The starlit staircase led them into a realm that bent perception itself.
Cael led the way, the glyphs in his eyes illuminating like runes of power. Around them, the laws of reality faltered. Gravity curled sideways. Time jittered. Each step into the void-path felt like slicing through memories.
A platform emerged—an island floating in the deep dark. Upon it, a gate made of skeletal light twisted open.
"The Labyrinth," Astra whispered.
Elira tensed. "Realm of the Fractured Gods. Each imprisoned fragment still conscious, mad with purpose."
As they stepped inside, the gate sealed behind them with a thunderous pulse.
---
The labyrinth was not made of stone or steel, but of cascading memories from broken timelines. Halls reshaped at will. Voices whispered from the walls.
> [Echelon Notice: WARNING – Multiphase Cognition Required. System Degradation Imminent Without Anchor.]
Cael steadied himself. He summoned a thought-core—a solidified will shard from the Mirrorworld, anchoring his mind.
The first trial struck without warning.
A god-shaped titan surged from the shadows. Its eyes wept blood, and its voice boomed with forgotten prayers.
"I was the God of Knowledge. I sought all... and now I am devoured by truths."
Cael raised his hand.
> [Command: Vortex Code – Phase Thread Severance]
Reality bent. The titan screamed as its form unraveled into streams of divine data. Cael caught fragments, absorbing insights and forgotten secrets.
Elira stared. "You didn't just destroy it... You learned from it."
He nodded grimly. "They are not enemies. They are equations. Broken, but readable."
---
As they journeyed deeper, more fractured gods attacked—each one a shattered piece of a divine puzzle.
One laughed in tongues and bled prophecy. Another wove dreams that tried to rewrite their memories.
Cael overcame each one—not by brute force, but by decoding their madness.
Finally, they reached the Labyrinth's core: a throne of bones, wrapped in logic threads and song-like equations.
There sat a woman with raven-black hair and eyes like event horizons. She wore robes stitched with the symbols of every known pantheon.
"I am Seryn—Last Fragment of the Architect."
She rose. "You carry the Mirror's Mark, and yet... you've taken the path of the Anomaly."
Cael bowed his head slightly. "I want to break the cycle."
"Then you will need my shard. But it comes with a cost."
She touched his chest—and a surge of agony tore through him. Visions burst in his mind: future betrayals, collapsing timelines, Elira's death, Astra's transformation.
He screamed, but stood firm.
"You are ready," Seryn said. "Take my shard and ascend beyond Layer Zero."
She crumbled into particles, and the shard—pure white data—embedded into his system core.
> [System Evolution: Layer Zero Decoding Unlocked. Access to the Forbidden Weave Begins.]
The labyrinth cracked. The throne erupted. And a doorway formed behind them—an entry into a space never touched by gods or code.
Cael turned to his allies. "The next realm... is the Genesis Root. From there, we unearth the true purpose of Echelon."
Elira stepped closer. "And the war with the High Order?"
"It begins the moment we step through."
They moved as one, vanishing into the light.