🌌 Rift Labyrinth – Collapsing Field
The Rift sky was tearing open.
From the cracks, thunder boomed like screaming metal, and a beast dropped through the clouds.
Not fell — descended. Like it wanted to be seen.
Fused with rusted steel, black feathers, and glitched human faces stitched into its chest, it towered over the landscape like a walking apocalypse.
Zephyr's spell-glow dimmed.
Kiyomi's hand trembled on her sword.
Ren stood still.
Saya turned to him, the projection of his sister still glowing faintly.
> "You can't beat that."
Ren's Mark pulsed.
> "You can't run either."
🧠 Aya's Escape Begins
Inside the Labyrinth Core, Aya stood at the edge of her own mindscape — an ocean made of memories.
The throne she had blasted now cracked with every step she took.
The crystal chains holding her snapped, one by one.
Her voice echoed:
> "I'm not just escaping."
> "I'm rewriting the damn system."
She bent down, hands on the Rift floor, and spoke the first true Logic Command:
> "INITIATE: Override Labyrinth Instance.
Permission level: Aya Sato.
Authorization: Survivor Protocol 004."
The crystal world glitched.
Aya smiled.
> "You
r prison is now my firewall."
⚔ Battle Erupts – Rift Beast vs Ren
Ren stepped forward.
The ground around him glowed. The sky shimmered.
Kiyomi grabbed his wrist. "You're not ready—"
He shook her off.
"I wasn't ready when my family died."
"I wasn't ready when you dragged me into this."
"But if I run now…"
He looked up at the Rift Beast — which was now smiling.
"…then everyone else pays the price."
His Mark burst with power.
First ring.
Second ring.
Third ring.
And then…
> "Open
—"
> "—the Fourth Gate."
🌀 What Is the Fourth Gate?
The moment the Fourth Gate opened, everything slowed.
Wind stopped.
Kiyomi's scream froze in her throat.
Zephyr fell to one knee, eyes wide.
Ren's body fractured with light — blue cracking into silver, then burning black.
He saw everything.
The god behind the Rift Beast.
The day his father screamed.
The contract his soul had signed before he was born.
And something else:
> The face of the Watcher.
Unmasked.
Human.
And… somehow familiar.
💥 Ren's New Form – Gate 4 Activated
His body didn't just glow.
It ignited.
Hair white as frost.
Eyes swirling with endless stars.
Mark spread across his face like a tattoo of fire.
Even the Rift Beast took a step back.
> "I'm not the key," Ren said. His voice was layered — echoing across time.
> "I'm the lock."
He launched forward — faster than light.
His fists broke the sound barrier.
One blow shattered the Beast's knee.
The second cracked its chest open — releasing the screaming memories trapped inside.
But with each strike… Ren lost more of himself.
🧠 Inside the Firewall – Aya's Final Move
Aya, glowing with data-rift energy, looked up as the walls cracked.
She was free — but she saw Ren.
And what he was becoming.
> "No, Ren—don't let it take you."
She raised her hands again.
"I can't save you yet…"
"But I can anchor you."
She coded it in mid-air — spinning symbols made from her thoughts.
> "INITIATE: Soul-link tether. Target: Ren Kaido. Command: Hold. Identity Lock: Aya Sato."
A white thread fired from her hands—
Cut through Rift space—
And pierced Ren's chest.
🧲 The Snapback
Time snapped like a rubber band.
The Fourth Gate slammed closed.
Ren collapsed to his knees. Eyes dim. Breath ragged.
Kiyomi caught him before he hit the ground.
The Rift Beast stumbled backward — not defeated, but injured — and now afraid.
Zephyr stepped forward. "Now we know. The Fourth Gate is a shortcut to godhood. But it eats you alive."
Ren looked at his hands — still steaming.
> "How much of me is still me?"
Kiyomi didn't answer.
🗞 Meanwhile – Back in the Real World
A headline hit the school news site:
> "BREAKING: Ren Kaido Connected to Rift Terror Attacks."
Below it — leaked footage of Ren's energy form.
Below that — security cam images from the metro.
And below that… an anonymous comment:
> "They're calling him a monster.
But what if monsters are the only ones strong enou
gh to save us?"
End of Chapter 19
🧩 Key Unlocked: Gate 4
> Name: Identity Fracture
Effect: Unleashes untapped potential by drawing from alternate versions of self across time.
Cost: Self-loss. Risk of reality collapse.
Status: Temporarily se
aled.
🔥 Chapter 20 Teaser:
> Ren wakes with a burn across his heart — the soul-tether from Aya still glowing. Aya's voice starts whispering through the tether… even when she's not awake. Meanwhile, the Watcher visits Earth — in disguise — and walks right into Jin's ramen shop.