Awesome—
The entrance to the Scorched Labyrinth wasn't a door.
It was a scar.
A molten rift in the earth, hissing with heat and pulsing with violet energy. Flames crackled along the edges, but they weren't ordinary fire—they shimmered like corrupted code, flickering between real and unreal.
Kael stood beside me, fully geared. His armor was slim, layered with cooling runes and embedded crystal nodes.
"You sure about this?" he asked.
"No," I said honestly. "But when have I ever backed out of a bad idea?"
Lux's voice came through our comm-links, cold and direct.
"The labyrinth reads thoughts, memories, and fears. Stay grounded. And whatever happens—don't trust the walls."
"Don't trust the walls," I repeated. "Got it."
Together, we stepped inside.
The temperature hit me first—like walking into a furnace made of data and ash. My CHAOS Core surged immediately, reacting to the instability.
[Environment Detected: Scorched Domain]
[Reality Layers: Collapsing — Expect anomalies]
[Warning: Mental interference probable]
The halls were ever-shifting. Walls moved like they were breathing. Torches flickered on their own, casting shadows that whispered in languages I didn't know but somehow felt.
Kael activated a scanning orb. It hovered beside us, mapping the layout.
"The first ring is always fire-based traps," he explained. "The inner rings are psychological."
"Of course they are," I muttered.
We crossed the first sector with mild burns and one near-death experience involving a floor that turned into liquid flame—but we managed. Code Break let me override a collapsing bridge for just long enough to run across.
Kael whistled. "You really are broken."
"Compliment accepted."
But the deeper we went, the stranger it got.
Time slowed… and bent.
I blinked—and suddenly, I was alone.
The walls stretched endlessly. The labyrinth was silent. My comm was dead.
"Kael?" I called. "Lux? Anyone?"
Then I heard it—my voice—echoing from ahead.
"You don't belong here."
I turned the corner—and saw me.
A perfect copy. Same clothes. Same bracelet. But his CHAOS Core was glowing red.
"You're a mistake," it said.
"Great," I muttered. "Evil me. That's new."
[Mirror Protocol Initiated]
Opponent: Shadow Alex — CHAOS: Inverted]
Threat Level: Unknown
He attacked.
I barely dodged the first strike. His powers mirrored mine—Ripple Jump, Code Break, but twisted. He altered the environment at will, turning the floor into spikes, the air into poison, the light into smoke.
"System," I gasped, "give me something—anything—he can't mimic."
[Analyzing anomaly… Weakness detected.]
[Initiate Override Sequence?]
"Do it!"
Suddenly, I stopped reacting.
Instead—I let go.
The CHAOS Core inside me surged—not with control, but instinct. Reality pulsed, bent, and tore.
A wave of pure code lashed out of my body and struck the shadow-me full force. He screamed, distorting, glitching.
"You're not me," I said, breathing hard. "You're what I could be if I gave in to the system."
He shattered—like cracked glass dissolving into light.
[Challenge Complete: Mirror Protocol Defeated]
[Core Sync: 34% → 51%]
[Skill Upgrade: Ripple Jump → Phasewalk (Shift through physical barriers briefly)]
Kael reappeared in a blink, looking stunned. "You were gone for hours."
"It felt like minutes," I muttered.
"You look different."
"I feel it."
The labyrinth opened up ahead—one final gate, surrounded by searing flame and towering statues with broken faces.
In the center, a pedestal. And floating above it—
A glowing sigil. A symbol I didn't recognize, yet somehow knew.
The First Rewrite Key.
As I stepped forward, the system flashed:
[WARNING: Guardian Protocol Activating]
[Prepare for Combat: Sentry-Class Echo Titan – Lvl 20]
Stone cracked.
Flames roared.
The floor shook as something massive emerged from the walls—like a golem forged of ash and corrupted time.
I looked at Kael. He raised his staff.
"Think we can take it?"
I smiled.
"I'm CHAOS. Let's break the rules."
The entire chamber trembled.
The Echo Titan emerged slowly—towering, ten meters tall, a behemoth of obsidian armor fused with molten flame and flickering code. Its face was blank stone, cracked in the center, glowing with deep red lines like veins of lava.
It moved with terrifying slowness—like gravity itself bent around it.
[Guardian Protocol Initiated]
Target: Sigil Containment Breach Detected
Status: Hostile. Objective: Annihilate Invaders.]
Kael tightened his grip on his staff. "You distract it. I'll try to disrupt its legs."
"You mean suicide plan A," I muttered, summoning the familiar energy of Ripple Jump—no, wait. Phasewalk.
[Skill: Phasewalk — Ready]
I dove forward and shifted mid-step. My body passed through the Titan's molten hand as it swung, the air sizzling behind me.
"NOW!"
Kael slammed his staff into a glyph at the Titan's feet. A pulse of blue energy cracked the floor and made the Titan falter—just slightly.
It was enough.
I activated Code Break and aimed it at the Titan's right arm.
[Override Engaged: Structural Protocol Disabled]
Its massive blade-arm vanished in a blink—temporarily erased. Kael gasped. "You can just delete things?"
"Only for five seconds," I said. "Make them count!"
The Titan roared, a sound like mountains grinding together. It raised its remaining hand and unleashed a wall of flame. The heat was unbearable.
Kael shielded us with a burst of kinetic force, but it wouldn't hold long.
"I need higher ground!" I shouted, using Phasewalk again to teleport up onto a crumbling platform above the Sigil pedestal. From here, I had a clear view of its weak point—an exposed core pulsing in its chest cavity.
I reached for the CHAOS energy inside me.
It burned—but it also responded.
For a moment, I felt everything slow again. My perception expanded. I saw the code laced through the Titan's body. Threads of logic. Commands. Limitations.
And one vulnerable point.
I jumped.
Air bent around me. Time skipped.
[Code Break+ Activated: Dual Override]
Target 1: Core containment — Breached.
Target 2: Defensive subroutine — Paused.]
I struck the core with all the CHAOS I could channel.
The world exploded in white light.
When the dust cleared, I was on my knees.
The Titan was nothing but a broken husk, already disintegrating into shards of memory and data. The flames dimmed. The labyrinth stopped shifting. The pedestal before us now pulsed gently—calm. Almost welcoming.
Kael helped me up, wide-eyed. "That… was insane."
"Yeah," I said, panting. "But worth it."
Together, we approached the pedestal. The First Sigil hovered above it—an angular symbol that shimmered between states. It wasn't just glowing—it was humming with layered voices, as though an entire history was locked inside.
I reached out.
The moment my fingers brushed the edge—
[First Sigil Acquired: CODEFLAME]
Function: Unlocks hidden system paths related to heat, memory, and psychic resistance.]
System Sync: 51% → 63%]
The Core inside me surged. Not painfully—but with clarity. Like pieces of myself I didn't even know were missing had just snapped into place.
A vision slammed into my mind:
A city of floating spires, burning.
A serpent of light twisting through a black sky.
A sigil-shaped throne, empty. Waiting.
Then it was gone.
We exited the Labyrinth hours later—scarred, dirty, exhausted—but alive.
The guards outside gasped when they saw us. Word spread quickly. The CHAOS heir had claimed the first Sigil. Whispers followed us back through the forest.
By the time we returned to the Rootborn base, the Seer was already waiting.
She didn't speak.
She simply smiled.
And then said, almost too softly to hear:
"One down. Three to go.