The air was thick with tension as Zephyr stepped into the fractured realm, a boundary space connecting universes that shimmered like broken mirrors. With each step forward, reflections of a thousand alternate realities blinked and bent around him. In some, he was a tyrant; in others, a savior. But all of them led to one truth—he was the constant.
His Smart Core System buzzed.
[Smart Core: You are now within the Multiversal Nexus. Synchronization with external realms: 7%. Initiating system-wide recalibration. Threat Level: High.]
Zephyr's expression didn't change. With the obsidian mask hiding his true face as the infamous "Zero Specter," and his charming, boy-next-door identity known as "Zephyr Lin" still unknown to most, he was playing a delicate double game.
Behind him, invisible, floated a virtual status window, its azure light showing:
Name: Zephyr Lin
Alias: Zero Specter
Realm: Nexus Linker
Soul Capacity: 14500 SP (Soul Points)
Unique Trait: Mirror Breaker
Core Ability: Echo Genesis (Clone and fuse alternate versions of self)
Zephyr narrowed his eyes. A portal pulsed to his right, echoing a heartbeat that wasn't his own. His instincts screamed that something was wrong.
He clenched his fists and let his gene-like enhancement—called Chrono Veins—unfurl through his body. They shimmered along his arms like neon tattoos, glowing softly.
Suddenly, something broke through the veil.
It was a version of him. But twisted.
Eyes glowing crimson, armor charred black, this alternate Zephyr snarled with rage. "You should not exist!"
They clashed in a storm of blades and shifting realities. Each strike tore a hole in the multiverse. Time looped. Gravity inverted. Emotions bled into reality.
Zephyr gritted his teeth. "I won't be erased."
[Smart Core: Initiate Override—Skill Mirrorfold Activated.]
Like light folding into itself, Zephyr split into four projections, each representing a path not chosen—one kind, one ruthless, one uncertain, one divine. They surrounded the enemy.
"You are strong," Zephyr said, raising his hand. "But you're just a shadow. I am the constant."
A burst of spectral energy collapsed the enemy into a swirl of light, drawn into Zephyr's Chrono Veins.
[Smart Core: Fragment absorbed. Trait "Parallel Dominance" unlocked.]
He fell to one knee, panting. But the portal stabilized. Behind it, an unknown world blinked to life—one filled with endless towers and flying cities, screaming of a futuristic reality waiting to be conquered.
Then the Smart Core spoke again:
[Mission Update: Rescue the one who remembers all versions of you. Codename: Umbra Oracle. Countdown Initiated: 72 Hours.]
Zephyr stood, wiping the blood from his lip.
He looked at the portal and whispered, "Next world. Next war. Let's begin."
The battle-cracked skies above Neo-Terraris boiled with streaks of gold and obsidian lightning. Aether's body, battered yet unbending, hovered mid-air as the final remnants of the enemy fleet circled like vultures. His cloak, torn and scorched, whipped in the multidimensional winds.
"Initiating Bloodline Protocol: Chaos Rebirth—Authorization Code: Sovereign Sigma-Null."
The system's voice echoed in his mind like thunder across the void. The Smart Window materialized, displaying new icons. His vision split into multi-layers. Enemies. Stats. Dimensional rifts. Allies' vitals. Past. Future. Now.
[CHAOS REBIRTH STATUS: 67%... 72%... 90%...]
Down below, the Resistance forces watched in stunned awe as Aether's entire being seemed to split into quantum threads. Every thread held a memory, a loss, a triumph—woven into the very DNA of multiverse chaos. Energy flared out from him, shredding nearby invaders into atomic dust. The sky wept embers.
"Aether... what are you doing?" whispered Lira, watching from the fractured command tower.
He didn't respond. Couldn't. Aether was no longer just a person; he was a living node in the multiversal lattice, rewriting fate on the fly.
The Smart Window's new interface blinked:
[Identity Mask: ACTIVE | DOLLAR MODE: In Shadow | MAIN IDENTITY: TRACED BY 3 WATCHERS]
[DANGER LEVEL: APOCALYPTIC | STAMINA POINTS (SP): -12% per sec]
Aether knew he had mere seconds. He flared his Chaos Gene Equivalent—now dubbed Genesis Strain—and launched forward.
His fists weren't just fists. They were reality-breaking punches—swinging not at enemies but the laws that governed their protection. Shields shattered before impact. Time slowed, then fast-forwarded. His enemies dissolved as if their existence was revoked.
And then—
A sharp pulse through his neural core.
[ENTITY LOCKED: CORE REAVER - LEVEL UNKNOWN]
Above him descended something ancient. Not made of tech or gene power. It was made of... forgetting. Of void.
Aether landed heavily, blood trailing from his lips. His clone-phantoms vanished. For the first time, in eons it seemed, he felt his knees buckle.
"You are not ready," the Core Reaver's voice echoed, not in sound but across the strands of identity.
"No," Aether replied. "But I never wait for readiness."
He threw a punch powered not by strength but defiance. The Reaver reeled back, momentarily destabilized.
[GENESIS STRAIN: OVERCLOCK MODE - ACTIVATED]
Aether's system flared one final message:
[DOLLAR MODE: SHADOW SURGE — LEVEL REVEALED TO FACTION: THE ORDER OF BLACK TIDE]
The moment his two identities brushed close in the interface, a secret protocol triggered—a memory, buried deep.
A tiny, flickering image. A woman. Familiar. Laughing.
"Mother..." Aether whispered. The memory surge hit him like a solar wave.
Then, the Core Reaver struck.
Aether was sent hurtling through dimensions—literally. Planets flickered past him. Time distorted. Space knotted.
He landed—not hard, but softly, into the sands of a strange planet. The stars overhead were wrong.
The Smart Window pulsed red:
[NEW QUEST TRIGGERED: LOCATE THE TIMELESS TOMB]
[GENESIS STRAIN: LOCKED UNTIL SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETES (ETA: UNKNOWN)]
[WARNING: THIS DIMENSION IS OUTSIDE STANDARD MAP. SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY LIMITED]
Aether stood slowly, eyes scanning the twin suns. He wasn't dead.
He was being tested.
And he would rise again.
To Be Continued...