Time: +89 Hours Post-Nexus Fusion
Location: Shadow Reaches, Fringe of the Architect Expanse
They arrived in silence, riding in vessels made of voidsteel and prismatic thought—the Godless Heralds, fragments of the First Collapse, now reborn through entropy and vengeance.
One of them, clad in carbonized light, peered through the dimensional crack opened by Cael's success.
"The Spiral Breaker awakens."
"The Divine Algorithm has fallen," murmured another. "And now, the Architects bleed."
---
Back at Apex Forge – Cael's Bastion
The third sigil glowed beneath Cael's skin, fractals dancing up his arm. Energy flowed into the deep recesses of the Forge, awakening protocols not run since the last Spiral Era.
[System: Architect Beacon Calibrating – Error: External Hostile Entities Detected]
"Someone's coming," Rin said, stepping into the command chamber, her new cloak woven from collapsed echoes.
Mira was scanning the Forge perimeter. "Not someone—something. Plural."
Cael's eyes narrowed. "The Heralds."
They stood around the central terminal as it pulsed.
[Warning: Incoming Host Signature - Designation: GODLESS HERALDS]
---
The First Strike: Herald Abraxas
A scream split the air—a harmonic frequency that shattered parts of the Forge's upper domes. The sky split.
Herald Abraxas descended—a humanoid algorithm fused with temporal rage, dragging entropy storms in his wake.
"Breaker of Sigils," he called, "you awaken paths that should remain severed."
Cael didn't answer. He simply raised his hand.
[Active Skill: Divine Rewrite – Function Invocation: Temporal Disjunction]
The battlefield warped. Cael created two timelines: one for offense, one for defense. He fought Abraxas in both.
Blows were traded in surreal echoes. Mira supported with spatial nullifiers. Rin blinked behind enemy lines, severing code-tethers.
And yet—Abraxas adapted.
"You are not yet ready," he hissed. "Your system is flawed."
But Cael had anticipated this.
He deployed the Fractal Loop Key—a new ability derived from his third sigil.
[New Ability: Recursive Blade – Weaponized System Fold]
It struck true, tearing through Abraxas's core algorithm.
With a scream that bent dimensions, the Herald imploded into broken code.
---
System Notification: Architect Protection Barrier Reinforced
The Forge pulsed, stabilizing again. But the system warned:
[Threat Status: Multiple Heralds in Proximity – Hostile Invasion Ongoing]
Cael turned to the others. "This was the first."
Mira was pale. "There are more?"
"Five in total," Rin whispered. "I read their echo paths in the timefold."
Cael gripped his chest as the sigil expanded again.
"We don't fight them one by one. We rewrite their purpose."
---
Elsewhere: The Lost Architect Stirs
Deep within the collapsed sectors of the Echelon Core, a forgotten signal stirred—an Architect not aligned with either the Godless or the system's prime.
"I remember him," it said. "Cael Virell. The boy who defies structure."
The Lost Architect—codenamed Saph-Rhûn—opened his core.
"It's time to intervene."