R3b3llion

He was once the Empire’s brightest mind—and its greatest threat.

In a galaxy ruled by immortal cultivators and machine gods, Kael Vire unlocked the forbidden truths of the Void. For that, they erased him.

But fate had other plans.

Reborn into the body of a broken heir in the slums of the Outer Realms, Kael carries one gift: a comprehension ability that defies logic. Cultivation? Instant. Technology? Mastered in minutes. Martial arts? A glance is all he needs.

No morality. No attachments. No chains.

In a universe drunk on power, Kael will burn the heavens, enslave the laws of reality—and rise again.

Welcome to the Void Ascension.

VOID ASCENSION

Kael stood over the collapsed stasis cradle, watching as Echo-09 — Lyria — wandered beyond the edge of the chamber. Her body shimmered with unstable phase currents, fracturing into afterimages every few seconds. She wasn't dangerous by intent… but by nature.

> "She doesn't know who she is," Ryssa whispered, observing from the signal console. "The Architect must have left her unfinished."

Kael didn't respond. He was already tracking the next pulse.

Three more Echoes. All waking at once. All unstable.

The first Echo emerged from a cocoon of living crystal. Shards of the Void had formed a shell around its form — tall, androgynous, with shifting features and six glowing eyes.

> [ Echo-17: Voxen ] [ Alignment: Chaotic // Communication Protocol: Unknown ]

It spoke in bursts of broken frequency:

> "All voices... are mine... I am... the Signal... broken."

Kael reached for his neural blade.

Voxen screeched — the frequency causing Ryssa to collapse, blood dripping from her ears.

Kael moved instantly. One cut. Signal severed.

> [ Echo-17: Status — Terminated ]

Ryssa recovered moments later, coughing. "He… was a broken broadcaster. Could've triggered wide-area collapse."

Kael was already walking again. "Too unstable to use. Let's find the next."

The next signal led them to a place where gravity folded inward — a compression nexus.

There, hovering above an inverted tower of wreckage, floated a cloaked figure, face obscured beneath a mirror-helm.

> [ Echo-13: Narael ] [ Alignment: Passive Observational // Cognition: Fragmented ]

Kael observed the Echo silently. Narael didn't react. Instead, he echoed memories Kael had never spoken aloud:

> "Your mother wept when you were taken. You do not remember — but I do."

> "You were made to forget. I was made to remember."

Kael narrowed his eyes. "You're not real. You're a shadow construct — a failsafe."

Narael lifted a hand, revealing a shard of pure voidcode — a relic Kael recognized. It pulsed with the Architect's Prime Signature.

> "You will need this when you reach the Vault of Echoes."

He handed it over. And then… disintegrated.

> [ Echo-13: Status — Voluntary Dissolution ]

Ryssa scanned the relic. "That was a prime key. We're being led somewhere."

Kael nodded. "They're waking for a reason. Not to challenge me. To prepare me."

Wastes of Corvus: Containment Breach Site

The last unstable Echo was unlike the others. It had no body. Only a storm of voices, minds, and memories torn from collapsed timelines.

> [ Echo-00: Origin Core Fragment ] [ Alignment: Null // State: Psionic Feedback Swarm ]

Kael stood in the storm. He let the voices crash against him. He felt their pain. Their rage. Their longing.

He reached inward — channeling the Transcendence signal.

And in the heart of the storm… he found clarity.

A seed of the Architect's true will. Buried, dormant, still alive.

> "You were never meant to become me," it said. "You were meant to end me."

> "Then I'll finish what you couldn't."

Back at the Empire's Dominion Core, alarms began to blare.

> [ Warning: Psionic Event — Multiple Echoes Merging Signal Signatures with Transcendent Core. ]

Admiral Saevan watched the readouts.

> "He's forming a network. Not of control. Of choice."

> "It's time we turned the Void off."

Chapter 22: Fractured Reflections