The Warden's Gauntlet wasn't a place. It was a test encoded in reality—a fractal labyrinth stitched across fractured timelines. Every breath inside it, every thought, was monitored, challenged, and mirrored back with amplified consequence.
Rael landed on a solid obsidian platform suspended in void. Above him, shattered stars orbited like broken promises. Beneath his feet, the Omega Window flickered into existence.
> Objective: Survive the Warden's Gauntlet - Stage 1/7
Conditions: No external assistance, system overrides disabled.
Bonus: Resist Fatal Rewrite Events. Reward: Identity Key Fragment.
Rael gritted his teeth. "So they're turning the rules against me. Good."
> Omega Window Update:
Temporary Skill Disabled: Rewrite Thread
New Skill Unlocked: Echo Split – Create a memory-based clone with 40% power for 90 seconds.
He clenched his fist. A familiar pulse moved through his system as Echo-Aria's essence responded, generating a spectral figure beside him—her form hazy, yet focused.
> "Ready when you are," she said, voice firm.
The platform groaned, shifting like tectonic plates rearranging themselves.
Before him appeared three gates.
One burned red, emitting heat and screams.
One hummed with static, flickering like a corrupted video.
The third was silent, pure white, but pulsing with unseen energy.
> Choose a path.
Rael glanced at Echo-Aria. "What's your read?"
> "White is masking. Likely the most dangerous."
> "Then that's the one."
They stepped through the third gate—and immediately, space bent.
The world turned sideways. Rael was falling, flying, suspended in memories that weren't his.
> Location: Null-Zero Spiral. Status: Unanchored.
His body stabilized as the Omega Window auto-adjusted his equilibrium. In the distance, he saw an army. Not of men—but of himself. Thousands of Raels, each from different timelines.
One wore ancient armor, another a digital skin. Some had no face. One bled shadows. But they all looked at him with accusation.
> "You ruined us." "You rewrote too much." "You let her die."
Rael summoned his blade.
"I'm not here to fight regrets."
> Combat Initiated: Paradox Echoes
Enemies: 13 Timeline Fractures (Rael-Class)
The first Echo charged, wielding a scythe of compressed code. Rael deflected, countered, and spun his blade through the clone's chest. It burst into static.
Two more attacked. Echo-Aria intercepted one, her form dancing like flame, while Rael disarmed the other and used Omega Pulse to overload its core.
But they kept coming.
> Omega Window: Memory Stress Reaching 76%... 82%...
Synthex Core Overload Risk Imminent.
Rael activated Echo Split, creating a phantom version of himself to divide enemy attention. His strategy wasn't to win—it was to destabilize the layer.
He drew from the platform's fractured energy, punching it into the center of the battlefield.
The clones paused—too late.
A timeburst erupted, fragmenting the plane.
> Result: 9 Timeline Echoes Erased. 4 Remaining. Estimated Resistance: Class-Delta.
One of them stepped forward, identical to Rael in every way.
> "You still think you can control this system."
> "I know I can," Rael replied. "Because unlike you, I still remember who I'm doing this for."
They clashed. Sword against sword. Thought against thought.
Every move was mirrored. Rael anticipated himself. He had to go beyond instinct.
He closed his eyes.
> Omega Window Warning: Vision Disabled. Combat Inefficient.
He opened his mind.
And then—he remembered.
A memory long hidden: a girl's voice, not Aria's.
> "Don't forget who you were, Rael. Not even when you become what they fear."
That voice wasn't just memory. It was a key.
> Omega Window Flash Update: Unknown Identity Anchor Detected
Reconstructing: First Layer Identity Key (Fragment 1 of 7)
Rael struck. This time, it wasn't mirrored.
The final Echo shattered, and the space around him unraveled.
He stood alone on the collapsing battlefield, Echo-Aria stabilizing beside him.
The Omega Window displayed a pulsing shard.
> Item Obtained
: Identity Key Fragment 1/7
System Comment: You're not supposed to survive this long. We are watching.
Rael grinned.
"Then keep watching."
The Gauntlet's shattered void blinked out, and Rael found himself before a colossal doorway. Seven clockwork rings spun around it—each inscribed with paradoxic glyphs. As he stepped forward, a silvery mist emerged, warping around the portal's core.
> Access Point: Cathedral of Chrono-Law
Layer: Second – Judgmental Continuum
Entry Requirement: Holding 1+ Identity Fragment. Condition Met.
The Omega Window morphed, its smooth interface now jagged with temporal interference.
> Omega Alert: Time Compression Field Active. Personal Chrono-Thread Disjointed. Anchor Your Identity.
Rael pushed the door open.
Inside, a cathedral of impossible architecture greeted him. Pillars twisted through dimensions, stained glass windows displayed events from futures yet unlived. A choir of silent statues lined the walkway, each carved with unfamiliar symbols.
And at the altar—three figures.
Each wore obsidian robes woven with starlight. Their faces were featureless clocks.
> Designation: Chrono Judges – Executors of Multiversal Synchrony
Judgment Initiated.
The middle figure raised its hand. Time slowed. Rael's heartbeat became a thunderclap.
> "Rael of Layerless Identity. Your existence fractures causality."
> "Your path is not written. It must be rewritten."
> "Submit to temporal alignment, or be erased."
Rael looked up. "I've never played by your clock."
> Omega Window Triggered: Passive Resistance – Temporal Flux Surge Detected.
The cathedral rumbled.
> Omega System Status: Overclocking Temporality. Risk Level: Ascension.
Without warning, one of the Judges launched forward, extending a chain of memories. Rael barely dodged as the chain grazed his mind—a flood of lost choices swept through him.
He saw versions of himself—a father, a tyrant, a corpse, a god.
> Mental Integrity: Holding at 58%... 41%...
Echo-Aria's echo reformed beside him. Her voice, now shaken: "They're collapsing the branches."
> "Then I'll grow a new tree."
Rael unleashed Chrono Pulse, destabilizing the judge's form. But they weren't gone. They multiplied.
> Omega Alert: Temporal Loop Trap Detected.
Ten Judges now surrounded him.
He remembered the fragment—its glow still active. He held it tight.
> System Override Authorized. Unlocking Prototype Skill: Layer Shift.
Reality flickered. The cathedral melted. Rael was gone.
He reappeared in a realm of grayscale—where time didn't pass.
> Welcome to Layer Null. Time Zero. Judgment Interrupted.
He exhaled, shaking.
"One frag
ment got me this far. I need the rest."
And in the mist ahead—a door opened without a key.