The door slid open with a whisper of old stone and steam.
Kaiser stepped through first, blade drawn, nerves coiled. The man who claimed to be the last of the Circle followed in silence. They emerged into a narrow stairwell, spiraling upward into darkness, lit only by strips of flickering light embedded in the wall.
Lira was gone. The Anchor and Executioner were behind them for now.
But the System wasn't.
[SYSTEM ADAPTIVE MODE: ENGAGED]
New Objective: Force Reintegration of Unbound Thread
Assigned Units: 3
Kaiser exhaled slowly. "They're escalating."
The man nodded. "Because you're escalating."
The stairwell ended in an opening, one that led directly into the open sky.
Kaiser squinted as light washed over him. Not sunlight. This was Kaelthorn's underlight: pale, artificial, cast by the massive rotating spires that circled the central city.
They were standing on a thin bridge that connected to one of them: the Spire of Knives.
A forbidden place. Rumored to be haunted. In reality, it was worse.
Built by the first System Architects.
"I've only seen it from the surface," Kaiser said quietly.
"You're not meant to see the inside," the man replied. "That's why they call it exile steel."
They entered the spire.
Blades covered everything. Thin metallic shards embedded in the walls, floor, ceiling. Some hovered, suspended by gravity fields. All of them whispered.
Not words.
Just memories.
The man pressed a hand to a panel near the entryway. It hissed and slid aside, revealing a lift, a platform surrounded by anti-temporal shielding.
As they descended, Kaiser felt pressure mount in his head. Not pain. Not yet. But weight.
"You feel that?" the man asked.
"Yes."
"That's time folding in on itself. This place cuts more than flesh."
When the lift stopped, they found themselves in a mirrored chamber. Polished steel from wall to wall. Their reflections stared back at them, only… not quite.
Kaiser noticed his reflection blink out of sync.
Then it stepped forward through the mirror.
Another him. Dressed in the old assassin garb of Kaelthorn, but with burning red eyes and a grin full of malice.
The reflection drew a blade that looked like a corrupted version of Vow breaker.
"System sends enforcers," Kaiser muttered. "But this?"
"This," said the man beside him, "is the spire's test. It makes you fight the version of yourself that would've submitted."
Steel clashed in silence.
Kaiser fought his mirrored self, blow for blow. This version was faster, more savage. It didn't hesitate. It wanted to kill.
But it didn't fight for meaning. It fought for control.
That's what gave Kaiser the edge.
Mid-spin, he ducked low and slashed through the phantom's knee. It crumbled but didn't fall. It lunged again.
Until Vow breaker pierced its chest.
The mirror cracked.
Kaiser stood over the twitching body of his reflection.
The man said nothing. He simply pressed another panel.
A second door opened.
Inside was a map. Etched into the floor. A map of Kaelthorn but older. Beneath the modern lines were roots. Underground chambers, veins of steel, vaults and pathways forgotten by even the System.
And in the heart of it, pulsing like a heartbeat Vault Three.
But it wasn't unguarded.
In the center of the map stood something massive. Crouched. Breathing.
It turned its head toward them.
It had no eyes.
But it saw.
[SYSTEM WARNING:]
Forbidden Memory Node Awakened
Classification: "The Thing That Remembers"
Status: Watching
Kaiser gritted his teeth.
"It was waiting."