SWNOVELXO Chapter 38: Echoes of War
July 16th. 12:16 PM.
The Spiral trembled.
From its cracked sky, fractured spirals opened like wounds.
And through them… they came.
Twisted, familiar, wrong.
Not just Kael.
Not just one.
Everyone.
---
12:17 PM – Spiral Arena
Kael stood over Remnant Kael, breathing hard. The others were arriving now—more Remnants.
Some wore his face. Others… wore theirs.
Dain.
Elle.
Armin.
But each twisted—like wax left too long in the sun. Their eyes shimmered silver, mouths smiling wrong.
"What is this?" Kael growled.
Remnant Kael rose beside him, smiling. "The Spiral has finished recording. These aren't shadows anymore."
He gestured to the incoming wave.
"They're Echo-Prints. Made to replace you."
---
12:18 PM – Dain's Spiral
Dain ran through ankle-deep red water. His double followed, dragging a blade identical to his own, leaving sparks in its wake.
"You froze," the Remnant whispered. "When it mattered."
Dain turned, teeth bared. "I survived."
"Only because he did everything."
The Remnant lunged.
Swords clashed, sparks flying. But the Remnant fought like someone who never doubted himself. No hesitation. No fear.
Dain was losing.
Until—
> "Divine Echo," Kael's voice whispered.
Dain's sword flickered with light.
A clean counterstrike shattered the Remnant's arm.
---
12:21 PM – Elle's Spiral
The forest burned.
Her Remnant stepped from the flames. Unscarred. Untouched. Unburdened.
"You carry guilt like armor," the Remnant said, aiming a spear. "I let it burn."
Elle dove sideways as the first strike cracked the air. She rolled behind a tree, gritting her teeth.
"You're not me," she hissed.
"I'm who you would've been if you didn't keep looking back."
A burst of fire lit the woods—and a dozen copies of her Remnant stepped forward, spears raised.
> "Let's see how long you can carry the past."
---
12:24 PM – Armin's Spiral
Armin's battlefield wasn't a place.
It was a memory.
He stood among corpses of his past self — one's who were weak,fragile,failed and lost.
They rose.
Eyes blank.
Whispers echoing: "Why weren't you strong enough?"
From the center stepped his Remnant.
No shield.
Just a spear—held perfectly.
"Strength isn't kindness," it said. "It's sacrifice."
Armin raised his guard. "Then I'll sacrifice you."
They clashed.
But the Spiral began to rewrite the arena—his fallen remnants warped into mimic hybrids, clawing their way between them.
---
12:26 PM – Kael's Spiral
Kael fought three versions of himself now.
One younger, desperate.
One older, merciless.
One wearing the spiral mask, hands pulsing with energy.
He could barely block their combined assault. Every time he moved, they anticipated.
One whispered, "You're not the first."
Another added, "And you won't be the last."
> Divine Echo. Surge. Echo Snap. Cooldowns vanished. Blades danced.
Kael gritted his teeth.
They weren't using his moves.
They were perfecting them.
Until—
A whisper shook the Spiral.
> "Overwrite initiated. Echo core detected."
Kael froze.
A new spiral opened above.
A Remnant stepped through that wore Kael's body like a suit—but had no face. Just a burning spiral in place of a head.
---
12:29 PM – Spiral Collapse Begins
The sky cracked again.
Reality pulsed.
The entire subspace began shifting—spiral floors rising and breaking apart. Gravity twisted. The Remnants multiplied.
> The Spiral had stopped mimicking.
It was evolving.
Kael fell to one knee. Bloodied. Fading.
Until—
He felt their voices.
Dain.
Elle.
Armin.
All still fighting.
Still standing.
He gritted his teeth.
"This isn't your Echo anymore."
Kael stood, eyes white-hot with energy.
> "You think I'm afraid of myself?"
"Then you've learned nothing."
---
To Be Continued…