The moment Zero stepped through the obsidian gate of the sealed ruin, the world around him twisted violently. His senses momentarily spiraled into chaos—sight distorted into swirling fractals, sound became a vortex of whispering echoes, and gravity pulsed irregularly beneath his feet.
When the distortion subsided, he found himself standing on a floating platform suspended in a vast, nebulous void. Shattered land masses hovered like islands in space, each radiating with a faint silver glow. Giant crystalline data trees stretched from these islands into the unknown sky, their branches pulsing with flowing energy codes.
[System Notice: You have entered the 'Ciphered Domain' — a sub-dimensional encryption plane reserved for [Ascended Protocol Candidates]. All unauthorized entities will be purged.]
Zero's HUD flared with a golden glow.A new objective unfolded:
Primary Objective: Decipher the Fractured Core.Secondary Objective: Synchronize with Memory Node: Anima.Time Limit: None.Consequence of Failure: Permanent Deletion of Protocol Path.
"Anima…" Zero whispered. The name rang familiar, like a fragment of something he had once known—something long buried.
As he took a step forward, the platform beneath him stretched forward, forming a winding bridge to the nearest island. Every footstep echoed like thunder in the silent space, and the void below shimmered with a dangerous allure—as though it waited hungrily for mistakes.
He soon reached the first island: a shattered battlefield embedded with glowing glyphs. Ancient, semi-translucent beings flickered into view—ghostly figures locked in combat, frozen in time.
Suddenly, a voice rang out, low and mechanical.
[Challenge Initiated: Decryption Trial – "Ghosts of the Fracture"]
A dozen phantoms reanimated in synchronized motion. Their weapons were made of coded energy, morphing with each breath—scythes turning into bows, swords into cannons.
Zero's instincts kicked in.He activated [Chrono Step] and [Vector Recalibration].
He blurred across the field, dodging their chaotic attacks with millisecond precision. Every successful dodge built up [Protocol Momentum], and when the bar maxed out, Zero unleashed:
[Skill Unlocked: Binary Rupture Blade – Level 1]
A digital sword formed in his hand, composed of cascading energy and numbers. It sliced cleanly through the spectral enemies, dissolving them into cascading zeroes and ones.
As the last phantom fell, the glyphs beneath him rearranged, forming a single massive symbol resembling an eye wrapped in flame.
[Decryption Level 1 Complete. Unlocking Memory Node: Anima – Partial Access Granted.]
A pillar of light shot skyward, and from it descended a memory crystal. The crystal floated in front of Zero and hummed softly.
He touched it.
[Memory Node: Anima – Fragment 1/5]
A vision burst into his mind.
He stood on a field of stars, his hand reaching toward a girl with glowing silver eyes. Her voice—so familiar, so warm—called his name:
"Zion…"
The vision shattered.
Zero stumbled back, gasping."Zion…?" he murmured.His name wasn't Zero?
No.
It was a code name—a shell identity.
His real name… was hidden inside these memory nodes. And Anima was the key.
The second island was larger—its terrain twisted, with anti-gravity sections and logic-defying staircases. Floating data constructs pulsed in rhythm with a heartbeat only Zero could hear.
This trial was mental, not physical.
A massive sphere floated at the center of the island, layered with shifting runes and locked equations.
[Challenge: Logic Decryption Puzzle – Decode the Four Truths. Time Penalty Increases Entropy Collapse.]
Each incorrect answer would destabilize the island. Zero had seen this in simulations—but this was no simulation.
The system flashed the first riddle:
"I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?"
Zero's eyes narrowed."An echo," he replied.
Correct.
The sphere pulsed and shifted.
"I can only be found once you stop looking. Yet I disappear when observed too closely. What am I?"
He paused. "Truth?"
No—wrong.
A tremor shook the island.
Entropy rose to 15%. The puzzle sphere grew redder.
He steadied himself. "Hope."
Another tremor. Wrong again.
Entropy: 32%.
He clenched his fists.
Then remembered what the Silver Mask had once said during training: "You'll never find the real question until you stop answering with words."
He closed his eyes."Silence."
Correct.
The entropy reset. The third and fourth riddles followed—solved only by connecting pieces of his fragmented memory with instinct.
When the final riddle was solved, the sphere exploded into particles, revealing a second Memory Node: Anima Fragment 2/5.
This time, the vision was darker.
He saw himself standing before a council of digital titans—immense beings of data and flame, void and storm.
"Zion, you are the last of the Protocol Wielders," a voice said."Your failure will collapse the entire Tree of Ascension."
Then came fire. Screams. Betrayal.
The memory ended.
Back in the present, Zero's hands trembled.
"I'm not just a candidate… I was once—part of it," he whispered.
He turned to the bridge forming toward the third island. But this one pulsed with blood-red light. Unlike the others, it exuded raw hostility.
A monstrous figure emerged ahead: a guardian.
Its name blinked in red text above its body:
[Anima Reaper – Level ??? – Keeper of the Forbidden Fragment]
It towered three stories tall, armed with a scythe made of collapsed code and corrupted memory. Its face was a mirror—reflecting Zero's own face, only distorted and broken.
"Zion," it growled, voice layered with thousands of overlapping echoes, "I am your discarded self."
It charged.
Zero didn't hesitate.
He engaged everything—[Binary Rupture Blade], [Vector Shift], [Overclock: V2], and his newest skill:
[Skill Unlocked: Reflection Nullifier] – Nullifies mirror-based attacks and data mimicry.
Their clash sent shockwaves across the Ciphered Domain. The Reaper mimicked all of Zero's attacks, but he was no longer just reacting—he was evolving.
Each failed attempt gave him deeper insight into his lost combat instincts. Each wound he took reminded him: he was built to ascend.
Zero pushed past his limits, forced a flaw in the Reaper's pattern, and pierced its core.
[Enemy Deleted. Gained: Anima Fragment 3/5. Level +1. New Trait Unlocked: Code Rebirth.]
As the Reaper dissolved, Zero stumbled toward the crystal, touched it—
Another memory.
This time, he saw himself as a child—standing inside a white lab filled with scientists. One of them knelt and gave him a pendant.
"This is Anima," the woman said softly."As long as you wear it, you'll never lose yourself."
He looked down.
And realized—
He wasn't just a chosen one.
He had been created for the Protocol from the very beginning.