Flags and Warnings

A silence hung between them.

Lyra's eyes didn't waver. Her tone was that same annoying calm. Kanji could still feel the demon's blood cooling on his skin, and tightened his grip around the broken sword he still gripped.

He should've walked away.

Instead, he stood there, locked in a staring match with a woman who had not flinched when monsters charged, who spoke of death as if she were a scholar reciting facts, who had summoned him from another world like it was her birthright.

And then—

[WARNING: EMOTIONAL THRESHOLD EXCEEDED — AGGRESSION SPIKE DETECTED]

[Auto-Suppress: ENABLED]

[Processing… ERROR. Suppression Failed.]

Kanji's peripheral vision blurred.

A pulse. A tremor in his bones.

[Entity Lyra Veyne: Threat Level Indeterminate.]

Outside System Parameters [Classification]

[Subroutine "Instinct Lock" Disabled Temporarily.]]

"…What the hell are you?" he snarled, more to himself than to her.

Lyra smiled faintly. "Feeling something, are we?"

"System just glitched. Because of you."

"I'm flattered." She walked past him casually, as though he weren't humming with contained energy. "But your system is a toy, Kanji. Useful. Predictable. Obedient. I'm not."

He turned slowly; every muscle was tense.

"I don't like to be manipulated."

Lyra halted at the melted bit of platform. Her voice fell, steady and sharp. "Then quit being so easy to manipulate."

Kanji's foot shifted. A flicker of arcane flame kindled up his arm, his fingers twitching toward her back.

[WARNING: The Soul Flare — Critical Threat Detected]

[Sanity Lock Engaged]

[WARNING… SANITY LOCK OVERRIDDEN.]}

His heart thudded like war drums. The strength within him craved a release — a chance to strike, to shut her up, this woman who derided him, scrutinized him, had the gall to loom over him like a puppet master looming over her newest marionette.

But she turned back, slowly, calmly.

"I brought you here to break things, Kanji. Not to be undone by your own rage."

The flames along his fist sputtered—and went out.

He exhaled slowly, as if he'd just stepped away from a cliff's edge.

"What the hell are you really?

Lyra stared at him without blinking. "A believer. A traitor. A scholar. A liar. And your only ally, for now."

NEW PASSIVE DETECTED: INSTINCT DUEL

— Some people won't sign up the normal way in your system. Caution is advised.

— Floods of emotion might take over.

— Danger: Soul Corruption imminent.

Kanji licked the blood off his lip and smirked.

"I want to clarify one thing," he said. "I don't trust you. I don't trust your Church. And if this goddess of yours tries to chain me, I'll kill her."

Lyra didn't look surprised. "Good. You will need that attitude going forward."

She faced the steps of the cathedral. The ruins surrounding them were still smoking, but soldiers had begun to regroup, whispering back and forth about the warrior from the sky.

"Let's go," she said over her shoulder. "The Goddess wishes to see you."

Kanji hesitated.

[Quest Mk 2: Check Center heating grid, Go flame sanctum Update // Reward: Another System Upgrade / Lore Fragment / Entry into Class Forge]

[Side Note: You are watched.]

He scowled at the last line. "Yeah," he mumbled, "I noticed."

….

The ride was silent.

Kanji traveled in a black carriage with silver trim, drawn by four beasts that were part lion, part elk. Their antlers glowed with embers, and their hooves cracked the earth like hammer blows. Lyra sat there facing him, legs crossed, arms folded, detached.

Outside, the city of Orivale spread below — great spires glinting with gold, hanging bridges, floating runes drifting between towers like fat fish in a magical stream. Beautiful. Dying.

A whiff of smoke wafted from distant rooftops. There was also an eerie reddish glow in the cracks of the streets. And everywhere, eyes gazed on the carriage in reverence and fear.

Kanji leaned in, elbows on knees. "Start talking."

Lyra raised a brow. "About?"

"This world. Why it's broken? Why I'm here. And why everything smells like a funeral pyre."

She smiled like a teacher who'd just entertained a brat. "You want the short version?"

"I want the real one."

A beat. She fished a thin black crystal from a scroll compartment on the side wall. She touched it, and a map blossomed in the air, shimmering.

"This is Aetherion," she said, "A broken land fashioned from the corpse of a greater one. Imagine a broken mirror that still reflects the divine — but only in portions."

The map rotated. Seven radiant zones glimmered with low energy.

• The Prime Lands, where mortals dwell beneath the waning light of the gods.

• The Dark Below, the underworld of the soul-leeches and voidspawn.

• The Celestial Shard, where angels dwell—defunct now for a millennium.

• The Dreadreach, home of exiled demons.

• The Deep Realms, unknown, uncharted — where even gods go mad.

• Sancta Ignis, where Aurelia himself rests.

• And something at the center — The Null. Unnamed. Hidden. Locked.

Kanji's eyes narrowed. "And what am I going to do with all this?"

"Why are you here?" Lyra asked simply. "Or destroy it completely. That's up to you."

He stared at the map. "Why's the sky cracked? Why's everything dying?"

Lyra knocked again on the crystal. The image became larger than life. "Because the gods are dying. Their wars ripped the kingdom to shreds. One by one, they fell. "Aurelia's the last one standing — and barely."

"And the people?"

"Cling to what's left. Pray. Serve the Church. Or go feral in the outer zones." She glanced out the window. "They believe in salvation. You're their salvation."

He snorted. "Lucky them."

A pause. Kanji sat, mind whirring. "What about the system? The Soul Nexus. You pretend like it is beneath you."

She glanced at him with sudden intensity.

"Because it is."

System Notice (You are now channeling classified knowledge.)

[Warning: Do not access Origin Protocols.]

[Lyra Veyne — UNKNOWN Clearance.]

[Override Detected.]

[…]

She leaned in, inches from his face. "You think gods built this world? Something worse built it. Something older. And the System is a leash they've left us."

Kanji blinked.

"What—"

Lyra held a finger up to his chest. "You're not just strong because you've leveled up. You were selected. Not chosen by the goddess — but by the system itself. And it's scared of you."

[ERROR: Exceeds predictive model on Subject Kanji.]]

[Error logged.]

[Alternative narrative path engaged.]

Kanji's heart thudded. Suddenly, the air in the carriage felt heavy.

Lyra just leaned back as if nothing had happened. "The Flame Sanctum is close. Do play nice when you meet Aurelia. ("She's the last divine firewall between this world and absolute entropy.")

Kanji didn't answer. He was still processing.

World made of a god's corpse. A system was afraid of him. A summoner who could be more powerful than any entity he'd encountered in two lifetimes.

Yeah. It was about to get interesting.

[New Goal: "Flame Sanctum — An Audience with Aurelia."]

[XP: 250 | World Fragment Gained]

[Warning: Summoner-Contractor Bond Shows Signs of Instability.]

Kanji tilted his head back, half-lidded eyes.

"This world," he muttered, "is crazy."

Lyra smiled faintly. "Welcome to Aetherion."