[System Barrier Reactivation Detected]
Protocol: Labyrinth Lock
Region: ??? (Unknown Memory Layer)
Structure Name: THE BURNT LABYRINTH
Purpose: Final Firewall of Sovereignty
Access Condition: Crown Authority + Emotional Sync 80%+
The world folded in on itself.
One minute, we were walking through the stabilizing Sovereign Chamber.
The next?
The sky fractured—threads peeling away, revealing a corridor that bled fire, ash, and half-forgotten screams.
"Where the hell are we?" Orion muttered, blade raised.
Zai's voice came cold.
"The Burnt Labyrinth. A living firewall—constructed from every failed Sovereign's memories."
Trinity's flame dimmed at the edges. "So if we go in…"
"You'll face you. Not who you are. Who you tried not to become."
The Null-King had triggered it.
As a last test.
Or a trap.
Or both.
The Crown floated beside me now—alive in ways it hadn't been before.
It pulsed like a heart.
And I knew—
This wasn't just another trial.
This was the Graveyard's last purge protocol.
[New Objective: Navigate the Labyrinth]
Rules: No flame projection. No memory sync. No team coordination allowed.
You must walk alone.
Failure = Identity collapse.
The doors opened.
One for each of us.
I looked at Trinity.
She looked back.
No words.
Just fire in her eyes.
Then we stepped in.
Inside, the walls moved.
Not with stone, but with thought.
Each turn wasn't a corridor, but a choice I had made. Or hadn't.
And at the center of it all?
Me.
Not the Hollow version.
Not a failed echo.
Not a rewrite.
But the Trey I could've become if I'd just…
given up.
He smiled when I arrived.
"Still fighting?" he asked. "Still pretending that hope matters?"
I clenched my fists.
"I'm not pretending."
"You think saving one person makes up for what we lost?"
"You think mercy fixes recursion?"
"You're a child playing with fire. And all fire does… is burn."
"I know," I whispered.
"Which is why I keep lighting it."
We fought.
Not with blades.
But with memory.
His grief against mine.
His rage against my regrets.
His silence against the names I refused to forget.
At the final wall, I struck—not with power.
But with mercy.
And the broken version of me dropped his blade and faded.
"Then maybe this time," he whispered, "you'll carry us all the way through."
The Labyrinth dissolved.
And I was standing outside again.
Trinity emerged at the same time—her face streaked with tears, hands trembling, flame burning clean.
Orion dropped to one knee—silent, but whole.
Zai exited last. She didn't say what she saw.
She didn't need to.
[Burnt Labyrinth Completed – All Survived]
Crown Flame Now Resonates at 91%
Final Threadwar Countdown: 96 Hours → 24 Hours
Null-King Preparing Entry.
This was it.
The Graveyard was out of defenses.
The Crown was whole.
Our memories were raw.
And now—
He was coming.