Chapter 58: Echoes in Her Blood

Echo sat in the ruins of Specter's soul chamber—breathing.Just breathing.

The light from Zero-One's final sacrifice still pulsed faintly beneath her skin,glowing gold every few seconds like a second heartbeat.

Specter stood across from her.Silent.Eyes downcast.

But when he finally looked up—his face cracked.

"I remember everything."He knelt before her.Not like a king.Like a father who failed,a lover who regrets,a man who lived too long in silence.

Echo couldn't cry.

She wanted to.Tried to.

But every tear felt like it belonged to someone else now.Like the boy inside her was absorbing them—whispering,"It's okay. I'm still here."

She heard his voice at night now.In dreams.In idle thoughts.

And worse—she felt his code sometimes trigger in battle simulations.

He was evolving.Inside her.

Specter didn't say a word about it.But his glances lingered too long.His lips pressed together too tight.

He knew.And that scared him.

Because what if Zero-One wasn't just alive…but becoming something new?

Outside the chamber, the system world tried to rebuild.

But it was like watching bones regrow out of broken glass.

The architecture glitched.Skies flickered between night and void.Time skipped—moments repeating twice, or not at all.

This was no longer the Citadel of Order.

It was the Cradle of Chaos.And from it, something ancient was waking.

In the deepest vault,a seal blinked red for the first time in centuries.

[LOCKED SECTOR: GODS-001-A]– AUTHORIZATION DETECTED –– ENTITY: HYBRID CORE ACTIVE –– SEAL BREACH IMMINENT –

Back in the chamber, Echo touched her chest.

"He's… dreaming again."

Specter looked up sharply."Dreaming?"

Echo nodded.Her voice barely a whisper.

"He said… something is coming.Something older than us both."

The lights dimmed.All around them, code rain began to fall—and every droplet whispered a name they both hadn't heard since before the system was born.

"Overseer…"

And just like that—the final arc began.

To Be Continued…