I float in a vacuum of hushed stars. No gravity, no body, just a wisp of consciousness slipping off into nothing. The last thing I remember is the blast from the Obsidian Warlord, reality rippling around me. Then dark.
There is a dim but shimmering light up ahead, pale as the moon on a quiet pool. I'm being drawn toward it, my body piecing itself back together as I go. Efforts form shapes: gargantuan pillars of white stone, the runes they bear morphing under my stare. The pressure of my limbs comes back — bones easing into joint, muscles chilling out of pain.
In the heart of the hall a figure stands - stands as tall as a tower, shrouded in a shadow as a fire that dance and changes. The air ripples around them. My throat tightens. I attempt to talk but produce only a rasp.
They lower their hood. Silver hair falls in waves around a face that is both sexless and ageless. Gold eyes laced with specks of violet find mine. It's a look that I know from the nightmares and dreams I never dreamed.
"You have perished, Kairo Vale," the entity sounds. Their voice is soft as water over stones but still echoes in my chest. "And yet, you stand."
I try to get to my knees but everything's blurry. "Who—what are you?"
They raise a slender hand. A ball of light blossoms before us, casting constellations that spiral into glyphs. "I am Echo," they say. "Rogue among gods. I—unlike my kin—cherish mortal resolve."
A ripple of rage slithers through me. "Mortal? I was Earth's last Defender. I died in the fight of my world.'
Echo's lips twist into what could be sadness. "And that world perished. Yet fate is not blind. I grant you a second chance."
I shake my head, feeling a jolt of pain in my skull. "Why me?"
They step closer. The stars rearrange, swirling into a silver light that forms an ornate seal. "Your soul had the resonance of the Boundless Evolution. A system that I broke off from the Celestial Codex, until now, I used it to wield the very power of creation. You will become the vessel for it, Kairo Vale."
My breath catches. "System?"
Echo reaches out, the sigil appearing floating in my vision. It is spinning, each arc displaying impossible angles. "Embrace the System, become something more than what you were, become what you've truly always been—a god. How would you like to watch your soul disappear into nothing? Like so many others before you refuse and your soul will dissolve into the nothingness.
They talk as if mercy and tyranny were the same. My heart pounds. Flashes of images burn behind my eyes: Earth burning, soldiers falling, children screaming, the gloating roar of the Obsidian Warlord.
"I—" I swallow. "What do you want in return?"
They huddle forward, and shadows puddle around their feet. "Service. The Boundless Evolution is incomplete. The Ten Divine Realms are in turmoil and you will suffer the consequences. You will defeat that Realm's champion and restore—or reforge—their Law. And thus, create the Origin Flame, the ultimate spark of the Primordial Creator."
My gut coils. "Conquer gods?"
Echo nods. "One of them — or something more." Their eyes glow. "Rebirth is not a gift but a contract. You will work in exchange for your humanity. Every power you obtain extracts a price: memories, feelings, shards of your soul. Will you pay?"
I taste metal — fear, defiance, something blacker. "And if I refuse?"
They gather themselves up, the runes on the pillars glowing white hot. "Your soul will nourish the emptiness."
An absence that is louder than war fills the room. I know that this bargain is not a gamble: it is a necessity. If I refuse, I cease. But accept, and I am a weapon in a war held since before the dawn of time.
I feel pain coiling in my chest — loss, love, regret. I think of Earth's last sunrise, the weight of a child's hand in mine. I imagine the faces of those who passed because I failed.
"I… accept," I whisper.
As I speak my sigil as Echo blooms, flooding my vision. My senses erupt: color, sound, touch—too much information flooding through every nerve. I gasp, stumbling back.
They grab me, hand on my elbow, voice low. "Brace yourself."
The sigil burrows its way into my chest—light chewing through flesh, rerouting sinew and nestling itself inside my soul. Bisect me, darling, I Heartshake! I convulse, writhing screaming into the void.
Every memory shatters: Earth's final conflict flickers on repeat; screams segue to lullabies; victory and defeat lose all meaning. My identity splinters.
Then, silence.
I blink. My toes graze marble flooring. I sit up straighter, somehow taller, stronger — or I know I should feel stronger. Source The hall around me vanishes, replaced by dark that's parted by a glowing HUD: Boundless Evolution System.
Stat bars materialize:
Vitality ▏▇▏▏▏▏▏
Strength ▏▇▏▏▏▏▏
Chaos Stability ▏▏▏▏▏
Below, a timer: 02:00:00 until System Link expires.
"Hush, little human child," Echo's voice is in my mind, soothing and authoritative. "Survive the link. Then we begin."
I gulp and taste blood and metal. I blink, and suddenly my eyes are open, and I am in a high-ceilinged room made of black, silver-streaked stone. It's on a slab of obsidian, under some robes, its system HUD level with my eyes.
Echo is there in front of me, dressed in white robes spun from starlight. "Rise, Anomaly," they say. "Your first trial awaits."
I scrabble to my feet, each muscle Mrs-sensitive with sheer strength. "Where am I?"
They indicate an arch beyond which a red glow throbs. "The Threshold of Initiation. There you will face a lowly demon—your first metamorphosis. Finish it, consume it, become your name on the System."
The room rattles slightly as if shivering. I realize that remaining here any longer and we risk coming apart. I look at my knuckles: veins shining faintly silver under thin skin. Steady and strong, my heart's beat drums in my ears.
"What if I fail?" I ask.
Echo's gaze turns distant. "First of all, risk is not an option. Because every win locks you further into the System. Inch by inch you start to give away your soul with every small step forward that you take."
I nod, swallowing hard. "And if I succeed?"
Their lips twist up in a semblance of a smile. "You are the first of the boundless - Primus Xal'Zor, Herald of Chaos. But that headline is yours to craft."
A challenge—and a promise. My heart constricts with something I haven't felt in days: purpose. I raise my chin. "I will not fail." Echo inclines their head. The arches open with a low buzz and they slide beneath a cavern glowing with lava rivers and dark obsidian spikes. The air waves with heat and magic.
I step forward. The System HUD pulses and overprints a new quest:
Quest #1 – The First Mutation: Defeat the Ashborn Imp and absorb its Emberheart Core. Reward: +2 Vitality, +2 Strength, access to the Mutation Paths.
I roll the word "mutation" on my tongue, sharp as acid. Every mutation an evolution — and every evolution, a cost.
Behind me, Echo's voice resonates. "Let your will be as indomitable as the Origin Flame you search for."
I don't look back. The soles of my feet reverberate against the melted ground. These footfalls scorch under the addition I've just made, the deal I now have, and the humanity I'm about to forfeit.
The passage ahead forms a fiery cage of fire and stone. From inside comes a reverbating demonic scream. The Ashborn Imp awaits.
I feel the weight of the System's counter—two hours to be good enough, or to destroy.
My heart rages, every nerve awake. I step out into the firelit hallway — and into the new world.