The forest groaned with the weight of night. Trees swayed in the wind like ancient sentinels whispering secrets, and the mist clung to the earth as if refusing to let Kael pass. He pressed Ash forward, urging the stallion through the thick underbrush, every breath fogging in the cold air.
Behind him, the glow of pursuit still burned. The System Enforcers hadn't relented.
Kael gritted his teeth. The Warden's Shard pulsed in his hand, its glow faint but steady. He could feel it trying to shield him, to obscure his presence from the System's detection. But they were too close now. One of them had marked him.
A warning pulse throbbed in his skull.
[Divine Lock Detected: Tracking Initiated]
He cursed. They were using Divine Surveillance one of the forbidden observation skills only available to the Church's high inquisitors. That meant they wanted him alive.
Or worse contained.
He steered Ash off the narrow path and into a sloping hill blanketed in fog. The horse hesitated but obeyed, hooves pounding through mud and root. Kael scanned ahead, spotting a fissure in the cliffside up ahead a cave, mostly hidden by moss and bramble.
It was a risk. But he had no choice.
"Come on, Ash. Just a bit further."
He dismounted, leading the horse into the darkness of the cave. As they stepped inside, the world outside vanished, consumed by the thickness of silence. Kael lit a tiny spark of mana in his palm. The light revealed jagged walls etched with symbols.
His breath caught.
The same markings as the pendant.
He stepped deeper into the cave. The walls began to shimmer faintly, responding to his presence. An old power lingered here not malevolent, but ancient. Unbound.
He stopped near a stone pedestal. On it lay what looked like fragments of old armor fused with obsidian crystal. But before he could inspect it further, a low growl echoed from the darkness behind him.
Kael spun around.
A pair of eyes blinked open in the black.
Then another.
And another.
The creature emerged from the shadows a beast unlike any he'd seen. It was not recognized by the Divine System. No data windows. No level. Just raw, coiled muscle, fangs like daggers, and a body that shimmered with shadow.
A Remnant.
A relic from the Pre-System era. A guardian of the cave?
Kael backed away slowly. He couldn't fight this thing. Not yet.
He held the Warden's Shard close to his chest and whispered, "Shadow Bind."
Dark tendrils surged from the ground, wrapping around the creature's legs. It snarled and thrashed but the hold was enough. Kael sprinted to the side, circling the monster, trying to reach the deeper chamber.
The Remnant broke free.
It lunged.
Kael dove under its claws, rolling hard on the stone floor and coming up near the pedestal. He slammed his hand on the shard of armor, hoping for something anything.
[Relic Resonance Initiated]
The fragment pulsed.
[Soul Armor Acquired: Warden's Echo (Lv. 1)]
The air around Kael thickened as ethereal plates formed around his body. They didn't cover him completely, but they encased his arms and shoulders, glowing with runes that flickered like dying stars.
He raised one armored hand just as the Remnant struck.
Claws met magic-forged soulsteel.
Kael was hurled back into a wall, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. But he was alive.
Barely.
He staggered to his feet, the armor cracking along the forearm but still intact. His vision blurred.
"Just... hold out a little longer," he rasped.
The beast reared.
But then
A burst of silver light exploded at the cave entrance.
Kael turned just in time to see the silhouette of a cloaked figure standing amid the mist. The figure raised one hand. A red glyph ignited in the air.
Chains of light shot forward and wrapped around the Remnant, freezing it mid-leap. The creature snarled and writhed, but the chains held.
Kael dropped to one knee.
His vision dimmed.
The last thing he saw was a porcelain-white mask and crimson eyes.
When Kael awoke, the world had shifted.
He was lying on a wooden cot inside a moving carriage. The interior smelled of herbs and metal, and the rhythmic sound of wheels against dirt roads filled the air.
His body ached.
Every muscle screamed. The Soul Armor was gone, but the resonance still echoed in his chest.
A shape sat across from him.
A woman.
Her cloak was red, frayed at the edges. Her mask, simple but haunting, hid her expression. Only her eyes, an unnatural crimson, gleamed through the slits.
"You're awake," she said flatly.
Kael tried to sit up but groaned instead. "Who... are you?"
"Lysia."
The name hit him like a bell.
The sanctuary. The woman the old man told him about.
"You found me..."
"You were bleeding in a cave warded by forgotten magic and carrying a pendant that screams of rebellion. Yes, I found you," she replied dryly. "Not hard."
Kael forced a smirk. "Not very warm, are you?"
"Warmth is for the innocent. You're not one of them."
He didn't respond.
She leaned forward slightly. "You awakened the Warden's Echo. That alone makes you a threat to the gods."
"So I've been told."
"But you're not ready."
Kael stared at her. "Then train me."
She laughed cold and brief. "You think this is a tale of heroes and chosen ones? This is war, Kael. The Divine System doesn't forgive. It erases."
He looked down. "Then why save me?"
Silence.
Then, softly, she said, "Because I remember what it was like. To believe the System gave us purpose. And how it felt when I learned the truth."
Kael met her gaze. "What truth?"
She leaned close. "That the gods didn't create the System to protect us. They made it to control us. And you, boy... you're not just an error. You're the fracture. The first real crack in their design."
Kael swallowed.
"So what now?"
Lysia pulled back the curtain. The carriage was approaching a crumbling fortress hidden behind cliffs and fog.
"Now?" she said. "Now you learn how to fight back."