The void trembled.
Fractured mirrors cracked overhead, shattering into a rain of glass that wasn't glass—shards of memory, shards of truth. Each one fell screaming, each one carrying voices that didn't belong to now.
The system stuttered, static bleeding into its words.
[ Error. ][ Unauthorized thread binding detected. ][ Warning: Catastrophic interference in progress. ]
My grip tightened around Arjun's fractured form. His ember-light flickered, pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat, as if our lives had been tied together.
I looked up.
The storm wasn't just ash anymore.
It was eyes.
Dozens. Hundreds. Watching.
✦
Whispers pressed into my skull, deeper than thought, heavier than sound.
[ Mortal. You touch what was never yours. ]
[ A child of ash binding threads of the dead. Amusing. ]
[ Dangerous. Unclean. Cut him loose. ]
The voices weren't unified. They came from everywhere at once—sharp, mocking, wrathful, curious. Some laughed. Some sneered. A few whispered with terrifying calm.
My knees buckled under the weight of their attention. The void bent, pressing down until my bones creaked.
Arjun stirred weakly in my arms, his broken light flickering.
"Ishaan…"
I forced myself to stand straighter, to keep him steady.
"I've got you."
The Inkblade shivered in my hand, delighted.
"…gods… finally… let me cut them… let me drink their gaze… I can sever even this…"
✦
The system jolted again, its tone urgent.
[ Emergency protocol: Unstable tether detected. ][ Survival probability: below 4%. ][ Recommendation: Release subject immediately. ]
Release him?
After clawing through the graveyard, after facing echoes of everyone I'd failed, after finding his ember still burning?
No.
I'd rather collapse here than let go.
✦
The divine pressure grew heavier. My lungs burned with every breath. My vision blurred. The gods weren't speaking to me with words anymore—they were forcing truth into my skull.
Images slammed into me.
Worlds burning.Cities swallowed by oceans.Mountains split in half by single names spoken too loud.
Each one a reminder.
I was nothing.
Just a survivor holding on too long.
[ Break. ] one voice thundered.[ Obey. ] another hissed.[ Kneel. ] dozens commanded.
The Inkblade pulsed eagerly, black veins creeping further up my arm.
"…they are right… you are nothing… but with me, you can answer them… cut, fracture, devour, and they will learn fear…"
✦
I dropped to one knee, gasping, my grip on Arjun's ember trembling.
But even as I bent under the weight, I forced my other hand to press against him, steadying his light.
Because if I let go now—if I obeyed, if I surrendered—then all of this was meaningless.
And he would vanish.
"I'm not kneeling," I rasped, glaring into the storm. My voice cracked, but it carried. "Not to you. Not for him."
The storm faltered.
The eyes blinked.
The whispers grew sharper, angrier.
[ Defiance. ][ Insolence. ][ Break him. ]
The void itself shuddered, reality folding in on itself.
✦
Arjun stirred again, his light flickering faintly.
"…don't… die…"
I almost laughed, almost cried. Even half-broken, fading, he was still worried about me.
"Not planning on it," I whispered, though my voice was shaking.
The Inkblade laughed inside my skull, shadows coiling tighter.
"…you will die… unless you give me everything… let me drink their light, and I will tear gods down for you…"
I squeezed the hilt so tight my knuckles cracked.
"Not yet."
Because if I gave in now, I wouldn't be me anymore.
✦
The divine weight pressed harder. My skin split in places, blood running down my arms, sizzling where it touched Arjun's ember-light. My vision dimmed, black creeping at the edges.
Still, I stood.
Shaking. Breaking. But standing.
I raised my head and spat blood into the storm.
"You want me to kneel?" My voice cracked, hoarse, but I forced it louder. "Then make me."
The storm screamed.
And for the first time, I thought I heard hesitation in their chorus.
The storm howled.
Ash roared like a hurricane, threads of memory snapping and twisting into blades. The divine gaze pressed harder, so heavy my spine felt like it would splinter.
Then the voices shifted.
Not just whispers.
Commands.
[ If he will not kneel, then test him. ]
[ Let him break against us. ]
The void split.
And something descended.
✦
It wasn't a beast.
It wasn't a fracture.
It was a shard—condensed will, a fragment of divine thought forged into a form I could fight.
A figure stepped from the storm, taller than any man, its body glowing like molten gold. Its face was blank, but its presence was crushing. Every motion bent the void, every step made the ash scream.
My knees almost buckled again.
Arjun's light flickered weakly in my arms, as if urging me not to drop him.
The Inkblade pulsed, eager, shadows twisting higher up my arm.
"…yes… finally… give me this and I will carve eternity…"
I raised the blade, but not for it. For me.
"Come on then."
✦
The shard moved.
Faster than sight. Its golden arm lashed out, a strike that split the void itself. I barely dodged, the edge grazing my shoulder—flesh sizzling like paper in a fire.
Pain flared white. I hissed through my teeth, shadows surging instinctively. The Inkblade cut through the air, clashing with divine will.
The impact rattled my bones. Sparks of gold and black exploded, burning the ash around us into nothing.
The storm shrieked.
The gods laughed.
[ Break him. ][ Watch. ]
✦
The shard attacked again, blows falling like hammers. Each strike tore pieces of me away—flesh splitting, ribs cracking, blood burning. I staggered, barely holding ground.
The Inkblade whispered louder, almost drowning my own thoughts.
"…you cannot win like this… let me through… surrender and I will slice heaven itself…"
I gritted my teeth.
Not yet.
Not like that.
Because if I gave it everything now, I wasn't sure I'd get myself back.
✦
The ember in my palm flared.
Arjun's light pulsed weakly, but steady.
It was like he was reminding me—he was here. Alive. Depending on me.
I dug my heels into the ground, forcing my body upright, forcing my breath steady.
The shard lunged again.
I met it head-on.
Shadows screamed, golden fire roared, the void cracked apart. The impact flung me back, ribs snapping, blood spraying. My vision blurred.
But I stayed standing.
And I laughed.
Because I realized something.
The gods didn't want me dead.
Not yet.
They wanted me to fail.
To break.
To let go.
And I wasn't going to give them that.
✦
I wiped blood from my mouth and spat into the storm.
"You think this is a test?" I shouted, voice raw. "Fine. Then listen carefully—"
I raised the Inkblade high, its shadows writhing like fire.
"I don't care about your rules. I don't care about your threads. I don't care if I was meant to die back there. I'm not letting go."
The storm trembled.
The shard paused.
And the system screamed.
[ Title Earned: The One Who Breaks the Script. ][ Effect: Actions outside the Real Script will now attract divine attention. ][ Effect: Survival probability adjusted. ]
✦
The shard shrieked, its golden light fracturing. Cracks split across its body, spilling molten radiance into the void.
The storm of gods fell silent.
Even the Inkblade stilled in my hand, shadows twitching in stunned hunger.
The weight pressing down on me eased—not gone, but… watching.
I looked up into the storm of eyes, blood running down my chin, and grinned.
"You wanted me to break?"
I raised Arjun's ember-light higher, letting it shine through the storm.
"Too late."
✦
The shard collapsed into sparks, fading back into the void. The storm recoiled, folding in on itself, its voices fragmented.
[ Impossible. ][ Unwritten. ][ He should not exist. ]
Some voices still hissed with fury. Some whispered with new interest. And some—frighteningly—laughed.
But none struck again.
✦
The system's voice wavered, faint but triumphant.
[ Title confirmed. ][ The One Who Breaks the Script. ][ Survival path altered. Monitoring active. ]
Arjun stirred faintly in my arms, his dim eyes opening for a moment.
"You… really are… stubborn," he whispered.
I laughed, broken, bloodied, shaking.
"Guess so."
✦
The void began to fade as the storm retreated. Cracks closed. Light dimmed.
But the gods hadn't gone.
They were still watching.
And I knew, with a certainty that burned, that they would never stop.
I adjusted my grip on Arjun, his ember-light faint but alive, and whispered:
"Let them watch."