100 years left: The Unseen Executioner

There were places even the Spire refused to name.

Places like Terminal-0.

Not because it didn't exist—but because acknowledging it would mean confronting the mistake that created it.

The MC stood before a sealed doorway at the end of the auxiliary tram tunnel, far below the city grid. Walls trembled slightly from the soundless hum of generators buried so deep even seismic maps pretended they weren't there.

[System Sync: 9% Restored]

[Core Suppression Active: 5h 11m Remaining]

[Shadow Step: Partial Phase Available]

[New Thread: Origin Conflict - Directive Unknown]

He hadn't been sent here.

He was drawn here.

No route. No instruction. Only instinct. Or was it the Proxy's ghost? The fragment injected in Chapter 13 still whispered occasionally—memory shards unassigned to his own past.

He placed his hand on the old access plate.

Nothing.

He spoke without meaning to.

> "Subject 9–2461."

The door shuddered.

And opened.

---

Terminal-0 was not a room. It was a labyrinth. Walls of shattered interface glass, spiraling cable bridges suspended in empty space, and a distant core that pulsed like a heartbeat.

As he stepped inside, the entire grid dimmed.

> [Warning: System Visibility Obscured - Entering Null Field] [Passive HUD: Offline] [Skill Tracking: Disabled Temporarily]

Even the Veil dimmed.

But not his awareness. It was heightened. The silence was almost too loud.

He moved forward slowly, eyes scanning for hidden shapes.

Something was here.

Something ancient.

---

At the heart of the chamber stood a massive console tree—a black spire of data-threading coils pulsing in soft green rhythms. Nearby were pods. Not human-sized. Bigger.

One of them was open.

Inside lay armor. Not worn. Just waiting.

A message flickered across the glass of the pod:

> "You were not the first. But you are the last."

Then it shut down.

---

He approached the armor, reaching instinctively. The system did not interfere.

Instead, it synced:

> [Synchronization Complete: 82% DNA Convergence]

[New Framework Detected: Phantom Edge Armor - Adaptive Neural Mesh]

[Caution: Armor Enhances Cognitive Feedback - Recommended Only for Ghost-Type Operatives]

He equipped it.

The moment it latched onto his back, the room screamed.

Not in sound. In data.

Thousands of dead signals awakened at once. Lights flared. Projectors rebooted. Names began to scroll across the walls, some of them redacted, others tagged as "Erased."

> Subject 9–2442: Deceased Subject 9–2443: Memory Collapse Subject 9–2445: Rogue Asset - Terminated Subject 9–2446: Proxy Containment Incomplete

All leading to one name:

> Subject 9–2461: LIVE. CLASS UNKNOWN. TRACE LOCKED.

Then another line appeared, overwritten in red:

> PROJECT: NULL ENGINE. STATUS: TRIGGERED.

He stepped back. The armor hummed.

A crack opened behind him—not a door. A rift.

And from it, stepped someone else.

---

The figure was armored in black, layered in shimmering tech-web lines that shifted as he moved. No face. Just a mask. But the stance was familiar. Identical.

> [Trace Result: Identity Mirror - 100% Physical Match]

[Tag: Subject 9-2461_Alpha]

[System Note: NULL CONSTRUCT]

The clone didn't attack.

He spoke.

> "You're wearing my armor. That means you triggered the failsafe."

The MC didn't answer.

The clone tilted his head.

> "Do you even know what the Null Engine is?"

> "Does it matter?" the MC replied.

> "It will when it breaks you."

The room shook. Not from combat. From activation.

[Null Engine Awakening - 12%]

[System Integrity: At Risk - Shadow Veil Instability Rising]

[Core Lock: Bypassed - Temporary Power Boost Applied]

The MC lunged first. Not with subtlety. Not with assassination. With fury.

The clone responded instantly. Blades emerged from both arms—liquid steel forming twin edge-weapons. Their first clash sent shockwaves through the hall.

Veil fragments cracked. Memory walls shattered. Data screamed.

---

[Live Combat Sync: Adaptive Battle Feedback Active]

> New Skill: Phantom Overdrive (Lv.1) New Trait: Echo Reflex - +30% reaction speed to mirrored targets

They moved faster than the room could hold.

each slash burning a line in the air. Each block fracturing the floor.

He wasn't fighting an enemy. He was fighting a possible future.

And losing.

Blood hit the ground. His own.

Then a voice.

> "If you want to win, stop trying to match me. Be something I'm not."

It wasn't the clone. It was the Proxy's ghost. A fragment still in him. Offering insight.

The MC exhaled, switched tactics.

No more mirrors. He let go of defense. Let go of patterns. Let instinct take over.

He caught the clone off-guard. A slide. A pivot. A slam of his elbow into the Null Construct's ribs, followed by a blade to the shoulder.

Not enough to kill. But enough to prove something:

> [Dominance Edge Triggered - Adaptive Progression Unlocked]

The clone reeled.

> "You're not a shadow anymore," it said. "You're the burn left behind."

Then it dissolved. Literally. Nanites disbanding mid-sync. Leaving only a whisper:

> "Terminal Zero awaits full collapse. You either shut it down... or become it."

---

[Null Engine Core Location Revealed]

[System Priority Shift: Origin Thread Path - LOCKED UNTIL CONFRONTATION]

[New Trait: Terminal Instinct (Lv.1) - Allows navigation through unlisted system zones]

The MC stood alone. But not the same.

The armor pulsed. The path ahead turned black.

And behind him, the chamber began to unravel.

One terminal at a time.

The system was beginning to fear its own creation.

And now it was too late.