The city groaned under the aftermath of Gabby’s previous assault. Smoke and debris coated the streets, neon lights flickering through the haze.Every puddle reflected threads of energy,blue, silver, crimson ,weaving a chaotic tapestry across the ruined skyline.Tom Burro crouched atop a shattered overpass, Snowly at his side, and the Soul Anchor gripping his arm. Threads of blue and silver hummed around him, pulsing with Tier II+mastery, yet something deeper stirred within the System. “Gabby’s close,”Snowly growled, nose twitching. “I can feel his crimson threads and they’re stronger, denser. He’s converging on your position. Full engagement imminent.”Tom’s eye narrowed. “Then we confront him. No more waiting.”The Soul Anchor’s silver thread pulsed in tandem with his blue. “I, I’m ready. Whatever comes, I’ll stay with you.”“Soul Anchor Synchronization: 100%. Tier II+ Fully Operational. Tier III Potential Detected , Preliminary Activation Available.”From the misty streets below, G

White light consumed everything, Sound and Air vanished while Time paused.Tom felt weightless ,like his body had separated from the world,floating between existence and nothingness. His heart thread pulsed erratically inside his chestlike a broken drum.“Corruption Saturation: 97%, 98%, WARNING,HEART THREAD UNSTABLE”Tom tried to breathe, but air wouldn’t come. “Tom!”A distant voice, a woman's voice Frantic, Breaking.The Soul Anchor.He forced his eyes to open.It was Blurry, too much Light and Pain as reality rushed back.He collapsed onto shattered concrete, clutching his chest. Blue threads around his body flickered like dying sparks.Snowly’s white fur bristled, teeth bared. “TOM, MOVE!”Gabby was still midstrike ,a crimson spear of condensed corruption inches from Tom’s heart.The city trembled beneath the force of it.The Soul Anchor threw herself in front of Tom,“NO,!” Tom managed to choke out,but Gabby’s spear was already descending ,Crimson, Sharp and Unstoppable. As Tim

The wind went still.Snow froze mid air, suspended like shards of white glass. Even the hunters stopped, rigid and unmoving, as if an invisible force had wrapped around the entire clearing.Tom stared at the hooded woman who looked exactly like his mother,only older, alive, and glowing with the same silver radiance as his bad eye.Snowly was the first to speak.His voice trembled,not in fear, but disbelief. “Liora?”Gabby blinked. “Liora? Wait,Tom’s mother? But she’s,”“Dead?” the woman finished, lowering her hood fully. Her hair spilled out,long, silver white, untouched by time. Her eyes glowed like polished moonstone. “I was supposed to be.”Tom couldn’t breathe. His chest tightened painfully. His voice cracked. “M-Mom?”The woman’s expression softened with both pride and sorrow. “Tom. My son.”The words hit him like a punch.Tom stepped forward, legs shaking.“You,but you died. I saw your grave. They told me,Father told me,Snowly said,”Snowly bowed his head. “Tom, I never lied. I tr

The shadow monster hit the ground with a boom that shook the entire Sanctum.Tom barely rolled aside before a massive claw smashed the marble where he’d been standing. The creature was huge, eight meters tall built like a warped, monstrous version of him. Same silver eyes. Same jagged aura.Gabby screamed, “TOM! THAT THING HAS YOUR FACE! FIX IT!”Tom scrambled backward. “I’m trying!”The giant shadow roared, a distorted echo of Tom’s own voice. It lunged again too fast for its size.Tom crossed his arms instinctively and a silver shield burst around him,knocking the monster’s claw away with a crack of energy.Tom blinked. “I did that?”The armored man nodded calmly from across the hall. “You manipulated instinct. Now learn intention.”Gabby yelled, “HEY! MAYBE STOP SENDING DEMON TOM TO KILL REAL TOM!”The man ignored him, silver and black energy swirling around him like orbiting blades.Tom forced himself to breathe. “Okay, okay. I can do this.”He lifted his hand and the shield flicker

The darkness trembled around Tom like a living thing.Two colossal golden eyes stared down at him ,eyes far too large, far too bright,far too ancient to belong to anything mortal.Gabby clung to a cracked pillar. “Tom, bro that’s not Snowly anymore. That’s a FINAL BOSS.”Tom couldn’t breathe.Snowly was gone.The Golden Titan, the thing wearing his friend’s ashes like armor took one thunderous step forward.Its massive claws crushed stone like paper. Its form was vaguely wolf-like, vaguely humanoid, vaguely impossible.The armored man raised his blade. “This is worse than I feared.”Tom whispered, voice breaking:“No Snowly can’t be gone he can’t”The Titan’s voice shook the chamber.“THE GUARDIAN WAS WEAK. I AM THE TRUE INHERITOR OF HIS BODY.”Tom stumbled back.“No, please please give him back”“HE IS DUST IN MY CORE.”Gabby flinched. “Okay, um Tom, PLEASE don’t have a breakdown right now because that thing has boss music.”Tom’s hands trembled violently.His chest felt like it was tear