Chains of the Unknown and the Shattered Veil
The shattered chains lay in pieces at Ezekiel's feet, dust swirling in the stagnant air. The massive stone doors, once sealed by ancient bindings, now stood ajar, revealing a darkness so deep it felt alive.
A low, guttural growl echoed from the depths beyond.
Ezekiel's body was stiff, every nerve screaming at him to run. His muscles burned from exhaustion, his wounds still raw from the battle before. He wasn't ready for another fight.
But something held him in place.
Not fear.
Not curiosity.
Recognition.
Somewhere deep within, a part of him knew that whatever lay beyond those doors was connected to him—to his Sovereign's Paradox.
The air itself seemed to hum, an eerie resonance vibrating through the chamber. The shattered chains on the floor twitched, the broken links trembling as if something unseen still gripped them.
Then, a voice—low and distorted, as if spoken from beyond reality itself.
"Another one dares to unchain the past?"
The words weren't loud, yet they slammed into Ezekiel like a tidal wave, his skull throbbing under the weight of the voice.
The darkness beyond the doors twisted, shifting like a living entity, and from it, a figure stepped forward.
Ezekiel tensed.
It wasn't like the masked creature he had fought earlier. No grotesque limbs, no monstrous shape. Instead, it was human-like, but utterly devoid of detail. A silhouette cut from the fabric of existence itself.
Two hollow eyes gazed at him—empty, yet vast.
Ezekiel swallowed hard. This thing… isn't normal.
The presence it radiated was suffocating, far more overwhelming than the masked creature.
"You carry the Sovereign's Paradox." The figure's voice was colder now, sharper. "That is not something a mortal should possess."
Ezekiel's fists clenched. "I didn't choose this power."
The void-figure tilted its head. "That is the nature of Paradoxes. They do not choose. They are chosen."
Before Ezekiel could react, space itself twisted.
A pulse of force erupted from the figure.
Ezekiel barely had time to brace before it slammed into him, hurling him backward. His body hit the wall, stone shattering around him as pain exploded through his chest.
His vision blurred. His breath came in ragged gasps.
It just attacked me without moving.
He forced himself up, ignoring the pain. He had to think—he couldn't win in a direct clash.
Authority Over Position.
He activated it, willing space itself to distort.
For a moment, the figure flickered, its form shifting slightly.
Ezekiel moved, rolling to the side just as another pulse of invisible force crushed the spot where he had been.
It wasn't enough. He was still too slow.
The void-figure stepped forward, its presence suffocating.
"You are incomplete."
Ezekiel's vision flickered. His body refused to move. His system—his Sovereign's Paradox—was still too unstable.
He couldn't win.
Not yet.
Then I have to do the only thing I can.
He activated Forsaken Echo.
The air shifted, and for a brief moment, he felt the lingering remnants of the masked creature's power flow through him. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't even fully compatible.
But it was enough.
A black mist erupted around Ezekiel's body—an unstable mimicry of the creature's ability. He felt his form distort, his body flickering in and out of position.
The void-figure hesitated.
That was his only chance.
Ezekiel ran.
The mist trailed behind him as he bolted toward the exit, his body still unstable, flickering between spaces. The void-figure turned sharply, but it did not pursue.
Instead, it simply watched.
And as Ezekiel escaped into the ruined corridors beyond, a final whisper echoed behind him—
"You will return. It is inevitable."
The doors slammed shut.
Ezekiel collapsed against the cold stone, his entire body shaking. His breath came in short, shallow gasps. His head pounded from the strain of using Forsaken Echo.
But he was alive.
For now.
A new system notification flickered before his eyes.
---
[ Sovereign's Paradox – Entity Encounter Logged ]
Status: Escaped Unidentified System Enforcer
Warning: Interaction has triggered a higher system response. Avoid further detection.
---
Ezekiel's jaw tightened.
System Enforcer.
That meant the figure wasn't just some random entity—it was something tied to the system itself.
And it knew what he was.
He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to stay calm. He had barely survived this encounter. If he had stayed even a second longer, he wouldn't have walked away at all.
He needed to grow stronger. Fast.
And to do that, he had to understand what the Sovereign's Paradox truly was.
No more blindly running.
No more just surviving.
If the system itself wanted him gone…
Then it was time he learned how to fight back.
---
Ezekiel's breath was ragged, his vision blurred at the edges as he leaned against the cold stone wall. His body was still reeling from the System Enforcer's attack, and the remnants of Forsaken Echo flickered around him, unstable.
The warning notification from the system still hung before his eyes.
---
[ Sovereign's Paradox – Entity Encounter Logged ]
Status: Escaped Unidentified System Enforcer
Warning: Interaction has triggered a higher system response. Avoid further detection.
---
His jaw tightened. Avoid further detection?
That was easier said than done.
His fingers trembled as he forced himself to move. Every instinct screamed at him to rest, but he didn't have that luxury. The Enforcer had let him escape this time—but why? If it truly wanted to erase him, it could have.
It hesitated.
And that hesitation meant something.
Was it testing me? Was it bound by certain rules?
Ezekiel didn't know. But he was done running blindly.
He had to understand his power.
A Moment to Breathe
He limped down the corridor, the stone walls cracked and ancient. The deeper he went, the more he felt something was watching him.
His surroundings were different now. Before, the ruins had felt lifeless, abandoned. But now… the air had weight, like the remnants of forgotten wills still lingered.
The system's presence pressed down on him, but it wasn't like before—it felt focused.
Analyzing me? Monitoring my actions?
He had to be careful.
After minutes of walking, he stumbled into what looked like a collapsed chamber.
It was large—massive pillars had fallen, the ceiling partially caved in. At the center stood a broken stone obelisk, cracks running through its surface.
Ezekiel narrowed his eyes. Something about it called to him.
He approached, placing a hesitant hand on the rough surface.
The moment he touched it, his system interface flickered.
---
[ Hidden Data Detected – Initiating Extraction… ]
Processing…
Incomplete Records Unlocked.
---
Ezekiel's eyes widened as fragmented text appeared before him, disjointed and partially erased:
---
[ …First Sovereigns… Forbidden Power… System's Chain… Unstable Fractures… The… must not be allowed to… Rebellion failed… ]
---
The words shattered before he could process them, the system forcefully closing the interface.
A sharp pain exploded in his skull, and he staggered backward, clutching his head.
"Damn it…"
Whatever that was, the system did not want him to see it.
Authority Over Position – Refinement
Ezekiel exhaled, forcing himself to focus. He needed control over his power.
His ability, Authority Over Position, allowed him to manipulate spatial positioning—but it was unstable, unreliable.
The Enforcer had been able to crush space around him with ease. That meant Ezekiel's power wasn't at its full potential yet.
He clenched his fists. I need to test it.
Focusing, he raised his hand toward a broken piece of stone.
He willed it to move—no, to shift positions.
The stone twitched, flickering in place before snapping an inch forward.
Ezekiel's heart pounded. It had worked—but barely.
He pushed harder.
The stone blinked forward a foot, but the second he lost focus, space snapped back, causing the stone to shatter violently.
Unstable.
Unrefined.
But real.
If he could master it, he could do more than just reposition objects—he could manipulate combat itself.
Before, he had used it instinctively, flickering out of danger. But what if he could force enemies to shift positions? What if he could lock them in place?
The potential was limitless.
Ezekiel took a deep breath. One step at a time.
He spent the next two hours experimenting, trying to stabilize his control.
Little by little, he improved.
He learned that small, precise movements worked best—the larger the shift, the more unstable it became.
And then, by accident, he discovered something even more dangerous.
Positional Lock
As he attempted another shift, something went wrong.
The space around the object froze, locking the fragment of stone mid-air.
For a full three seconds, it didn't move.
And then—it shattered.
Ezekiel's breath caught.
That wasn't normal teleportation. That was something else entirely.
A realization struck him.
I locked its position in space… It couldn't move. It couldn't even fall.
That was huge.
If he could apply that to a living enemy…
A New Threat
Before he could test further, a sound shattered the silence.
A low, inhuman growl.
Ezekiel's body tensed as he turned.
From the shadows beyond the chamber, something moved.
It wasn't an Enforcer. It wasn't like the masked creature from before.
It was worse.
A twisted abomination, crawling on all fours, its limbs too long, its body warped as if its existence itself was an error.
But what made Ezekiel's blood run cold—
It had no system notification.
No name.
No level.
Nothing.
A being outside the system.
And it was looking directly at him.
---