis staggered to one knee, glyphs flickering like broken circuits. "This isn't a Floor. It's a breach."
Zaria's lips trembled. "We're inside a part of the Tower that doesn't follow rules. There are no layers here. No class limits. No laws."
Nayomi didn't speak.
She was staring at her hand.
And the code dripping from her fingertips.
Kai groaned, rolling to his side, but the Mark still burned. His system was quieter now. Too quiet. Like something had been muted—or worse, watching in silence.
Then a new alert bloomed.
[System Fragment Detected – "ROOT SCRIPT: PRE-TRIAL ERA"]
[Objective: Survive Long Enough to Read It]
The script on the ground rippled, slithering toward Kai's body like worms of light.
Selis flinched. "Don't touch them! They're living commands—they rewrite you."
Too late.
One wrapped around his ankle.
Kai gasped—then screamed.
Memories not his own surged into his skull. Names of gods long deleted. Code languages never meant to be spoken. The origin of the Tower. The first sacrifice. The system's real purpose.
And buried in it all… a voice.
"Kai Draven. Unrecorded Variable. You are not supposed to be here."
He convulsed.
[System Conflict – Bearer of Guilt Rejects Rewrite Attempt]
[Emergency Backup Engaged – Limiting Fragment Absorption]
Zaria and Lyra grabbed him, yanking him free from the writhing script. His body steamed, veins glowing like runes pressed to a forge.
Nayomi stepped into the path of the crawling code.
It parted around her.
Lyra froze. "What the actual hell are you?"
Nayomi's voice was distant. "Something the Tower forgot. And I'm going to make sure it remembers."
Kai opened his eyes. "They said I wasn't supposed to be here."
Selis helped him stand. "That voice... it's older than the system. I felt it too. We're trespassing in the Tower's original architecture."
Suddenly, every door in the corridor slammed open.
And from each one—
A version of Kai stepped out.
Not illusions.
Not clones.
Possibilities.
One wore black armor and wept blood from his eyes.
Another had no face—just threads where features should be.
A third dragged a broken Nayomi behind him, eyes hollow.
Nayomi's lips curled. "No. Fuck no."
[Trial of Self – Objective: Confront What You Could Become]
[Warning: Each Variant Carries A System Punishment You Rejected]
[Failure Results In Replacement]
One Kai began to speak, voice warped and mechanical. "You cannot lead. You cannot protect. You can only suffer."
Another, smoother, whispered, "They follow you because they don't see the rot yet. But they will."
Kai stepped forward. He was done listening.
"I've been through your hells. I've bled in every goddamn trial. And I chose them."
The faceless one moved first.
Nayomi intercepted him—fast, brutal, elegant. Her fists cracked his mask. He collapsed in a heap of static.
The second charged—Lyra and Selis flanked it, cutting it down with synced precision.
Zaria faced the third. The one dragging her broken corpse. Her smile was pure poison.
"You never could break me," she said. "Even dead, I'm better than you."
[System Alert – Variants Purged: 3/6]
[Remaining Variants Converging – Fusion Event Detected]
The last three Kai-variants merged into a single nightmare—a twisted amalgam of regret, ambition, and failure. Its form was fluid, changing with every breath.
[Boss Fight Initiated – "Kai Draven: System Rejection Manifest"]
[Level: Undefined | Type: Anti-Origin Echo]
[Ability: Devourer of Potential – Gains Power From What You Refuse to Become]
It rushed them.
This time, Kai didn't dodge.
He met it head-on.
Fists crashed. Light exploded. The others joined in—Selis with her divine glyphs burning like holy chains, Zaria channeling spectral claws, Lyra dancing between attacks with surgical strikes, Nayomi ripping through time itself as she moved.
But for every strike they landed, the thing grew.
Kai felt it feeding on him—on his doubt, his guilt, the burden of his Mark.
[Warning: Emotional Saturation Reached – Bond Integrity Compromised]
The threads between him and the others flickered. Not breaking... but failing.
His knees buckled.
The monster surged forward.
And stopped.
Because Nayomi stood between them.
Alone.
No fear.
Just fury.
"You don't get to take him," she said softly.
Then she turned back to Kai.
"You're not the only one who can bleed for this pack."
[Nayomi has Triggered Forbidden Skill: "Dominion Override – Pack Sovereign"]
[Effect: Transfer Mark of Guilt from Kai Draven to Self – Permanent Cost: Class Erosion, System Hostility, Mind Instability]
[Confirm Transfer? Y/N]
Kai screamed. "Don't you dare!"
She smiled at him. Just once. Wild, feral, herself.
And whispered, "Mine, remember?"
[Transfer Confirmed]
The Mark ripped out of him.
And plunged into Nayomi.
She didn't scream.
She laughed.
And the monster?
It hesitated.
Then it knelt.
L [System Notice: Identity Conflict in Progress – New Classification Detected]
[Updating... New Title: "Pack Mother – System Defier"]
[Warning: Entity Has Moved Beyond System Prediction Parameters]
The floor shook.
Reality splintered.
And from behind the doors—something else awoke.
Something watching.
Something... hungry.
[Incoming Presence: True Warden – "Azrien, The Architect's Regret" Approaches]
[Estimated Time Until Arrival: 2 Minutes]
Kai met Nayomi's gaze.
And whispered, "What did you do?"
She just turned toward the approaching storm, grin widening.
"Something irreversible."
To be continued…