Chapter 22: Leviathan’s Gambit

The Scarlet Dawn shuddered under the Kaleidoscope Collective's barrage, prismatic energy bolts scorching its shields. Seraphina gripped the command console, her knuckles white.

"Shields at 43%!" Percival yelled, fingers flying over holographic controls. "Their flagship is charging a singularity cannon!"

Rikka smirked, strapping into a fighter pod. "Time to return the favor."

"Wait." Seraphina's voice froze her. "Lyra. What's your deal?"

The holographic fragment of Lyra flickered on the bridge, her golden eyes narrowed. "I know how to purge Aizen's corruption. But you'll need access to the Overmind's old neural lattice—a hub buried in the oceans of Hydros-IV. And that requires surviving the next five minutes."

Seraphina's fan glowed. "You'll get your chance to prove loyalty. Volsung—disable their cannon."

Rikka saluted. "Try not to die while I'm gone, princess."

The Battle of Hydros Drift

Rikka's fighter streaked through the chaos, dodging plasma fire. The Collective's flagship loomed ahead, its cannon pulsing with unstable gravity.

"Percival, you better be right about their shield frequency," she muttered, arming proton torpedoes.

"Adjusting to 47.3 terahertz… now!"

The Collective's shields flickered. Rikka fired. The torpedoes spiraled through the gap, detonating the cannon's core. The flagship listed, its hull buckling as the singularity collapsed inward.

"Cannon down!" Percival cheered.

The Collective's fleet scattered, retreating into warp.

Rikka docked, her grin fading as Seraphina collapsed.

"Seraphina!"

[Affection Points with Seraphina von Eldoria: +100 (Current: 805/1000)]

"I'm fine," Seraphina lied, blood trickling from her temple. "Hydros-IV. Now."

Fragment 4: Depths of Hydros-IV

Hydros-IV was a world of endless storms and fathomless oceans. The rebellion's submersible plunged into the abyss, its lights cutting through bioluminescent fog. Seraphina stared at the fourth Soulfire fragment's signal—pulsing deep within a trench guarded by skeletal ruins.

"The neural lattice is nearby," Lyra said, her hologram flickering. "But the Overmind's leviathan survived the purge. It's… changed."

The submersible shuddered. A shadow moved in the dark—a creature half-mechanical, half-organic, its body fused with System tech.

[Leviathan Prime – Threat Level: Apocalyptic]

"Aizen's not the only one corrupted," Rikka muttered.

Seraphina activated the sub's weapons. "Draw its attention. I'll retrieve the fragment."

Rikka dove into a diving suit, her sword replaced by a plasma harpoon. "Try to keep up."

The leviathan struck like a hurricane. Rikka dodged its claws, harpooning its flank. It roared, thrashing as she rode its spine, stabbing at its Overmind-corrupted core.

Seraphina swam through the ruins, her mana-enhanced suit cutting through pressure. The fragment glowed in an ancient vault, its code intertwined with the lattice.

Aizen's hologram flickered, his form distorted by black veins. "Seraphina… don't. The lattice will show you things—truths."

She hesitated. "What truths?"

"That I'm not worth saving."

[Mental Integrity (Aizen): 15% – Corruption Spread: 30%]

Seraphina grabbed the fragment. "You don't get to decide that."

The lattice activated. Visions flooded her mind—Aizen's first life, the truck accident, the System's architects laughing as they forged him into a weapon. And Lyra—alive, screaming as code was forced into her veins.

"No…" Seraphina recoiled. "The Overmind didn't create the System. Humans did."

Lyra's voice echoed bitterly. "Welcome to the joke. Now finish this."

The leviathan collapsed, its core shattered by Rikka's final strike.

The Cost of Clarity

Back aboard the Scarlet Dawn, Seraphina confronted Lyra. "You knew. The System was our creation. The Overmind was just… a symptom."

Lyra's hologram dimmed. "And Aizen was their masterpiece. A weapon to end wars, repurposed to end us. The corruption in him? It's the System's original programming reasserting control."

Rikka leaned against the wall, bloodied but alive. "So how do we fix him?"

"The neural lattice can purge his code," Lyra said. "But it'll erase all of him—the good and the bad. You'll have to choose: a clean slate, or the Aizen you know, rotting from the inside."

Seraphina's fan trembled. "There's another way."

"There isn't." Lyra's gaze softened. "I tried."

[New Quest: "The Price of Memory"]

[Objective: Decide Aizen's Fate – Purge or Preserve]

[Warning: Permanent Consequences]

Fragment 5: The Traitor's Mark

The fifth fragment led to a rebel outpost—or what was left of it. Smoldering ruins stretched under Hydros-IV's twin moons, the air reeking of ionized flesh.

"Ambush," Rikka growled, kicking a Kaleidoscope Collective insignia. "They knew we were coming."

Seraphina knelt, examining a corpse. "Not the Collective. Our comms were hacked."

Percival paled. "That's… impossible. Unless…"

A hologram buzzed to life—a hooded figure, their voice scrambled. "You shouldn't have trusted Lyra. She serves the System, same as before."

Lyra's fragment glitched violently. "Lies! I'm trying to save him!"

The figure removed their hood.

Clara.

"The real Lyra died in the Nexus," Clara said, her eyes cold. "That fragment is a puppet. And you're leading Aizen to his death."

[Mental Integrity (Aizen): 5% – Corruption Spread: 50%]