Echo of The King

Chapter Thirty-Three: Echo of the King

The light from the reset faded slowly.

Where once stood the smooth, symmetrical pathway of the bridge's end, there now stood a warped coliseum of jagged stone and suspended platforms. No safety rails. No guiding lights.

Above them, the sky displayed a single phrase:

FINAL PHASE: KING'S ECHO

OBJECTIVE: Reach the gate. Only one player may carry the key.

RULE: Touching the wrong platform resets all progress.

CONDITION: The King is watching.

PENALTY: Failure three times results in memory overwrite.

Rin's voice was hoarse. "He's making us pick who leads."

Sora's eyes narrowed. "No. Something else is."

The system was glitching around the edges, but the rules stood. A key materialized in the air between them—shimmering gold, humming with weight.

Matthew looked at the others.

"I'll take it," he said. "I've led before."

"No," Sora said instantly. "That's what it wants. One leader. One mistake. Then it punishes all."

Rin slowly stepped forward. "Let me try."

Matthew frowned. "You sure?"

"I owe you both. And I've failed enough to see how these patterns work."

Sora studied the platforms—each etched with different symbols: fire, clock hands, masks, thorns.

"They represent concepts," she muttered. "Temptations. Traps."

Rin took the key.

The moment she did, the bridge let out a slow, metallic groan.

A platform lit up: a mask symbol.

Sora pointed. "That one wants self-deceit."

"Skip it," Matthew said. "Next."

Rin stepped onto a clock platform.

Nothing happened.

Another one ahead: fire.

She paused.

The fire symbol flickered.

"That one's a lie," she said. "It's unstable."

She chose thorns instead.

It held.

The key pulsed in her hand—getting hotter.

Two more jumps.

One mistake resets everything.

Behind them, the void writhed.

A familiar static crept in again—something uninvited.

"The Unseen's watching," Sora whispered. "Waiting for failure."

Rin took one breath—

And stepped onto the final platform.

A mirror symbol.

It shimmered. Showed her reflection—twisted, mask-wearing, grinning.

She stepped anyway.

The world held its breath—

And then—

The platform solidified.

KEY ACCEPTED. PATH UNLOCKED.

The gate ahead unsealed, revealing a long hall made of data-light and glitching memories.

They made it.

All three.

But the moment they stepped inside—

The mirror platform behind them shattered.

And something crawled out of the crack.

Something shaped like Rin—but smiling too wide.

The final challenge was passed.

But the King's Echo had copied her.

And now the bridge had a shadow.