Beneath the Ashen Cradle Mountains, hidden behind a waterfall carved into obsidian stone, the Origin Lab slept.
It was older than any known Jericho facility. Forgotten even by most of the Black Circuit. But Sierra's data led Zayne here — to a place that once turned dreams into weapons.
Zayne stood at the mouth of the cave, Inferno blade at his side, cloak flapping in the icy wind. Sierra's voice crackled through the comms.
"According to decrypted files, this is where Subject Zero was created."
Zayne's jaw clenched. "And I was Subject One."
He stepped inside.
The Descent
The passage down was narrow, lined with rusted rails and broken lights. As Zayne moved deeper, heat radiated from the stone, unnatural and pulsing.
Every step felt like a memory he didn't have.
Every flicker of motion in the corner of his vision felt like a ghost.
Then — the stairs ended.
Before him: a massive underground chamber. Suspended in its center was a tank — cracked but glowing with faint red light. Beneath it, dozens of pods, all shattered. Burned.
Something terrible had happened here.
Zayne approached the central terminal.
He wiped away dust, powered it up, and the old interface buzzed to life.
[PROJECT: V-O-X][STATUS: TERMINATED][BACKUP FILE: FRAGMENTS FOUND]
He accessed the fragments.
Images and voices played on the screen.
A woman — screaming.
A boy — restrained.
Riven — younger, hunched, speaking into a recorder.
"The Inferno Protocol reacts to pain. Not physical. Emotional. The more trauma introduced, the more combustion potential. We've never seen a subject adapt faster than Z-1…"
Zayne's hands shook.
Riven had designed him not to survive pain — but to depend on it.
He wasn't just built for war.
He was built to burn.
Discovery of the Void Core
A sudden hum shook the lab. The main chamber lights flickered as a panel in the floor slid open, revealing a glowing sphere — pitch black, rimmed with red veins pulsing like a heart.
Sierra's voice returned. "That's… not Jericho tech."
Zayne scanned it.
[UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE][DESIGNATION: VOID CORE][WARNING: SENTIENT RISK]
As he reached for it, a voice echoed — not aloud, but in his mind.
"I remember you…"
Zayne staggered back.
"You burned the others. You're the one who screamed so loud we split time…"
Flashes filled his vision — alternate realities, failed loops, destroyed timelines.
The Void Core was alive. And it had seen him before — again and again.
"You are the Cycle's Flame," it whispered. "The End… and the Beginning."
Zayne pulled back, gasping. "What the hell am I?"
Arrival of the Revenants
Before he could process it — movement.
Figures dropped from above. Half-metal, half-shadow — Revenants. Riven's personal assassins, bound to the Void Core's energy.
The lead one spoke with a mechanical rasp. "Dr. Riven sends his regards."
Zayne unsheathed his blade. "Tell him I'll return the favor — with interest."
The fight erupted.
Zayne became fire and fury, dodging between attackers, slicing with atomic precision. The chamber lit up with flame trails and collapsing machines.
But these weren't like before.
They adapted.
One caught Zayne's blade with its bare hand, melting but still pushing forward. Another wrapped a chain around his neck, pulling him into a pod.
Zayne surged with Inferno Protocol — a burst that turned three Revenants to ash.
He coughed blood.
His vision blurred.
He was outnumbered.
Then — the Void Core pulsed again.
"I can give you more."
Zayne hesitated.
"Unlock your true protocol. The one they sealed."
He had a choice.
Burn out now…
…or accept the unknown.
He slammed his hand on the Core.
Energy surged through him — black, red, endless.
A new system activated.
[PROTOCOL: ASHBRINGER][LIMITER REMOVED][WARNING: EXISTENTIAL RISK 98%]
Zayne roared.
Ashbringer: Birth of a New Power
He didn't glow.
He consumed light.
His body radiated a cold flame, like entropy itself wrapped in motion.
The Revenants backed away.
Zayne moved once.
And everything burned — without heat, without fire, just pure erasure.
He stood in the center of the silent chamber, alone, pulsing with a power that didn't belong in this world.
Then, his knees buckled.
Sierra's voice cried out, "Zayne, your vitals are collapsing!"
But Zayne smiled.
He had touched the truth.
He had seen the edge of the Void.
And now… he had what he needed to kill Riven.
End of Chapter 18
Next:Chapter 19 – "Ashes Against the Machine"