The forest erupted as Jason and the Riftbound Seeker clashed again—azure sword light against ravenous void. Trees snapped like twigs. Stone cracked. Leaves turned to dust from the spiritual shockwaves.
Jason skidded backward, boots digging trenches in the soil as he tried to halt his momentum.
Longwu Sword buzzed against his palm.
["Boy, you're blocking like your arms are made of noodles. Tighten your stance before that thing folds you in half."]
"I AM trying!" Jason snapped, staggering. "My ribs feel like someone used them as a xylophone!"
Longwu hummed.["And they played off-key."]
Jason wheezed. "Thanks. Real helpful."
The Seeker emerged from the collapsing treeline, its void blade pulsing with a rhythm that made Jason's heartbeat jitter.
But something was… wrong.
The hunter moved differently now.
Slower.
Heavier.
Almost deliberate.
Jason squinted. "Is it me, or is he walking like he's… thinking?"
Longwu stopped vibrating.
["…Boy. Stay alert. Riftbound don't 'think.' They execute. Something's changed."]
Jason's eyes narrowed. "He's remembering something."
THE SEEKER STOPS
The Seeker stepped over broken stone and paused exactly ten steps from Jason.
Silent.
Still.
Void aura swirling lazily around its limbs like smoke underwater.
Jason raised Longwu cautiously. "…Look, man, if you want a truce, I can negotiate. I'm very negotiable. I can throw in a free coupon for Xueyin's Pavilion breakfast—"
Longwu hit his wrist (metaphorically).["He's not asking for breakfast, idiot."]
The Seeker suddenly spoke.
But the voice was different now.
Less mechanical.More… fractured.Like three voices overlayed and barely cooperating.
"Subject… 17C… Jason Wu.""Recalibrating… subroutine.""Memory echo detected."
Jason blinked. "Memory what?"
The Seeker's head tilted sharply, twitching like a glitching puppet.
"You—were not supposed to exist."
Jason threw his hands in the air. "That's what EVERYONE keeps saying! Do you all share the same cosmic WhatsApp group?!"
Longwu coughed.["Focus. His tone changed. And I don't like it."]
Jason didn't either.
A MEMORY UNLOCKS
The Seeker took a step forward, void energy crackling.
But then—it froze mid-step.
Stuttering.
Its armor vibrated like something inside was trying to break out.
Jason took a half-step back. "Okay, nope. I've seen enough horror movies to know that's when something terrible happens."
Longwu's voice sharpened.["Jason. He's fighting something inside his own programming."]
Jason whispered, "He's remembering me?"
["Seems so."]
The Seeker's voice warped suddenly into a guttural growl.
"You… anomaly…"
Then shifted into a colder tone.
"You… escaped."
Jason's heart jumped. "Escaped WHAT?"
A third voice whispered beneath the first two—quiet but unmistakably furious.
"…You ruined the Hunt."
Jason froze.
"Longwu… is he—speaking like he knows me personally?"
Longwu didn't answer immediately.
Then—
["…Boy. You've been hunted before."]["And you didn't even know."]
Jason's stomach dropped."Wait—WHOAWAITWAIT—are you telling me this isn't our first fight?!"
The Seeker snapped its head toward him, face-mask splitting with a jagged crack like a second mouth.
Its eyes—normally rings of unified violet—were now mismatched.One calm.One trembling with something disturbingly close to hatred.
"You ran," the hateful voice hissed."Across realms.""Across timelines."
Jason blinked rapidly. "WHAT?! I DID NOT— I have NEVER— I can barely run across a field without tripping!"
Longwu sighed.["…Boy. It's your other selves."]
Jason froze completely.
"My… what?"
["Different versions of you across the cosmic layers. Some lived longer. Some reached farther. Some made enemies so terrifying they still remember the Wu bloodline's scent."]
Jason felt sick."…And I'm dealing with one of their grudges right now?"
["Yes."]
Jason pointed at the Seeker."SO I'M BEING HUNTED FOR SOME OTHER JASON'S DEBTS?!"
The Seeker let out a deep, rattling vibration—something between a growl and a laugh.
"You stole my hunt."
"You severed the trail."
"You erased the record."
Then—
"But I remember now."
Jason flapped his arms helplessly. "I DIDN'T ERASE ANYTHING! I CAN BARELY ERASE INK FROM PAPER WITHOUT TEARING THE PAGE!"
The forest ground cracked beneath the Seeker as its rage rose.
Void energy spiraled violently outward.
Longwu hissed.["Jason. He's about to re-enter Devouring Pursuit. He won't stop until you're—well—dead."]
Jason groaned. "I hate cosmic bureaucracy…"
THE SHIFT IN POWER
The Seeker's aura surged—far more than before.
But Jason noticed something no one else would've.
"…Longwu. His void is… unstable?"
Longwu vibrated.
["That memory echo destabilized him. He's stronger but also cracked."]
Jason swallowed. "Meaning?"
["Meaning you can't outrun him."]
"…Okay, that's very unhelpful."
["But—"]
Jason perked up."Yes? BUT what?!"
["But because he's fractured, if you hit the right cracks, you can drop him."]
Jason grinned. "So he's like a cosmic vase."
["…If you want to think about it like a vase that murders worlds, sure."]
Jason rolled his shoulders. "Good enough."
The Seeker stepped forward—slow now, but radiating the intent of a beast that had remembered its favorite prey after centuries.
Void trails slithered around him like leashes.
Jason inhaled.
Steadied Longwu.
And smirked."Alright then, tall-dark-and-traumatized-by-my-variants—let's finish your little emotional crisis."
THE REAWAKENED HUNT
The Seeker charged.
But this time, Jason didn't retreat.
He slid forward—ducking under the void blade and striking upward, hitting the crack in its armor that he'd noticed earlier.
CRACK-KSHH!
Void energy sputtered wildly.
The Seeker lurched back.Its fractured voice snarled—
"UNACCEPTABLE."
Jason spun the sword. "Yeah? Well, join the club. My whole life is unacceptable."
Longwu buzzed approvingly.["Good hit. Again. Same spot."]
Jason dashed in.
The Seeker whipped its arm out—too slow.
Jason sidestepped—and slashed again.
More cracks spread across its chassis.
The Seeker spasmed, glitching as old memories trampled its logic.
Jason's eyes narrowed.
Time to press harder.
He leapt, pushing spiritual power through his legs, spinning mid-air with Longwu raised overhead—
Longwu roared with azure flame.
Jason roared with him.
They struck the exact center of the Seeker's fractured chest—
BOOOOOM
Void and azure collided in a swirling storm.
Jason was thrown back—but the Seeker took the full blast.
It crashed into a tree, splitting it in half.
Jason landed hard but kept his posture this time.
He wiped blood from his lip."Yeah… that's right. Hunt me now, you glitchy skeleton refrigerator."
The Seeker staggered upright.
Armor shattered.Void leaking like smoke.Mask hanging crooked.
But its eye-rings fixed sharply on Jason.
And this time—
there was emotion.
Hatred.Recognition.Obsession.
"I remember you."
Jason felt a shiver.
"That's cool. I don't remember YOU. So I think I win by default."
The Seeker took one last step.
"The hunt… never ended."
Jason exhaled slowly.
"Then let's end it now."
Longwu hummed.
["Good line, boy. Now try not to die after saying it."]
Jason charged.
So did the Seeker.
The forest erupted again.
And the hunt truly resumed.
----