Blood slicked the asphalt.
Smoke clawed the sky.
The bus screamed as metal tore like foil.
Ren's last thought before darkness swallowed him: Rain shouldn't smell like burnt wiring—
Then—
Cold. Wet. The reek of rotting bark and ozone.
He ran. Bare feet tore on gnarled roots, every step slicing his soles open. Behind him, branches snapped like breaking spines. Something massive was coming—too fast, too heavy.
A growl rolled through the trees, low and guttural. It sounded like rocks grinding inside a meat grinder.
*[ALERT: Host body compromised. Initiating Soulburn.]*
"What the hell—?" Ren choked, skidding on black moss that squelched like bruised fruit. His lungs burned.
*[WARNING: No weapon. You = Prey.]*
*Prey.* The word hooked into his ribs. His hand closed around warm, sharp metal—a jagged shard jammed in the moss like a grave marker. Blood crusted its edges. *His?*
The trees exploded.
Six limbs. Bone-plated hide.
Jaws like rusted shears, dripping saliva that sizzled on contact with the earth.
Blue flame flickered where eyes should be.
It lunged—
a living avalanche of teeth and rage.
Ren swung the shard.
Fwoom.
Blue fire vomited from the metal, wrapping his arm like ivy made of frost and fury.
The beast SCREECHED—not in pain, but recognition. It stumbled back, claws gouging soil, blue-fire eyes narrowing.
*[SOULBURN ACHIEVED. Relic Identified: Shard of Despair.]*
*[Corruption: 3% | Death: 34 days | Sanctuary Required.]*
"Sanctuary *where*?!"
*[DIRECTION: Northeast. Landmark: Corpse-City. Suggestion: Run faster.]*
He didn't need to be told twice.
---
### THE FOREST
The forest hated him.
It felt it.
Trees hunched like broken-backed sentinels, branches clawing at his torn shirt. Moss fizzed under his steps, stinking of battery acid and decay.
The shadows moved. He wasn't alone.
Fist-sized globes of corpse-light bobbed between branches, whispering as he passed:
> *"…flesh is currency…"*
> *"…the Godslayer wakes…"*
Ren didn't look at them. Couldn't. He knew instinctively: staring too long would steal more than sight.
He burst into a clearing. The ground dropped away into nothing.
Below: a crater wide enough to swallow cities—a dead god's footprint. At its heart—Vel-Kareth. A corpse-city of melted stone and serpentine vines. Towers bent like arthritic fingers clawing at a bruise-purple sky.
GONNNNG.
A bell tolled, deep and final. The sound punched through his ribs. The corpse-lights dimmed in reverence.
*[Objective: Vel-Kareth Ruins. Survive till dawn.]*
Another howl tore the fog—closer, hungrier.
Ren stared at his bleeding feet, a mess of torn skin. "Knife. No shoes. Doomsday clock."
*[Correction: Corrupted knife. Zero survival skills. Soulbrand may liquefy your cerebellum. Also: welcome!]*
He spat blood onto the moss. It hissed. "Perfect."
---
### TEN MINUTES LATER
Vel-Kareth breathed dust and dread.
Bones grew from the streets like pale weeds—femurs, ribs, skulls with too many eye sockets. Half were human. Half… *weren't*. Ghost-lights swarmed, their whispers drilling into his temples:
> *"…burn the memories…"*
> *"…remember the First Betrayal…"*
He ducked into a cathedral—its ceiling gaping like a shattered skull. Winged statues lined the walls, faces wrapped in stone chains, wings snapped at the joints. Dried blood stained their feet.
*[Proximity Alert: Fallen Domain. Speak their names = Instant termination.]*
His heel kicked something. Bone on stone.
A skeleton. Curled around a book bound in iron and… something leathery. Skin? It twitched at his touch.
The tome pulsed. Thu-dump. Thu-dump. Like a heart.
Ren grabbed it. The cover burned cold against his palm.
*[RELIC ACQUIRED: Journal of the First Soulbound.]*
*[Access Legacy Memory? Y/N]*
Teeth clicked outside the door. Closer.
"Do it," Ren hissed.
Darkness ate the world.
---
FIRE. SCREEMS. A WAR IN THE SKY.
Soulbound warriors burning like dying stars, brands blazing on their skin as they fell.
A blade of black light carving mountains in half.
A whisper, old as stone: "RISE, ECHOBORN."
---
Ren wrenched back, gasping. The book thudded on stone, smoking faintly.
His skin burned—then glowed.
Violet symbols seared up his arms—cracks of light splitting his flesh. Brands. They throbbed like infected hearts.
*[Soulbrand Awakened: Godless Flame (Fragment).]*
*[Trait Unlocked: Memory Burn—Consume echoes. Inherit skills. Stability: 78%]*
Words blazed in his vision:
> **WELCOME, ECHOBORN.**
The cathedral doors exploded inward.
The beast charged. Slaver rained from its jaws, eating holes in the stone floor.
Ren didn't think.
The shard FLOARED, blue fire meeting violet brands. Time stuttered. The world sharpened.
*[Combat Protocol: Engaged. Host control overridden.]*
His body moved—fluid, lethal, not his own.
Duck the snapping jaws. Pivot on bleeding feet. UPWARD SLASH.
The blade bit deep into the beast's throat.
Silence.
Then—
CRACK-SHATTER!
The beast dissolved into jagged glass shards, hissing like dropped on a forge.
Ren collapsed. His brands pulsed, glowing like molten wire. Agony lanced up his arms.
*[Corruption: 5% | Threshold Breached: Neurological decay detected.]*
The wind moaned through the ruins. The System's voice turned glacial, ancient:
*"Welcome to the Inverse Realm, Ren Calder. You died once. This life is borrowed. Survive long enough… and you might earn a real one."*
Outside, through the shattered doorway, a second pair of blue eyes ignited in the dark.
Watching.
Waiting.