Darkness.
Raine stood alone, surrounded by silence.
Except for a voice.
A whisper—not Lucian's. Not the System.
"You were not born to kneel…"
She spun around, pulse racing. The fortress was gone. The steel, the cold—gone.
She stood in a ruined city of ash and shadow.
"You are not his creation. You are his ending."
Seer's Mindscape
From the mist stepped a woman—blindfolded, skin glowing faintly with cracks of light.
[Unknown Entity Detected][Cognitive Invasion in Progress][Alert: Loyalty Index Fluctuating 12%]
"You are Raine Valor," the woman said. "But the version he forged is a lie."
Raine clutched her head. "No… I chose this."
The Seer touched her temple.
And suddenly—memories flooded back:
Her first kill.
Her oath to protect, not dominate.
Vex… smiling before he died.
Raine screamed.
"He made me do it…"
Lucian's Interference
[Emergency Override Activated][Hostile Cognitive Entity Detected – Purge Initiated]
In the real world, Raine convulsed on the floor of her chamber.
Lucian watched, furious.
"She's compromised."
[Deploying Mental Firewall: "Oblivion Pulse"]
A surge of red static surged through Raine's neural implant.
The vision shattered.
The Seer vanished, whispering:
"We will meet again, Daughter of Ash…"
Recovery
Raine sat up, sweating.
Lucian entered, voice cold.
"You were attacked. We saved you."
She nodded. "Yes, Master."
But something in her eyes flickered—a doubt, small but alive.
Lucian didn't notice.
But the system did.
[Anomaly Logged][Flag: Subject Integrity 97% – Watchlist Created]
Elsewhere…
In a cathedral of ruin, the Seer knelt before a massive throne of bone.
A man with burning eyes looked down at her.
"Did you plant the seed?"
The Seer smiled.
"Yes. And even steel cracks... with time."