CHAPTER 58: [58] THE LAST ECHO

"Among those who walk the burning edge between worlds, one name is whispered with equal parts awe and fear. She is the final voice of a legacy written in blood and crystal. The Last Echo—where her spear strikes, reality itself trembles. They say she fights with the wisdom of a hundred lifetimes, each movement a symphony of inherited power. Some claim she cannot be killed, for how do you silence an echo that carries the voices of those long gone? When gates tremble and monsters flee, you will know—The Last Echo has arrived."

—Hunter Network promotional segment, sponsored by Phoenix Imperium

***

Thalia hated that tagline.

She adjusted her spear harness, tightening the strap across her chest as her team filed into the simulation chamber. The purplish haze typical of Tier-2 gates enveloped them, casting everything in an eerie glow that made the crystalline structures sprouting from the ground shimmer like wet obsidian.

"Are you getting this?" Ryan Matthews held his camera at arm’s length, his face too close to the lens. "We’re here with the legendary Last Echo herself, about to enter a recreation of the infamous Osaka Incident gate that claimed an entire C-rank team back in 2040!"

"Ryan." Thalia’s voice carried a warning edge.

"Come on, Thalia." Ryan’s boyish face broke into a grin that never failed to annoy her. "Think of the first-years watching. We’re showing them what real hunters do."

Thalia ignored him, scanning the terrain. The simulation had recreated the gate with impressive accuracy—twisted crystal formations jutted from the ground at impossible angles. The air smelled wrong, like ozone and something sweetly rotten.

Cassandra Moore approached, her twin daggers already drawn. The redhead stood at Thalia’s right shoulder, where she always positioned herself during missions. "Perimeter’s clear. Eliot and Vince are checking the western approach."

"And the gate core?" Thalia asked.

"Initial readings put it about eight hundred meters northeast, inside what looks like a cathedral structure." Cassandra tapped her wrist display. "Same as the original reports."

Thalia nodded. "Good. We’ll use formation three."

"We’re ready when you are." Cassandra’s green eyes darted to Ryan, who was still narrating to his camera. "Though some of us might be more ready than others."

"I heard that!" Ryan called over, not bothering to lower his camera. "Just doing my job as team chronicler."

"Your job is combat support," Thalia reminded him. She turned to address the whole team as Eliot and Vince rejoined them. "Listen up. The Osaka Incident wasn’t just a random gate failure. The team that died here made specific mistakes we can learn from."

Eliot Cooper, a tall Black man with close-cropped hair and a permanent half-smile, leaned on his staff. "Their first mistake was splitting up, right?"

"Yes." Thalia pointed toward the twisted crystal formations. "The gate reports indicated unusual sound-dampening properties. The team leader sent two members to scout ahead, but once they were fifty meters in, communications failed."

Vince Rodriguez checked his bow string tension. "So we stick together no matter what."

"Exactly." Thalia drew her variable-length spear from its harness, extending it to full combat length with a flick of her wrist. "And remember, this simulation won’t have the standard gate interface we’re used to."

"Yeah, weird entering a gate without that voice," Ryan said, still filming. "You know, the one that goes:

『Hunters! Welcome to the Gate!』

『Gate Type: Whatever!』

『Clear Conditions: Kill stuff!』

『Time until Gate Crash: Don’t be late!』"

Vince snorted. "Even the GGA hasn’t figured out how to replicate that. Whatever generates those messages is built into the gates themselves."

"Focus." Thalia stepped forward, her spear tip leading the way. "We know what gate this is. We know what killed the original team. Let’s not repeat their mistakes."

The group moved forward into the crystalline landscape. With each step, the environment grew more alien. The ground beneath their feet transitioned from normal dirt to a glassy, reflective surface that seemed to ripple like water despite being solid. The crystals grew more numerous, some reaching twenty feet high, their surfaces not smooth but covered in what looked like thousands of tiny mouths that silently opened and closed.

"This is seriously messed up," Eliot muttered, keeping his staff at the ready.

"The reports mentioned crystalline structures, but nothing about... mouths," Cassandra said, her daggers glinting in the purple light.

"The simulation might be extrapolating based on limited data," Thalia replied. "Stay alert."

Ryan kept his camera rolling. "We’re now entering deeper into the gate environment. Notice the unusual crystal formations—are those mouths? This is the kind of nightmare fuel that makes Tier-2 gates so dangerous despite their relatively low ranking."

Thalia shot him a glare but said nothing. The path ahead narrowed between two massive crystal formations, creating a natural choke point. She held up her hand, stopping the team.

"Something’s not right." She crouched, examining the glassy floor. Tiny ripples spread outward from where her boot touched the surface. "The floor is reactive."

As if responding to her words, the ripples increased, spreading outward in concentric circles. The circles began to rise from the floor, forming perfect spheres suspended in mid-air.

"Defensive positions," Thalia ordered calmly.

The spheres hovered for a moment before suddenly shooting toward the team. Thalia’s spear moved in a blur, slicing through three spheres in a single motion. They burst like bubbles, releasing a gas that smelled like burnt sugar.

Eliot spun his staff, creating a barrier of blue energy that intercepted several more spheres. "These weren’t in the reports!"

"The original team didn’t live long enough to report everything," Thalia replied, her spear dancing through the air as more spheres formed and attacked.

Vince’s bow sang as he fired three arrows simultaneously, each one piercing a sphere with perfect accuracy. "Gas seems non-toxic, but I wouldn’t breathe it if I were you!"

Cassandra became a whirlwind, her daggers leaving trails of red light as she cut through the spheres. "They’re coming faster now!"

Thalia’s eyes narrowed as she assessed the situation. The spheres were indeed multiplying, and larger ones were forming at the edges of the chamber. This wasn’t just a simple attack—it was a test.

"Ryan, barrier field, now!" she commanded.

Ryan finally lowered his camera, his playful demeanor vanishing as he raised both hands. Golden light spilled from his palms, forming a dome around the team. "Barrier active, but I can only hold it for two minutes at this density!"

Protected temporarily by Ryan’s barrier, Thalia closed her eyes. Her Soul Imprint activated, purple energy crackling along her spear and across her body in intricate patterns.

"Purple Haze," she whispered.

The air around her rippled as if with heat, and four perfect copies of herself materialized, each holding an identical spear. The illusions spread out within the barrier, taking positions at cardinal points.

"I’ll clear a path," Thalia said. "When I give the word, Ryan drops the barrier, and we move through the northeast passage toward the cathedral."

Her team nodded, readying themselves. The barrier crackled as more spheres impacted it, some now the size of beach balls.

"Now!"

The barrier dropped. Instantly, Thalia and her four duplicates moved in perfect synchronization, their spears cutting through the air in identical arcs. Where the original team had failed to adapt to the gate’s unusual properties, Thalia’s team moved like a single organism, covering each other’s blind spots.

The largest sphere, nearly six feet in diameter, descended toward them from above. Thalia pointed her spear upward, electrical energy coursing along the shaft.

"Puppet’s Shadow!"

A bolt of purple lightning shot from her spear tip, striking the massive sphere. Instead of bursting, the sphere absorbed the energy, glowing brighter—but Thalia smiled. The lightning bolt hadn’t been meant to destroy it.

"Eliot!"

Eliot slammed his staff into the ground. The energy Thalia had fed into the sphere suddenly reversed polarity, causing the sphere to implode with a thunderous crack. The shockwave cleared the area of all remaining spheres, leaving a momentary path toward the cathedral structure.

"Move!" Thalia ordered, and her team sprinted forward.

They reached the cathedral entrance—a massive doorway formed of interlocking crystal shards that resembled teeth more than architecture. Inside, the space opened into a cavernous chamber where gravity seemed optional. Crystal formations hung suspended in mid-air, slowly rotating. The floor rose in places to form platforms at various heights.

And in the center, suspended above a pit of swirling purple energy, hovered what could only be described as the gate core—a pulsating crystal the size of a car, covered in the same tiny mouths they’d seen outside.

All silently screaming.

"There’s our target," Thalia said. "The original team never made it this far."

"I can see why," Vince muttered, nocking an arrow. "Look."

From behind the floating crystal formations emerged the gate’s guardians. They resembled humans only in the most basic sense—bipedal creatures with elongated limbs that bent at unnatural angles. Where faces should be, they had only smooth crystal surfaces that reflected the team’s own expressions back at them.

"Mirror Men," Cassandra whispered. "The reports mentioned them, but the descriptions didn’t do them justice."

Ryan raised his camera again, his voice hushed. "We’re now face-to-face with the entities responsible for the Osaka Incident. Mirror Men—gate creatures that reportedly mimic hunter abilities."

The Mirror Men tilted their featureless heads in unison, as if curious. Then, with frightening speed, they charged.