The first strike came without warning.
A ripple tore through the canyon wall behind them, like the air itself had been slashed. Dust exploded outward, and from within the debris stepped a figure cloaked in red static. It shimmered, half-visible, as if only loosely tethered to the real world.
Kade raised his blade. Marei's eyes went wide.
"That's not a Carrier," she whispered. "That's a shard phantom."
The entity didn't speak. It moved like memory—flickering, unstable. Its body flickered between armor and ash, between Kade's own silhouette and something grotesque. As it lunged, the system screamed.
[Entity Classification: UNKNOWN – Catalyst Shard Construct: OMEGA-ECHO]
[Host Memory Echo Detected: Match = 84%]
Kade parried the first blow, but the force sent him skidding backward. Sparks lit the air.
"It's using my memories," he muttered. "It knows how I fight."
Marei launched an interference pulse, stalling the phantom for a heartbeat. "Because it is you. A fragment. A part of you the system lost—and now it's come home."
Kade's hands tightened around his blade. "Then I'll reclaim it."