Night had fallen by the time Aiden reappeared in the outer wastelands. The air smelled of metal and lightning, the aftertaste of dimensional energy that lingered long after his return.The ruins around him glowed faintly from residual heat — bones of skyscrapers melted and fused into black glass. The portal's shockwave had reached even here.
He could feel it in the fabric of space itself — a trembling, like the world had remembered an old scar.
The System murmured:
[Dimensional breach closed successfully.][Residual Verse energy detected in planetary layer.][Stability: 91%.][Warning: Multiple external signatures scanning host position.]
Aiden looked up. The stars above weren't still — they shifted, as though alive. A dozen points of light brightened, blinked, and vanished.
"They noticed," he said softly. "Of course they did."
He sat down on a broken slab of concrete and stared out at the horizon. The dome of Base City was a dim silhouette in the distance — fragile, almost laughably small compared to what he'd just touched.For a moment, he envied the people inside it. They still believed the stars were simply stars.
He closed his eyes, calling up the memory of the rift.The voice that had spoken to him — You carry its mark… the Sequence begins again.
It hadn't been a random manifestation. It was aware, searching.And it knew about him — about the Infinite System.
"Sequence…" he muttered. "That means there were others before me."
The thought unsettled him more than the power itself.If the Verse ran on sequences, then everything — the System, the Fragments, even the way his strength doubled — might not be an accident. It might be part of an endless pattern repeating itself through realities.
The Infinite System pulsed faintly, responding to his thoughts.
[Partial Clarification Available.]
"Show me."
[Origin Path: Unknown. System framework predates host universe by at least 3.2 × 10¹³ cycles.][Purpose: Accumulation of infinite comprehension data through host progression.][Sequence Count: 13 identified. 12 terminated. 1 active.]
Aiden's eyes snapped open.
"Twelve before me," he whispered. "All dead."
[Correction: 12 sequences terminated due to reality collapse. Cause: Over-saturation of infinite energy pathways.]
He frowned. "They overloaded their own universes…"
The thought sent a chill through him. Power that could destroy not just a planet — but entire realities.
"Then why give me the same system?" he asked quietly.
The System did not answer. Or perhaps it couldn't. Silence stretched, long and heavy, until only the wind answered him — carrying dust across the wasteland like whispers.
He stood, brushing the dirt from his hands. "Fine. If I'm the thirteenth, then I'll find out what happened to the twelve."
He turned toward the west — toward the sea where the Lightless Span slept.
But before he could move, the world shifted.
A ripple of silver light crawled across the sky, bending clouds into spirals. The ground trembled, and a sound like a thousand bells rung underwater filled the air. Space twisted open not ten meters from where he stood.
Out of the distortion stepped three figures.
They looked human — almost. Their eyes glowed faint gold, their hair pale as frost.Each wore armor that shimmered between metal and light, etched with constellations that moved on their own. They radiated the kind of power that made the air hum.
The lead figure spoke first — his voice calm, resonant, carrying an ancient accent."So. The new Successor truly exists."
Aiden straightened. "You've been watching."
"We all have," the man said. "You've touched the Span before you were meant to. That is… unprecedented."
"And you are?"
The figure placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly. "Envoy of the Verse Council. Designation: Seraphis. We are not your enemy, Aiden Cross — though that may change, depending on your choices."
Aiden's hand twitched slightly toward his side, where the Obsidian Edge slept. "You're from another Verse."
"Indeed. The Council governs the connected realities — the Prime Web. Every civilization that survived the Collapse aligns under it. We maintain balance."Seraphis's gaze hardened. "Until now."
"Because of me."
"Because of the System," Seraphis corrected. "We have recorded its emergence before — twelve times, to be precise. Each time, it destroyed the Verse that bore it."
Aiden exhaled slowly. "And you think this time will be different?"
Seraphis studied him. "That depends on you. The System feeds on comprehension — the more you understand, the faster it grows. But comprehension without limit has a price. The last bearer tried to understand everything."
"And?"
"Their Verse collapsed into nothing," Seraphis said simply. "A perfect circle of knowledge and zero existence. A void."
Aiden was silent for a long time.
Then he said quietly, "If understanding leads to destruction, then ignorance was never the answer either. Someone has to find a way to hold both."
Seraphis's lips curved slightly. "That is precisely what the Council hopes. They sent us to warn you — and to test you."
The air shifted again. Behind Seraphis, the two other envoys raised their hands, and runic circles appeared — glowing white and blue. Energy condensed into forms — one spear, one orb of light humming like a star.
Aiden sighed. "Of course there's a test."
Seraphis's eyes gleamed. "Survive for one minute."
The envoys moved.
The first spear thrust forward — space cracking around it like glass. Aiden twisted aside, the weapon passing an inch from his chest. The air behind him detonated, carving a trench through the earth.
The second envoy launched the orb — it split into a thousand smaller projectiles, each homing in with precision.Aiden raised his hand. The Obsidian Edge erupted from his palm, black lightning flaring around it. With a sweep, he cut the air.
The world screamed.
Every orb froze midair, their light bending inward — then they shattered, scattering into harmless sparks.
Seraphis watched, unblinking. "Efficient. But too reliant on reaction."
He moved.
In an instant, Seraphis was beside him — not fast, but inevitable. His fist struck Aiden's ribs, and for the first time in months, pain bloomed across Aiden's body. He staggered back, eyes widening. The blow had bypassed his defenses entirely.
[Alert: Dimensional phase penetration detected.]
Aiden's smile returned, faint but real. "So that's how it is."
He closed his eyes. Power surged. The ground cracked beneath his feet as Spirit exploded outward, shredding the air into a spiral of pure force. The sky dimmed — stars flickering like candles in a wind.
When he opened his eyes again, they glowed faint silver.
[Comprehension Pattern Expanded.][Dimensional Resonance: Partial.]
Seraphis stepped forward to strike again — and stopped mid-motion. His body froze, caught in a web of lines Aiden had drawn through the air.
"Every dimension vibrates differently," Aiden said. "Once you understand its rhythm, you can rewrite where motion begins."
He flicked his fingers.
Seraphis vanished — reappearing fifty meters away, unharmed but visibly shaken.
The other envoys lowered their weapons. "Enough."
Seraphis raised a hand, halting them. Then he looked at Aiden for a long time — studying him not as prey or rival, but as an anomaly.
"Perhaps… the thirteenth will not end the same way," he said softly.
Aiden let his power settle. The air stilled. "You said survive for a minute. I think that's been about one."
Seraphis smiled faintly. "Indeed."
The runes on his armor dimmed. "Then hear this, Successor. The next gate lies not on your world, but beyond it. When you are ready, the Verse will open again. And we will be watching."
The three envoys faded into light, leaving the wasteland silent once more.
Aiden stood alone, breathing slowly. The System chimed again.
[Host performance: Surpassed Verse Envoy threshold.][Reward: Fragment resonance increased.][Gate Fragment (2) → (3/9).]
He exhaled, watching the stars return to stillness.
"Beyond my world, huh?"
He looked at his hand — the same hand that had once trembled when holding a schoolbook, now glowing with power vast enough to shake dimensions.
"I'll be there soon."
He turned toward the horizon, where the ocean waited, dark and endless.
And somewhere, unseen, the Verse itself whispered in answer.
Then the real story begins.