Chapter 5: The Echo-Bound Stranger
The obsidian shard pulsed in the earth like a buried heart, its runes spilling purple light across the clearing. Elias's breath came ragged, sweat mingling with grime. The girl stood calm in its glow, the faint shimmer in her eyes echoing the stone.
> [Echo III Initializing.]
Objective: Claim the Shard.]
Warning: Link Instability Detected.]
Elias stepped back. "Claim it? Last time I touched that thing, I died."
The girl tilted her head, studying him as though amused. "And yet here you stand. Alive. Chosen."
Her voice carried a weight beyond her years, and Elias felt the unease settle deep in his chest. He raised the stone blade. "Who are you really?"
She smiled faintly. "An Echo."
The word struck him harder than any beast's claw. "An… Echo?"
Her eyes gleamed. "One who failed before you. My life was devoured by the system, but fragments remain. Now, because you chose, I'm bound to you." She stepped closer, the air around her shimmering like heat haze. "Help me reclaim what I lost, and I'll help you survive."
The system flared angrily across his vision:
> [Caution: Linked Entity classified as Residual.]
[Trust not advised.]
Elias's grip tightened on his makeshift weapon. "So I freed a ghost chained to this… thing."
Her smile sharpened. "Better a ghost than nothing at all. Do you truly think you'll survive the echoes alone?"
The shard throbbed again. Runes cracked across its surface, and the ground trembled. From the fissures rose skeletal hands of black stone, clawing upward. One, two, then a dozen figures pulled themselves free—warriors carved of obsidian, their eyes glowing like embers.
The system chimed:
> [Echo III Trial: The Legion of Forgotten.]
Condition: Defeat or Bind three to your will.]
Time Limit: 06:00:00]
Elias's heart slammed in his chest. Dozens of faceless warriors, armed with jagged blades, turned toward him in unison.
The girl stepped to his side, her chains of vine now gone. Her voice whispered like silk in his ear. "Choose wisely, Elias. Kill them… or bind them. But remember—what you bind, binds you in return."
The obsidian warriors raised their swords.
The countdown began.
> [05:59:58]