The storm had passed, but the sky remained bruised, streaked with hues of violet and ash. Smoke drifted upward from the shattered underground sanctuary where Elias had faced the Reaper. The stones were cracked, the air thick with scorched magic and the lingering scent of blood.
Elias stood in the center of the wreckage, chest heaving, black mist hissing from his limbs as his Sinborne Core slowly cooled. His shirt was torn open, revealing a lattice of glowing, demonic runes branded into his flesh. Each one pulsed faintly, as though alive.
> [System Update: Core Evolution Complete]
[Wrath Core Stage II Active]
[Warning: Emotional Threshold Approaching Critical Limit]
He glanced down at the obsidian blade the Reaper had dropped before fading into dust. It still radiated an eerie hum.
Seraphine emerged from the rubble, blood trailing down her temple. She held a broken staff in one hand and a dagger in the other.
"You won," she said, her voice hoarse but steady.
Elias didn't answer. His eyes were still glowing faintly crimson. He couldn't stop trembling—from pain, from rage, from power. From the knowledge that even this wasn't enough.
"That was a Reaper," she added. "A cosmic enforcer. They only come when the balance is... threatened."
"I didn't ask for this power," Elias muttered.
"But you have it. And it's changing you. Faster than it should."
He turned away. Somewhere in the distance, he heard Adam calling for them, limping toward the crater with two makeshift crutches.
"You okay?" Adam wheezed.
Elias gave a nod, but said nothing. He was staring at his hands.
Seraphine stepped closer. "The Reaper didn't kill you because he was testing something. You passed. That should terrify you."
---
Later that night, the three of them gathered in the deep vaults of an old church, hollowed out and lined with protective wards. Elias had the obsidian blade strapped to his back now, its edge covered in cloth to stop its song from luring demons. He pored over Seraphine's stolen files, his eyes darting over pages with unnatural speed.
Then he found it: a page marked The Deceit Core.
According to the file, the Deceit Core was buried beneath one of the original System testing labs—a place called Ravenloch.
"It's not just a core," Seraphine said, watching him. "It's a sentient entity. The devil's liar. Unlocking it means rewriting a part of who you are."
"What do you mean?"
"The Wrath Core amplifies your emotions. The Deceit Core? It changes your memories. It lets you lie to yourself."
Adam frowned. "That's... insane. Why would anyone want that?"
Elias closed the file slowly. "To survive."
---
The next day they traveled through the haunted outskirts of Whitmoor, slipping past broken sectors and fallen angels corrupted by the System's echoes. Ravenloch lay buried beneath the earth, locked behind vaults powered by soul-keys and sigils Elias had only seen in his dreams.
The descent was brutal. They faced ethereal wardens, monsters made from stitched screams and glowing veins, and finally a massive obsidian gate guarded by a single figure:
Liora.
Elias froze.
She had once been his protector—a rogue agent who taught him how to channel the early versions of the system. Now, she was changed. Her eyes were mirrors, her arms inscribed with binding seals.
"You seek the Deceit Core," she said softly. "But it demands a price."
Elias stepped forward, past Seraphine and Adam. "What price?"
"Someone close to you must die. The Core doesn't just change you—it devours the last truth holding you together."
He hesitated. His eyes flicked to Adam, then to Seraphine.
"No," he said. "There has to be another way."
Liora shook her head. "Then you are not ready."
And with that, she unsheathed a curved blade made of soulbone.
The battle was on.
---
Elias moved like a storm, the shadows bending to his will. But Liora matched him with cold, graceful precision. Her blade carved through his defenses. His fists cracked bone and tore through reality itself.
> [System Notice: Threat Level Beta+]
[Option: Activate Echo Sin Protocol? Y/N]
He said yes.
The air split apart. A thousand voices screamed through the void as Elias tapped into the deepest layer of his Wrath Core, dragging memories of vengeance from alternate timelines.
He saw versions of himself—some monstrous, some broken, all desperate.
He used them.
And finally, as he drove Liora to her knees, she smiled.
"You chose power over peace. You are ready."
She let go of her blade and vanished into ash.
The gate to the Deceit Core cracked open.
Elias stepped through.
The air was different inside. Cold. Still. Not empty, but waiting.
And in the center of the chamber, a small sphere hovered—silver and black, with a single red eye blinking slowly.
> [System Interface: Deceit Core Detected]
[Integrate? Warning: All memories subject to reconstruction.]
Seraphine stood at the edge, watching him.
"You can still walk away."
Elias took a deep breath.
"No. I've come too far."
And he reached out.
> [Core Integration Beginning...]