Night falls like a guillotine.
Not gentle. Not slow.
The sky cracks open above the devastated border city of Virelia, where steel walls were once thought impenetrable. Now, flames dance on shattered towers. Soldiers of the Platinum Reign—the Empire's elite—lie mangled in heaps, their white armor stained rust-red.
In the heart of it all stands Su Chen, alone, untouched, as if the battlefield bends to his will.
[System Evolution: 27% Complete.]
[New Feature Unlocked: "Hollow Gate." – You may open rifts to draw power, souls, or memories from alternate realities where different choices were made.]
[Warning: Using this feature may destabilize your mental structure. You are no longer bound to one timeline.]
"Good," Su Chen whispers.
He raises a hand. In front of him, space folds. Like tearing silk. Like opening an eye.
The Hollow Gate yawns wide.
From within—it screams.
Voices. Versions of himself. The him who begged. The him who obeyed. The him who never fought back. Faces twisted by kindness turned pain.
"I remember you," he says, stepping toward the void. "You were weak."
He reaches inside.
And pulls out a memory that never happened.
A memory of him saving Rika. Forgiving her. Growing old beside her under a crimson sun.
He watches that Su Chen smile.
Then crushes the memory to dust.
[Timeline Fragment Absorbed.]
[New Passive Skill Gained: "Betrayal Immunity" – Emotional manipulation no longer affects the Host. Former connections no longer apply.]
[Reputation with: Rika -2000 (Irredeemable)]
Far above Virelia, in the upper levels of Sanctum 9, the Empire's last Sky Fortress, General Harkness reviews the footage in silence. His lieutenants tremble behind him.
"That wasn't a raid," one of them murmurs. "It was a message."
"No," the General growls, clenching his fists. "It was an execution."
"What do we do now, sir?"
The old war dog stares at the paused image on-screen—Su Chen turning away from the burning city, his eyes glowing with power not meant for mortals.
"We send her," Harkness finally says.
"You mean the—"
"Yes," he growls. "The only person he didn't kill."
Location: Unnamed Facility, 300 Meters Below Arclight Ruins
Chains rattle. Lights flicker.
A figure stirs in the dark, suspended by bio-neural threads, wires plugging into her spine and brainstem. Her eyes snap open—pale blue. Unblinking.
"Subject 01," a voice crackles over the comms. "We are authorizing Operation 'End of Love.'"
The woman smiles. And it's the saddest, most terrifying smile the doctors have ever seen.
"You're finally sending me to him?"
"Yes."
"Good." She tilts her head. "I've waited long enough to kill the monster I helped create."
Her name is Lina Cross.
Su Chen's first kiss.
His first kill.
His greatest failure.
End of Chapter 57