The Derelict Spire was visible from miles away—a jagged monolith piercing the clouds like a broken fang. Kael and Lira stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking the ravine that surrounded it, the morning mist clinging to the fractured rocks below.
The spire wasn't built.
It was grown—a natural tower of obsidian and Echo-crystal fused with remnants of ancient technology, long abandoned by the Pact. It radiated power, thick and heavy, as if the air around it was folding in on itself.
Kael's skin crawled the moment they arrived.
> Location: Derelict Spire
Warning: Resonance Surge Detected
Status: Unstable Zone – Multiple Echo Signatures Present
Caution: Sigil Echo Detected – Doppel Pathway Active
He glanced at Lira. "You said someone was wearing my face."
She nodded. "The moment the Spire opened, a scan flagged your Echo signature inside—but distorted. Split. Artificial."
Kael's expression darkened. "A doppelganger?"
"No," she said. "A shadow. A memory that learned how to walk."
---
The bridge to the spire had long collapsed. Lira activated a portable phase disc, forming a narrow energy walkway across the ravine. They crossed in silence, the wind screeching like broken strings.
As they neared the entrance, Kael's mark began to pulse. Stronger than before.
The fourth shard was close.
And so was… something else.
---
Inside, the spire was a labyrinth of spiraling tunnels and gravity-defying chambers. Crystalline roots grew through the floors and ceilings, carrying pulsing Echo currents. Kael felt pressure building in his chest, like a scream waiting to break loose.
Then—
A whisper.
Soft.
Mocking.
> "Do you like what I've become?"
Kael froze.
From the shadows, he stepped out.
Same height. Same face. Same voice.
But… wrong.
The eyes were too calm.
The movements too smooth.
The grin too wide.
> Entity Identified: Echo Replica – Kael.0
Designation: Mirror Spawn – Sigil Variant
Origin: Dream Residue / Host Template: Subject Kael Voss
Status: Hostile
---
Kael's grip tightened around the Revenant Edge. "You're not me."
The replica tilted its head. "Not yet. But I remember the moment you broke. I am that break."
It raised its hand—and the fourth shard ignited in its palm.
> Sigil Fragment Detected (4/7) – Bound to Echo Construct
Note: Fragment fully stabilized — no corruption
Combat risk: HIGH
Lira stepped forward, weapon drawn. "We do this fast. Kill it, take the shard."
Kael didn't move.
His double stepped forward slowly.
"Why destroy me?" the mirror Kael asked. "We want the same thing. We hate the same gods. We remember Renna's last breath the same way. The Pact choking the sky. The way your mother bled trying to save you."
Kael's blade glowed white with Echo-light.
"I don't need another me to carry that pain," he said coldly. "I need to be the one who ends it."
---
The chamber exploded into violence.
The replica moved like a ghost, blade in hand—a mirrored version of the Revenant Edge. Their clash sent arcs of lightning through the crystal veins of the spire. Every strike brought memory to life—flashbacks crashing like waves:
Renna laughing.
His mother screaming.
The Harvester watching from the void.
Seven thrones rising.
Kael pushed harder.
Lira flanked, laying down a barrage of Echo-charged shots. The replica staggered—but didn't fall.
It split.
Clones peeled from it, each a flickering copy of Kael's worst moments—him abandoning Renna, failing his squad, watching innocents die during his early missions.
> "You made me from your guilt," the replica whispered. "I am everything you never forgave."
Kael's breath caught.
Then he roared.
---
The Revenant Edge changed.
Its blade curled into a sickle.
He spun—cutting through memory and shadow.
One strike.
Then another.
Until the real copy stood alone—wounded, flickering.
Kael stepped forward, eyes fierce.
"You're not my guilt," he whispered. "You're just a shadow."
And he drove the blade into his other self's chest.
---
The replica screamed—not in pain, but in release.
Its body shattered into fragments of Echo-light.
And where it stood, the fourth shard remained—floating, glowing, silent.
---
> Sigil Fragment Claimed: 4/7
New Trait Gained: Mirror Pulse – Immunity to Dream Doubles / Guilt Constructs
Corruption Level: 23% — Holding Below Threshold
Weapon Sync: 78% – Edge Evolution Pending
---
Kael dropped to one knee, breathing hard. Lira knelt beside him, offering a stabilizer vial. He waved it off.
He didn't feel broken.
He felt… clearer.
The shadow was gone.
The silence, for once, didn't whisper back.
---
But as they left the Spire, something watched them from above.
A Harbinger—wrapped in veils of smoke and golden threads—smiled.
Then vanished into the clouds.
---