Chapter 26 – Core Collapse and Resonant Shadows
[System Alert: Node Core #Aurelia-09 Detected – Status: CRITICAL]
[Mission Assignment: Immediate Restoration Required]
[Warning: Hollowed Presence Confirmed – Infiltration Level: 47%]
The moment Shen Liang and his companions stepped through the breach, they knew something was wrong.
The Echo world of Aurelia-09—once a gleaming tribute to the Celestial Architects—was falling into ruin. Towers of living crystal had cracked, bleeding rivers of raw data-light. The skies, once silver, rippled with patches of nullspace like bruises on flesh.
"It's already halfway lost," Qilin said, her voice barely audible. "This place… I knew it when it thrived."
Shen Liang glanced at her. "You've been here before?"
"I was born here," she said, her eyes reflecting the corrupted sky. "Not as Qilin. As Unit IX-Sequence-Sheath, guardian protocol of the Ninth Core."
Yue tensed. "You were part of the original system."
Qilin nodded. "Before the Fracture. Before the Architects fell."
They moved quickly through the ruined data-city.
Each step forward revealed more signs of Hollowed corruption—glitching buildings, echo-specters trapped in loops of pain, data-constructs fused into screaming walls.
[System Update: Hollowed Infection Level – 52%]
Then they reached it: the heart of the node.
A massive, suspended sphere of gold and blue fractals, the System Core, pulsed like a dying heart. Dozens of Hollowed tendrils burrowed into its surface—feeding, rewriting, overwriting.
In front of it stood an old man in robes of ink and ash.
His presence radiated authority—like a forgotten god.
"I am Archivist Vey," he said. "Steward of this broken sphere. And you—" his eyes narrowed—"bring with you the seed of our return."
His gaze fell on Yue.
She stepped back involuntarily.
"The Unbound Flame has chosen you," Vey said. "The first of many to be reintegrated."
Shen Liang stepped forward, flaring his system resonance. "She's not yours."
Vey raised a hand.
A wave of Hollowed Echoes surged from the buildings—former system users, corrupted and bound
.
[Emotion Tree Resonance: Initiate Multi-Tether Sync]
[Participants: Shen Liang, Yue, Qilin, Lin Zhi]
[Unlocking: Fourfold Bond Technique – Name: Heart-Sync Array]
[Effect: Distributed resonance — shared pain, shared memory, exponential amplification
]
Each of them flared with emotion-light, and for the first time, the four of them linked in perfect harmony.
Shen Liang: Determination
Yue: Hope twisted by fear
Qilin: Clarity through grief
Lin Zhi: Loyalty wrapped in restraint
Their combined flame shattered the first wave of Hollowed attackers.
But Vey laughed.
"You wield emotion as power—but what happens when your own emotions betray you?"
Suddenly, the tether inside Yue surged.
Her vision blanked. Her system screamed.
She stood again in the dreamscape—the twisted Celestial Realm she'd seen before. But this time, she remember
ed.
She was not always
Y
ue.
Once, she had been the daughter of the Flame Regent—one of the last Architects who fell in the final battle. She had been preserved, her essence hidden in human reincarna
tion.
And the tether that awakened now? It wasn't just corrupted—
It was her father's dying will. Twisted by time. Transformed into a Hollowed seed.
"I remember," she whispered. "He tried to protect me… and became the very thing he fought."
In the real world, her tether began to pulse with volatile energy—sparking flames of gold and black.
Lin Zhi moved to stabilize her.
Qilin flared her own system to full—drawing a containment sigil around Yue. "If we don't seal it, the tether will overtak
e her!"
[New Fusion Technique Unlocked: Memory Banish]
[Effect: Removes corrupted emotional overlays. Risk: Target may lose critical mem
ories.]
"I won't let her forget who she is," Shen Liang said.
He stepped into the circle—linking with Yue
directly.
[Initiating Anchor Override: Soul Bond Pathway
Detected]
He felt her pain, her memories, her loss.
But also… her choice.
"I don't want to forget," Yue said. "But I don't want to carry his shadow."
Shen Liang smiled faintly. "Then carry ours instead."
Together, they cast the Memory Banish—modified with shared tether stability.
The corrupted flames flared—then bu
rned clean.
[Corruption Level: 11% -> 2%]
[Tether Stabilized: Emotion — Devotion Reclaimed]
[New Technique Gained: Flame of Rememb
ered Light]
Vey snarled.
"You defy inheritance. You spit on legacy."
"We choose our own," Qilin replied.
She stepped forward, placing her hand on the Core. It pulsed—rec
ognizing her.
[Core Access Granted: Unit I
X Authorized]
A surge of light burst outward—banishing the Hollowed tendrils.
Vey screamed—his form unraveling into shards of data, fleeing
into the void.
[Node Aurelia-09 Stabilized — Integrity: 74% and rising]
[Mi
ssion Complete]
Later – Back in the Nexus Realm
Yue stood on the balcony of the sky-suspended temple, watching the stars.
Shen Liang joined her. "How much do you remember?"
She hesitated. "Enough. But it doesn't define me. Not anymore."
He nodded. "That tether… will you keep it?"
"Yes. It's mine now. Reclaimed. And refined."
She smiled, faint but real.
Behind them, Qilin and Lin Zhi debated training structures for future syncs. There was tension still—too many tangled threads.
But the four of them had shared a bond no system could erase.
And far beyond, in a Hollowed chamber hidden between shattered worlds, the figure who had seeded Yue's tether turned to another cloaked silhouette.
"It failed," he said. "But now we know what it takes to corrupt a Core Tether."
"And the next one?" the second figure asked.
The first one smiled darkly. "We won't corrupt it."
"We'll make it willing."