The sky was a cracked mirror.
Kairo stood beneath it, barefoot on ash, gripping the sword that had once bound him. His heartbeat wasn't his own—it pulsed to the rhythm of Echoes. Distant, foreign memories tugging at his soul like ghosts in a storm.
He could feel them whispering:
"You should've saved her.""You let us die.""You are the reason this world bleeds."
His jaw clenched.
"Shut. Up."
Ahead of him, the monsters moved like ink in water.
The first was a Seraph-Maw—a floating creature made of twisted halos and screaming mouths. It wept as it descended, its tears sizzling in the air like acid.
Behind it, three more:
A Hymnbeast, with ribs like organ pipes and lungs that sang death.
A Shatterwing, whose broken feathers were blades that carved the air.
And the last… a girl with no mouth, dragging a violin made of bone. Her eyes were stitched shut. Her name echoed in Kairo's head:
"Velvara."
He didn't know her. But his soul did.
Gix floated beside him, munching on popcorn made of light. "Alright, genius. You've got maybe four minutes before they gut you like an underleveled tutorial boss."
"Suggestions?"
"Yeah—try not to die. Again."
She snapped her fingers.
"Sin Unlocked: Mirror of Regret.""You may now summon ONE alternate version of yourself."
"What does that even—"
FLASH.
A tear ripped open in the world beside him.
A man stepped out. Same face. Same eyes. But colder. Leaner. Scarred.
"You really f*cked it up, didn't you?"—Kairo Veltz: Timeline #7 — The Tyrant of Cinders
"You're me?"
"I'm the version of you that burned down the Sky Capital to save one girl. You let her die. I didn't. But I lost everything else."
The Tyrant looked at him. Judged him.
"Let me show you how to survive."
Together, they moved.
The Tyrant dashed forward, sword wreathed in flame. Kairo followed—clumsier, but fueled by rage. The Seraph-Maw shrieked as its mouths unhinged—releasing a wave of psalmic screams that cracked bone.
The Tyrant cut through sound itself.
Kairo's own blade trembled. He swung—
Clang.
Blocked by the violin.
Velvara stood before him, shaking, even blind.
But her voice sang inside his head:
"You let me die…"
Kairo's hands froze.
THWACK!
The Tyrant punched him in the jaw.
"Don't hesitate. They're not real. They're fragments—echoes—fakes built from your guilt."
"But I remember—"
"You remember dying. That's not the same as living."
Kairo roared.
He swung. This time with purpose.
His blade screamed as it sliced through the false girl's violin. She dissolved into notes of sorrow and dust.
The sky cracked again.
The other monsters shuddered. And fled.
Gix whistled.
"Hot damn. First kill, huh?"
Kairo collapsed to his knees. Breathing hard.
"I… knew her. Didn't I?"
"No. But she knew you. That's worse."
"Achievement Unlocked: First Sin – Mercy Denied.""Your Echo Count: 1""You may now choose your first Name."
A scroll unfolded in the air.
🩸 Choose Your Name:
Ashwaker – Survivors follow you even through fire.
The Mirrorblade – Every enemy you kill teaches you something.
Wretch of Truth – You cannot be deceived, even by yourself.
The Crimson Groom – She will find you again.
Crownless Prince – You have no throne, but every kingdom fears you.
Kairo's hand hovered.
And then—he smirked.
"I'll take the one they'll regret giving me."
He touched "The Mirrorblade."