The world fell silent after the fight.
The battlefield, once filled with screeching monsters and ancient echoes, now rested beneath a bleeding sky and the smell of scorched memory.
Kairo Veltz stood alone.
Except, of course, for the little gremlin currently breakdancing on a shattered skull.
"Yo! Mirrorblade? That name's kinda metal. Good choice,"Gix smirked, flipping upside down mid-air. "Makes you sound like a protagonist with trauma and drip."
Kairo didn't respond.
He was still staring at his hands—shaking, stained red.Not from the monsters. From her.
Velvara.
She wasn't real. Just an Echo. But her scream still echoed in his chest.
"Achievement registered: First Sin unlocked across Faction Terminals.""Player: Kairo Veltz — status: Identified.""All observing Factions may now initiate retrieval protocols."
Elsewhere…
Deep beneath a cathedral made of bones, a girl opened her stitched eyes.
She smiled.
"He chose Mirrorblade… how fitting."
A bell rang.
And the Hollow Choir began to sing.
Elsewhere…
In a black desert of ash and fire, a knight clad in rusted armor slammed a war-axe into the ground.
"The Crownless have returned," he whispered.
His second-in-command, a woman with half a face, grinned.
"Shall we hunt him, Commander?"
"No… We'll test him first."
And elsewhere still…
A girl stared into a mirror that reflected other timelines.
Thousands.
Millions.
All of them ended the same way: with Kairo's body lying at the base of a throne.
She touched the glass.
"This time… I'll save you."
Back with Kairo—
He looked at Gix.
"I need answers."
Gix nodded, unusually serious. "Yeah, guess it's time for the lore dump."
She floated beside him, conjuring a map of Lucentia out of ash and light.
"So here's the deal, Meatblade.""This world runs on Brands. Factions run on blood. And you? You just got ID'd as a World-Level Variable.""Congrats. Everyone either wants to recruit you… or erase you before you break the game again."
"Again?"
Gix didn't respond.
Suddenly—
THOOM.
A blast echoed in the distance.
Smoke rose from the east. Dark red. Like a flare laced with blood.
Gix squinted. "Uh oh. That's a Crownless signal."
"What does that mean?"
"It means your dead fanclub just invited you to your own funeral."
⚔️ SCENE SHIFT: FIRST ENCOUNTER – THE CROWNLESS ⚔️
Kairo reached the signal in hours.
The path there was littered with spears that grew from the ground like weeds. Bloodstained. Ancient. Whispering.
And standing between them was a woman.
She wore cracked, royal armor—no symbol, no kingdom. Her eyes were silver. Like his.
She held a blade in one hand, and a mask in the other.
"Name?" she asked, voice sharp.
"Kairo."
"Name you earned?"
"Mirrorblade."
The woman paused. Then she threw the mask at his feet.
"Then prove it."
She lunged.
No warning. No speech. Just motion.
Kairo blocked. Barely.
But the woman fought like a memory—familiar and painful. Her style was a twisted reflection of his own.
She's an Echo... no—she's something else.
He parried, ducked, and lunged. Sloppy. Raw. But instinct drove him.
Steel met steel. Sparks danced.
Until—
She stopped.
Blade at his throat.
"You're not him yet. But you're better than the last."
She stepped back and knelt.
"I am Ayleth Wren. First Blade of the Crownless.Swear your curse, Mirrorblade—Or walk back into the ash and be forgotten."
Kairo looked down at the mask.
He didn't know the Crownless. Didn't even know himself.
But he knew this: he wasn't going to let another version of himself write his story.
He picked up the mask.
And put it on.
"New allegiance: The Crownless""Mission Activated: Discover the Fate of the First Crown""Waifu Acquired: Ayleth Wren (??? Affection)""Faction Relationship Updated: Hollow Choir – HUNTING"