Night fell over Sanctum-9, but the Spirit Network didn't sleep.
Its veins pulsed brighter than usual—lines of blue shifting to faint crimson, spreading through the barrier sky like cracks in glass.
Inside the Inner Academy, alarms rang silently.
To the ordinary students, nothing seemed unusual.
But deep beneath the upper layers, a new protocol was activating.
Protocol Dominion.
Stark woke to a sharp vibration under his skin.
The mark on his wrist pulsed like a second heartbeat—slow, deliberate, growing louder.
For a moment, he thought he heard knocking.
Then he realized it wasn't the door.
It was coming from inside the mark.
"Awaken… host of the chain…"
He shoved the whisper down, breathing hard.
But the trembling didn't stop.
A soft voice echoed outside his door. "Stark? You awake?"
Lira.
She stepped inside before he could answer, her spirit wolf slipping in behind her. The creature growled softly, eyes fixed on Stark's bandaged arm.
Lira frowned. "It's reacting again. Stronger this time."
He nodded. "The anomaly we sealed earlier—it's still echoing. Something's pushing back."
Before she could respond, an alarm flashed across both their HUDs.
[PRIORITY ALERT]
Containment Lockdown – Sector Sigma
All Gold Tier and above report immediately.
Cause: Unauthorized Network Pulse.
Lira's eyes widened. "That's the core sector."
"And we're closest," Stark said.
They rushed out.
The Lockdown Begins
The Inner Wing was eerily quiet.
Doors sealed behind them, runes shifting from blue to red as the lockdown spread.
As they turned a corner, Aiden appeared, spear already glowing.
"Took you long enough," he said. "Did you feel that pulse too?"
Stark didn't answer directly. "Where's Vale?"
"Already ahead of us," Aiden said. "She summoned the top squads. We're following."
They sprinted deeper into the underground levels.
Lights flickered.
The air hummed with static pressure.
Then, the ground shook.
A booming noise echoed from below, rolling through steel and crystal.
Lira whispered, "That wasn't an explosion. That was… awakening."
Core Access Gate – Sector Sigma
The gate rose three stories tall, composed of layered crystalline alloy.
It shimmered with a normally impenetrable blue seal—
But now that seal was cracking.
Veins of black energy pulsed across the doorway, spiderwebbing outward.
Vale stood before the gate, flanked by half a dozen elite students.
She didn't look surprised to see them.
"You three," she said sharply. "With me."
Stark swallowed. "What's happening?"
Vale didn't look at him.
"The Network picked up a surge matching your mark's energy frequency."
Aiden stiffened. "So his mark triggered the lockdown."
Vale finally turned, her eyes cold and bright. "No. Something else responded to him."
She gestured to the cracked gate.
"Protocol Dominion was a failsafe from before the Collapse—designed to trap anything related to Summoners. Including you, Stark."
The words hit like cold stone.
Before he could speak, the gate let out a deep cracking sound.
The seal shattered.
Dark light poured through the seam.
[System Warning]
Network Pulse Detected
Source: Unknown Core Node
Synchronization Spike: +9%
Stark — Sync Level: 87%
Lira stepped back. "His sync just rose on its own—!"
Aiden snapped, "Stark, control it—!"
"I'm trying," Stark hissed, gripping his arm. "It's pulling me in."
Vale didn't hesitate.
"All squads—brace for contact!"
The gate exploded.
The Architect's Voice
A tidal wave of energy burst from the core chamber—black, silver, and blue twisting together.
Stark staggered back as the mark on his wrist blazed with unbearable pressure.
Shapes formed within the light—holographic figures, dissolving and re-forming like ghosts trapped in code.
Then a voice rippled through the hall.
Deep.
Ancient.
Patient.
"At last… a Summoner answers."
The temperature dropped.
Frost climbed the walls.
Students collapsed to their knees, clutching their heads.
Aiden gritted his teeth. "What—what is that voice?!"
Lira's wolf whined, crouching low in fear. "It's not a spirit… it's something older…"
Stark felt his vision blur.
The Ash Phantom surged out beside him, chains rattling in panic.
"That is no spirit—it is the Architect. The one who forged the first Summoner. Your mark is its fragment."
Stark gasped. "Why now? Why me?"
The Phantom's voice cracked.
"Because the chain has weakened. It senses freedom."
The Architect's voice echoed again, filling the space like thunder underwater.
"You carry my dominion. You carry my prison. Break the chain… and I return."
Stark felt the world tilt as the mark spread up his arm, branching like dark lightning.
Aiden stepped between him and the core chamber, spear lifted.
"You're not taking him!" he shouted into the shadows.
Lira moved beside him, summoning the wolf. "He's not yours to command!"
The voice laughed quietly.
"You misunderstand. You do not protect him from me… but yourselves from what he will become."
Core Chamber Breach
The cracked gate shattered completely.
At its center stood a massive crystalline structure—like a heart suspended in the air, dark veins pulsing with red and blue light.
Data streamed off it like smoke.
[Object Identified]
Spirit Network Core Node – Dominion Fragment
Status: Corrupted / Active
Threat: Extreme
The core pulsed again.
The shockwave hit them like a tidal wave.
Stark was thrown back into the wall. His vision flickered—
not darkness, but images:
A throne of chains.
Millions of souls moving like rivers.
A giant figure with three glowing eyes.
The fall of the old world.
The Architect whispered—
"Break the chain, Stark. Open the door."
He gasped aloud. "No—!"
Aiden grabbed his shoulder. "Fight it!"
But the mark burned against Aiden's touch, pushing him away with a surge of force.
Lira caught Stark before he collapsed completely.
"You're not doing this alone," she whispered. "We'll stop it together."
Vale's voice rang out across the room.
"All squads—prepare for containment! Stark, stay conscious—we're going inside!"
The core pulsed once more.
The chamber door opened fully.
Darkness swallowed them all.
[System Update]
Mission: Echo of the Calamity — 75%
New Sub-Mission: Core Descent
Objective: Enter the Dominion Node and survive its awakening.
Warning: Stark's synchronization with the Calamity is accelerating.