Chapter 33: When Protocols Collide
The world shifts when shadows meet a mirror.
Ryo stood alone in the fractured remnants of the gate—a field of warped, static-like air buzzing around him. The last mission had left him bloodied, drained, and colder than ever. The team sent with him never made it out. Protocol Squad Echo was annihilated. But he didn't mourn them.
He couldn't afford to.
His thoughts were interrupted by the unfamiliar whir of data surging through the environment. The Shadow Protocol in his core pulsed erratically.
[ALERT: INTERFERENCE DETECTED.][Unknown Protocol Signature: Conflux-Class – Authority: Alpha.][Shadow Protocol Stability: 67%... 53%... 41%...]
"What the hell is this?" Ryo muttered.
A figure stepped out from the rippling distortion. Clad in a long black coat etched with crimson code, their eyes shimmered with binary. A presence that radiated danger… and familiarity.
"You're the rogue," the figure said. "The one who activated the Shadow Protocol without clearance. You shouldn't exist."
Ryo narrowed his eyes. "Neither should you."
[Protocol Clash Imminent.][Shadow Protocol engaging in Defensive Partition Mode.]
The ground beneath them cracked as two opposing protocols—systems born from the same forbidden lineage—began to push against each other.
"Name?" Ryo demanded.
"Cipher. Protocol Alpha user. I was created to delete anomalies like you."
Then Cipher moved, a blur of code and steel. Ryo barely reacted in time, shadow-stepping across the rubble to dodge a strike that shattered a concrete slab like glass.
Their battle was beyond human—data collided mid-air, forming warped spatial pockets. Cipher's strikes emitted corrupted shockwaves, tearing reality in short pulses. Ryo's shadows fought to counter, forming claws, chains, and shields.
But Cipher was different.
For the first time since awakening the Shadow Protocol, Ryo was losing.
[Protocol Fragmentation Detected.][Estimated Time to Collapse: 03:17]
"You think this power belongs to you, kid?" Cipher sneered. "You're just a test. A glitch that got lucky."
Ryo gritted his teeth, shadows flickering wildly around him. "I didn't ask for this power. But I'm not letting it go."
[Override Attempt Initialized.][Shadow Protocol: Phantom Layer Unlocked.]
Cipher's smile faltered.
Darkness bloomed behind Ryo, spreading like wings of void and static. His entire body surged with raw energy—not refined, but primal. Desperate. Determined.
He charged.
What followed wasn't a battle—it was an eruption. The world bent as protocol met protocol, energy cracked the sky above, and distant sensors across the world flared.
The clash ended in a blinding pulse that flattened the area for miles.
When the dust cleared, Ryo knelt, coughing blood. Cipher lay half-buried in rubble, his eyes wide in disbelief.
"You… unlocked Phantom Layer…" he wheezed.
Before Ryo could speak, Cipher's body flickered and vanished—digitized into code and stolen by something unseen.
[Shadow Protocol Stabilizing.][New Threat Identified: Protocol Authority Division – Alpha Protocol Detachment.][Warning: Shadow Sovereign status prematurely triggered.]
Ryo stood, the wind cutting through him like blades.
The Protocol War had just begun.
End of Chapter 33