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Chapter 15 - When Echoes Turn to War

The wind shifted again.

 

Not the usual, subtle breeze that

rippled through the Trial Realm's fractured terrain. This was wrong — a sudden hush,

as if the very air were bracing itself.

 

The Vault of Broken Stars trembled.

 

Runes across the high walls of the

throne chamber dimmed, flickered, then surged bright — a system flare Ashland

had never seen before.

 

He rose from his meditative stance

instantly.

 

The system's voice followed a

heartbeat later.

[SYSTEM ALERT – DOMAIN ASSAULT

DETECTED]

 

External Court: Unregistered

Identity: Masked

Alignment: Fragment Consumption

Intent: Total Dissolution of Local

Authority

 

Incoming Summons: Six

Court Rank: ???

Realm Stability: Falling

 

Defensive protocol activated.

Ascension Trials temporarily

suspended.

Prepare for Court-to-Court Conflict.

Ash clenched his fist as violet light

flared across his skin — his Court's sigil reacting automatically. Iriis was

already at his side, helmet on, blade drawn. Xeravon emerged from the Vault's

eastern wing, a low, bone-deep growl vibrating through the floor.

 

A moment later, Caien entered —

slower, still recovering, but with clear purpose in his gait. His armor had

been repaired, though traces of the corrupted chains still marred the edges.

Behind him, Elya followed, her staff braced in both hands.

 

She wasn't a fighter yet.

 

But she wouldn't run again.

 

"They're here," Ash said.

 

Iriis nodded. "Not just operatives

this time. An entire enemy Court."

 

Caien's jaw tightened. "They want to

make a statement."

 

"Then let's answer it."

The sky tore open just past the ridge

overlooking the Vault's front approach — a shimmering rift of darkness laced

with inverted runes. Where Ash's Gates opened like breathing light, this one bled.

It hissed as it unfurled, spilling corrupted mist onto the cracked ground.

 

And through it… came their answer.

 

Six figures stepped out in perfect

formation.

 

Not summons.

 

Bonds.

 

Each one wore half-mask bindings

etched with the same symbol: a reversed spiral inside a cracked sun — the mark

of the Echobinder Faction.

 

Their leader stood at the center —

tall, draped in ritual-wrapped robes made of broken summons stitched together

like patchwork. He didn't speak.

 

He simply raised a hand.

 

And then the world broke.

Ash's Realm trembled as the enemy's

domain flared, trying to overwrite his.

 

Chunks of the Vault's edges began to

decay, as if the stone no longer remembered what it was supposed to be. Binding

runes shrieked as they twisted into hostile logic, trying to unmake every part

of his Court's structure.

 

Iriis stepped forward and drove her

blade into the ground.

 

"We can't hold them off in pieces,"

she said. "This is a full overwrite attempt. A purge."

 

Ash nodded once.

 

"Then we do the opposite."

 

"We push back."

He stepped to the front of his Court,

raised his hand, and activated his Authority.

[COURT ORDER: SUMMON DEPLOYMENT – FULL

FORCE]

 

Court of Broken Stars: Mobilize

 

• Iriis – Frontline Engagement

• Xeravon – Midline Intercept &

Area Disruption

• Caien – Flank & Redirect

• Elya – Support / Ritual Lock

 

Active Skill: Echo Pulse – Stage I

 

Creates an echo of previous memory

across battlefield. Allies empowered based on last victory.

 

Engagement begins.

The two Courts collided.

 

Iriis met the first enemy summon

head-on — a corrupted mirror-beast with blades for limbs and no eyes. Her sword

struck in fluid arcs, cutting faster than vision, teleporting from shadow to

shadow, creating blurs of impact like strokes of calligraphy across the

battlefield.

 

Xeravon tore through the center of the

field, his roar disrupting enemy formations. His howl nullified their sigils,

staggering them, giving Ash the window to anchor the field with Starbound Ward.

 

Ash didn't fight with blades.

 

He fought with decisions.

 

Every second, he redirected power

through the Court's bond. Issued mental commands. Adapted.

 

"Iriis, bait the firebound."

"Caien, shift to flank and turn them

into her path."

"Xeravon—cripple the summoner in the

back. Now."

 

Each order was obeyed instantly.

 

Because they trusted him.

 

Because they weren't tools.

 

They were his Court.

The enemy pushed hard.

 

They unleashed a corrupted Guardian —

a giant brute forged from four devoured summons, fused into one. It lumbered

toward the Vault walls, hurling bolts of void-stitched energy that warped

reality around them.

 

Elya's voice rang out across the

battlefield, casting a sealing ward.

 

"Ash, now!"

 

Ash summoned every ounce of authority

the Throne had granted him.

[ABILITY UNLOCKED – 

Memory Collapse

]

 

• Collapse corrupted Constructs by

forcibly flooding them with original summon templates.

• Targets will destabilize if their

origins are too fractured to resist.

 

Cooldown: 2 uses per Realm Phase.

He extended his hand.

 

"You were never meant to exist."

 

"So I'll help you remember what you

were."

 

A flash of violet light.

 

The giant shrieked — not in rage, but

in confusion.

 

Its form unraveled — one summon

falling away, then another — until only fragmented ash remained.

 

One enemy Court member stumbled back,

exposed.

 

Iriis struck him down in a single

flash of silver-blue fire.

The enemy faltered.

 

Their domain began to crack.

 

Ash's Realm roared in answer — the Vault

pulsing with memory resonance, reasserting itself, rejecting corruption,

pushing back the overwrite.

 

The leader of the enemy Court watched

from the center of the field.

 

Still silent.

 

He raised a hand.

 

A command rune appeared in the air

above him.

 

And the surviving summons around him self-detonated.

 

Ash's eyes widened.

 

"Everyone—scatter!"

 

The blasts tore through the terrain,

breaking into jagged shards of ruptured memory. The Vault itself withstood the

worst of it — thanks to Elya's last-minute warding sigil — but the field was

scorched.

 

When the smoke cleared…

 

The enemy was gone.

 

Their Gate had vanished.

 

Only one thing remained.

 

A message burned into the earth at the

center of the battlefield.

 

Etched in corrupted glyphs:

"Let this be your invitation."

"The First Fang waits beyond the

Chains."

Ash stared at it.

 

A warning.

 

No — a challenge.

[SYSTEM UPDATE – COURT STATUS:

RECOGNIZED]

 

The Court of Broken Stars has survived

a hostile overwrite attempt.

 

Your Realm has proven resilient

against external interference.

 

New Title Gained: The Unbroken Court

 

Realm Anchor Stability: +12%

Influence: Now expands passively

across adjacent Trial Zones.

 

Next Objective: Investigate "The

Chains"

 

Estimated Distance: 3 zones west

Estimated Opposition: Severe

 

Prepare your Court for war.

Ash turned back toward his companions.

 

All five stood now, ready.

 

Not whole.

 

Not unscarred.

 

But stronger than ever.

 

"So," Ash said quietly, "they want us

off the board."

 

"Let's make them regret not finishing

the job."

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