The echo of the drone's explosion died out, but the ensuing silence of the fog was even more terrifying. Behind the wreckage of an old factory, Rain held his breath, pressed against a cold stone wall. He could feel faint vibrations in the ground—not ordinary footsteps, but the rhythmic, metallic strikes of the "Knights of Silence."
"There are four of them," Elina whispered within his mind. "Their leader possesses a 15% artificial synchronization. For your current body, he represents a lethal threat."
Rain closed his eyes, attempting to summon the "Gray Veil" technique Elina had described. He began to draw the fog around him, not to breathe it this time, but to let it shroud his pores and clothes. Gradually, his body heat dissipated, and his form began to merge with the ashen ruins.
The Knights emerged through the smoke. Their silver armor gleamed with an ominous luster, and their helmets—showing nothing but glowing red slits—scanned the area with cold precision.
"Target has vanished from radar," one Knight said in a sharp, robotic voice. "Could the fog have swallowed him?"
"Impossible," the leader replied, raising his electromagnetic spear. "The energy that shattered the scout drone was raw 'Echo' power. He is here... watching us."
Rain was watching them from above, perched atop a rusted crane. His heart hammered against his ribs, but he remembered Elina's words: Do not seek power; be the power. Rain leapt. It wasn't a random jump; he used an "Echo Thrust" from his feet to propel his body like an arrow. He summoned the broken blade mid-air, and the silver radiance exploded, tearing through the stillness.
The Knights scrambled. Before one could even raise his spear, Rain's blade had pierced the weak joint in the rear Knight's armor. There was no sound of metal clashing; the blade passed through the steel as if cutting through water, absorbing the electrical energy powering the suit.
"There! Open fire!" the leader bellowed.
Sonic projectiles tore through the stone around Rain. He retreated swiftly, using the rubble as cover. He felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his right arm; the weapon was consuming his vital energy at a terrifying rate.
[Alert: Echo Energy Reserves: 40%] [Danger: Physical Strain exceeding safety limits]
"Do not try to duel them with brute force," Elina warned. "Their armor is designed to absorb direct hits. Use 'Collapse'!"
Rain took a deep breath of the fog, feeling the chill of the "Silver Lung" reinvigorate his nerves. He waited until the three remaining Knights closed in, cornering him in a narrow gap between two collapsed buildings.
"Game over, technician," the leader said, charging his spear with blue plasma energy.
Rain flashed a faint, grim smile and drove his broken blade into the ground beneath his feet with all his might.
"Echo Realm... Spatial Collapse!"
There was no explosion. Instead, a small gray rift opened in reality at the sword's point of impact. In a fraction of a second, air particles, debris, and light were sucked toward the rift, creating a massive gravitational pull that threw the Knights off balance. The stabilization systems in their armor malfunctioned, and their spears flickered out as the local energy field destabilized.
Rain seized this second of stunned silence. He moved like a ghost, his blade flickering out to harvest what remained. He didn't fight like a soldier; he moved with the "Fluidity of the Fog." Within moments, the three Knights fell, leaving the leader alone, kneeling as he struggled to reboot his disabled armor.
Rain placed the tip of his broken blade against the leader's helmet. He was panting, gray blood trickling from his nose, but his eyes shone with a decisive resolve.
"Why are you hunting me?" Rain asked in a low, exhausted voice. "I am just a maintenance technician you cast out to die."
The leader coughed a muffled, blood-stained laugh. "You don't understand... you don't possess the weapon... the weapon possesses you. The Council will not stop... You are now the 'Sin' that must be erased..."
Rain pressed down on the blade, and the leader vanished into a cloud of gray dust. Rain collapsed to the ground, the sword fading back into his skin. He felt as if his body had been struck by a giant hammer.
"You have passed your first test," Elina's specter appeared beside him, her gaze full of mystery. "But those were mere soldiers. Next time, they will send those who are 'Icons of Slaughter.' You must find the second fragment before they find you."
Rain looked at his trembling hands. He had killed humans for the first time, but strangely, he felt no regret. Instead, he felt a strange coldness creeping toward his heart. The era of "Rain the Technician" was over; the era of "Rain, the Echo of the Throne" had begun.