"The enemy doesn't always knock. Sometimes, it whispers your name."
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📍 Ember Citadel – Lower Quarters, 07h40
Kael walked the dim corridor alone.
His right hand, still wrapped in cloth from the battle with the Breaker, throbbed with residual energy. The lines across his forearm pulsed faintly — traces of the Gateform refusing to fully vanish.
> [Core Stabilization: Incomplete]
[Anomaly: You are not alone within your system]
Recommendation: Seek isolation. Seek truth.
But Kael had no time.
---
📍 Mission Update – Reforging Shadows
Objective: Strengthen bonds with your Servants.
Reward: Unlock unique evolution paths.
Time Limit: Before next Arconte Intervention.
Kael stood before the Guardian.
"You protected me. Now… I'll protect you."
Using raw dusk essence and fragments of the Breaker's core, Kael began modifying his shadow servant. Not controlling it — but empowering it.
The room darkened.
The Guardian changed.
> [Shadow Evolution: Initiated]
Name: Nullfang, the Bound Titan
Ability: Chain Absorption & Reflex Echo
Kael smiled, despite the pain.
---
📍 Meanwhile – Myrla's Apartment, Juren City
Myrla stared at an encrypted crystal.
A message played:
> "He's not stable. You're assigned to observe him. If he breaks, you end him."
She crushed the crystal in her palm.
"He's more human than any of you."
She opened her terminal.
> [New Mission Created: Protect Kael at all costs]
[Request: Nara – Covert Support]
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📍 Nara – Underground Guild Circuit
In the smoke-lit chamber beneath Juren, Nara infiltrated a secret auction where black-market hunters sold rare cores, servants, and… intel.
One item caught her eye.
> Lot #17 – "The Map of the 3rd Arconte's Movement Pattern"
The auctioneer whispered: "Classified. Deadly. Cursed."
Nara didn't blink.
She killed the current bidder without a word.
Took the map.
Vanished.
---
📍 Ember Citadel – Kael's Quarters
At night, Kael dreamed.
But it wasn't sleep.
It was a summoning.
The Architect appeared once more — this time fractured, flickering.
"You've begun to change what cannot be changed."
Kael: "Then stop me."
Architect: "We can't. But they will."
A burning mark ignited behind him: a sigil made of red flame and bone.
The mark of the next Arconte.
> [Codename: Ignovar, the Pyrelord]
Trait: Flame of Memory – burns through time and truth
Status: Approaching
---
📍 Final Scene – Nightfall at the City's Edge
From a rooftop, a figure watched Kael through a long-range mana scope.
It smiled.
Not with malice.
But with anticipation.
"I was waiting for someone like you."
---