Kruger

The battlefield roared.

Spires had fallen. Voidlings flooded through the shattered walls in waves — slicing through flame, climbing over wreckage, crawling across broken hulls and twisted bodies.

Kaiell moved like instinct, dodging a Voidling's spiked tail, slicing another down with a fallen Kruger's half-broken plasma axe.

But then — it struck again.

That pull inside his chest.

Viora.

Calling him.

His knees hit the ground. His breath caught. The world froze. Noise flattened. Light dimmed.

And then—

Everything fell away.

He stood in a void.

But not darkness.

A vast space of mirrored water and faint silver stars. His reflection beneath his feet shimmered, then shifted — eyes glowing, veins of energy pulsing across his arms.

A voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

"Welcome, Kaiell of Rust-12.""The outer shell has fractured. You are now beyond the threshold."

He turned. The air rippled.

Before him floated a crystalline sphere — rotating, locked in thick chains of light. Inside it pulsed a storm of silver, indigo, and deep black.

"This is your Viora Core.""You currently have 1 Core Off.""Do you wish to activate?"

Kaiell stepped forward, sweat beading on his brow.

"I do."

"Confirm: Full Dive Sync initiated.Inner-Weapon Protocol: Approved.Syncing Soulroot with external world…"

The crystal cracked.

The void shook.

From the sky, something fell into his hands — weightless but eternal.

A katana.

Its blade was deep onyx, edges gleaming with violet energy. The hilt was bound in woven Void-fiber, pulsing like a heartbeat. Runes danced along its length — not Empire markings, not Kruger codes.

Something older.

Something personal.

"This blade is called... Nightfell.""Forged from your fear. Sharpened by your memory.""It will not answer to anyone else.""Now go. Let them see what you've become."

Back in the real world—

A Wraith lunged for Kaiell, claws extended, shrieking across the battlefield.

And just as its blade hit air—

A sword appeared.

Nightfell.

Drawn mid-motion into Kaiell's hand.

He moved.

Faster. Cleaner. Heavier than before.

One swing.

The Wraith split in half — cleanly, like paper through wind.

Nearby Kruger soldiers froze, eyes wide.

"Did you see that sword?""Where did it come from?""He summoned it from a rift—no, not a rift. From himself."

Kaiell rose slowly, Nightfell humming at his side.

The Voidlings hesitated.

Even they could feel it now.

Something had changed.

And above the battlefield, the Mage twitched — its molten eyes narrowing in recognition.

For the first time… it stepped back.