Heir Rejected: Bound by the Legacy System

Chapter 6: The Forgotten Flame

The moment Kieran activated the beacon, the countdown began.

Override Broadcast Detected

Node 03 Termination Scheduled: 12:00:00

Current Target: Node 03 – “The Forgotten Flame”

Location: Ash Vault Subgrid | Clearance: Restricted

The air felt heavier. The war had truly begun.

Kieran stood atop a derelict comm tower overlooking Glen Sector 12—a husk of a district scorched by the last system war. Every building bore fire damage or was riddled with bullet holes, and the underground entrances were sealed or buried.

“An ex-military Echo Node,” Skye said, scanning the map, “hiding beneath an incinerated city block. How poetic.”

“How do we get in?” Kieran asked.

She tapped the interface. “There’s a single access tunnel through an old heat disposal conduit. Problem is… it’s Override-patrolled.”

“Then we go through them.”

He didn’t say it like a threat.

He said it like a promise.

Meanwhile…

Far below Glen’s outer shell, in the metallic bowels of the Ash Vault, a figure moved with precision through shadow. Broad-shouldered. Hair shaved down to the scalp. Eyes glowing faintly red from past system fusion surgeries.

She didn’t flinch as alarms pulsed red along the walls.

CULLING PROTOCOL: ACTIVE

Target Node 03 – Eliminate or Retrieve

Override Unit Assigned: SC-09 ("Seraph-Class")

She wasn’t just Override.

She had once been something else.

Something pure.

Her name, long buried beneath reprogramming, once held the crest of Blackwell.

But now she answered only to one code:

Designation: WRAITH

Kieran and Skye reached the scorched access pipe by nightfall. The stench of charred steel and burnt coolant filled the air. Rusted pipes hissed sporadically, and remnants of an old Blackwell military facility loomed in the distance.

Access Point Verified: Ash Vault Tunnel Entry

System Notice: Unstable Energy Fields Detected. Expect System Interference.

Kieran's panel flickered as they passed through the threshold. Even his HUD distorted slightly.

“Feels like something’s trying to jam us,” he muttered.

“Override suppression field,” Skye said. “Standard protocol when they move to terminate an Echo.”

“Which means they’re already here.”

They slipped deeper underground. The tunnels stretched endlessly, carved into scorched basalt and rebar. Ash fell from the ceiling like snow.

Time Remaining: 08:53:12

Suddenly, a voice cut through the stillness.

“Stop where you are.”

They froze.

A figure stepped from the shadows, wearing a blackened combat vest and a utility cloak fashioned from shredded banners of the Glen 9th Resistance.

She held a pulse rifle, but didn’t aim it.

Kieran stepped forward.

“You’re Node 03,” he said quietly.

She studied him with soldier’s eyes—calculating, hard.

“That name’s long dead. They called me Ember. Before that, Captain Lyra Kael.”

He blinked.

“Kael?” he echoed. “But… that’s—”

“Your aunt,” she finished. “My brother was your father.”

Skye let out a low whistle. “Guess the family reunion comes with firepower.”

Lyra narrowed her eyes.

“Why are you here?”

“I chose Echo War,” Kieran replied. “The Prophet gave me the first beacon. You’re next. We need to unite the legacy nodes before the system wipes us out.”

She looked away for a long moment. The ash danced silently.

“I lost everything in the Blackwell collapse,” she said. “My squad. My command. My mind. I thought the system would kill me. Instead, it buried me.”

“You survived.”

“I burned,” she said simply. “But maybe that’s what we do.”

Kieran stepped forward and handed her the second beacon.

“Then help me light the others.”

She stared at the device for a moment… then took it.

Beacon Accepted: Node 03 Reactivated

Resistance Influence +10 (Total: 20)

Trait Gained: Ember’s Resolve – +20% morale in battle, +2% flame damage to Override constructs.

But the moment she accepted—

ALERT: Override Lockdown Engaged

Proximity Alert – Seraph-Class Enforcer Approaching

Lyra’s face turned grim. “They sent her?”

“Who?” Kieran asked.

She loaded her rifle.

“Her name was Dahlia Blackwell. Before they reprogrammed her.”

Kieran’s heart dropped.

“My cousin?”

“She doesn’t remember. She’s Override now. No soul. Just the mission.”

The walls trembled. A high-pitched screech rang out like metal being torn apart by lightning.

From the darkness emerged a woman in white combat armor laced with obsidian veins. Her eyes glowed gold. A black crown of interface wires pulsed across her scalp.

She was beautiful in a terrifying, hollow way.

Override Entity: SC-09 – Seraph-Class Reclaimer

Alias: WRAITH

Threat Level: Apex

Warning: Engage with extreme caution

Dahlia’s voice echoed—flat and synthetic.

“Node 03: You are scheduled for erasure.”

“Scion-Blackwell: You are classified as corrupted inheritance.”

“Resistance members will be repurposed.”

“Still poetic, even without a soul,” Lyra muttered.

Kieran stepped beside her. “We fight together.”

WRAITH extended her hands. Twin blades formed—liquid metal solidifying midair.

Battle Initiated

Allies: Kieran Blackwell, Skye, Lyra Kael

Foe: Override Seraph-Class – WRAITH

The chamber exploded into action.

WRAITH moved like lightning—her blades carving through steel supports with ease. Skye darted left, trying to flank. Lyra opened fire, forcing WRAITH into evasive spins.

Kieran activated Combat Sync, gaining a second of warning before WRAITH spun and slashed at him. He blocked with a summoned shield—barely.

Vitality: 87%

System Lag: 3% – Suppression Field Active

“She's faster than the others,” Kieran panted.

“She was built to be,” Lyra said. “Override’s perfect weapon.”

Legacy Point Available: Use to unlock Flame Resonance (Unique Skill)?

Effect: Borrow Lyra’s legacy lineage temporarily. Access Ember Mode.

He tapped YES.

His body surged with heat. Symbols traced across his arms, glowing like embers. His breath steamed.

Skill Unlocked: Ember Mode (15s)

Effect: Enhanced speed, +Fire Damage, Bonus to morale aura

He clashed with WRAITH, his blade now burning red with inherited power. Sparks flew as the two locked weapons.

He saw it then—flickers in her eyes. Pain. Memory.

“You remember me,” he said.

She paused.

Just for a second.

Then she screamed—and drove him backward.

The team fought like hell.

Skye threw EMP charges. Lyra scorched the arena with flame bursts.

But WRAITH adapted. Recalculated.

Then—she changed tactics.

She fired a beacon into the ceiling.

System Notice: Override Reinforcement Beacon Launched

Arrival ETA: 02:00

Kieran stared. “She’s calling for backup.”

WRAITH’s face split into a mechanical smile.

“This isn’t an execution,” she said.

“It’s a warhead drop.”

And with that—she vanished into vapor.

Kieran, bruised and bloody, turned to Lyra.

“We have two hours.”

“Then we dig in,” she said, eyes burning.

“We make our stand.”