Awakening of the Mind Sovereign
Chapter 71: Echo of Fate

Chapter 71: Echo of Fate

A blinding pulse of energy swallowed Echo whole. The world around him twisted and folded like an ancient parchment set ablaze. For a brief moment, he felt as if he were weightless, suspended in the vastness of the Rift itself, with no sense of time or direction.

Then, reality snapped back into place. His feet hit solid ground. The sensation of falling was replaced by an eerie stillness.

Echo’s vision cleared, and he found himself standing in the heart of the Rift, though it no longer resembled the stone chamber from before. The vast, swirling vortex of energy loomed before him, pulsating like a living heart, its surface rippling with memories of the past and glimpses of the future. The air was thick with power—raw, untamed, and ancient.

And standing at the center of it all was the figure.

It had Echo’s face.

But the resemblance ended there.

This version of him was older, more refined. His eyes glowed with an unnatural golden light, and his body seemed to flicker between solid and spectral, as if he existed on the edge of two realities. His presence alone made the space tremble.

"You have come," the figure said, his voice echoing in the infinite void.

Echo swallowed hard. "Who... what are you?"

The doppelgänger smiled, but it was not a reassuring expression. It was the smile of someone who had seen too much, who had crossed the line between man and something else entirely.

"I am what you could become," the figure said, tilting his head. "Or perhaps what you already are."

A pulse of energy erupted from the Rift, and Echo felt it course through his veins like fire. His own power responded, roaring to life, as if recognizing something familiar yet terrifying in the presence of his counterpart.

The woman’s voice rang out behind him, sharp with urgency. "Echo, step back! That thing isn’t you!"

Echo hesitated. His instincts screamed at him to listen, but a part of him—the part that had always craved answers—held him in place.

"You’ve felt it, haven’t you?" the figure continued, stepping closer. "The hunger. The pull of the Rift. The power inside you... it doesn’t belong to this world." His golden eyes burned with something unrecognizable. "It never did."

Echo clenched his fists, trying to steady himself. "What are you saying?"

"I’m saying that you are not bound by the rules of this world," the figure said. "And neither am I."

Without warning, the doppelgänger raised his hand. The air around them crackled as energy gathered at his fingertips. Echo barely had time to react before the attack was unleashed.

A blast of raw Rift energy shot toward him like a tidal wave. Instinct took over—Echo threw up his hands, his power surging to meet the attack. A barrier formed around him, but the sheer force of the impact sent him skidding backward, his boots carving deep grooves into the stone.

The woman rushed forward, drawing a dagger from her belt. She slashed at the figure, but her blade passed through him like mist. His golden eyes flickered with amusement.

"Pathetic," he muttered.

Then, with a mere gesture, the space around her twisted. The ground beneath her feet crumbled away, and she was flung backward as if reality itself had rejected her presence.

Echo’s blood ran cold.

He had fought before. He had faced death before.

But this...

This was something beyond him.

The doppelgänger turned back to him, raising a single hand. The Rift pulsed in response, the vortex behind him spinning faster.

"Do you understand now?" he asked, his voice smooth. "This is the power of someone who has embraced the Rift. Someone who has accepted what they are." He spread his arms wide. "You can either fight it... or embrace it."

Echo’s mind raced. His magic, his power—it had always been something he struggled to control. But now, looking at the entity before him, he realized something chilling.

This wasn’t just a vision of what he could

This was a warning.

Echo steadied himself. "I don’t need your power," he said, his voice firm. "And I don’t need you."

The doppelgänger laughed, the sound like shattering glass. "Brave words." His golden eyes narrowed. "Let’s see if you truly believe them."

The air between them cracked as the entity lunged, moving faster than Echo could track. A hand wrapped around his throat, lifting him off the ground effortlessly. The moment of contact sent a surge of energy through him, and for an instant, he saw—

A thousand futures.

A thousand versions of himself.

Some were conquerors, ruling worlds with an iron fist. Others were nothing but dust, consumed by the very power they sought to control.

And then, in the very last vision, he saw himself standing alone in the void. No past. No future. Just endless, crushing nothingness.

Echo’s breath caught in his throat.

Was this his fate?

Would he become this... thing?

No.

No.

A surge of defiance roared through him, and with it, his power answered.

Energy exploded outward, forcing the doppelgänger to release him. Echo hit the ground, rolling into a crouch. His body was burning with magic—his magic—not the chaotic force of the Rift, but something else. Something new

The doppelgänger frowned. "Interesting."

Echo exhaled, focusing. The energy inside him was shifting, stabilizing. He could feel something unlocking, something that had been buried deep within him all along.

"You don’t control my fate," he said, his voice steadier than before.

The doppelgänger tilted his head. "We’ll see about that."

The space around them shattered.

Everything went white.

And when Echo opened his eyes again, he was back in the stone chamber, the Rift pulsing behind him. The woman was on the ground nearby, groaning as she pushed herself up.

The figure was gone.

But the mark he left on Echo was undeniable.

The hunger inside him was still there. The power still whispered.

But now... Echo understood it.

He could control it.

---

The wind howled through the ruins, carrying the scent of ash and ancient magic. Echo stood in the center of the broken city, his breath misting in the cold air. He had been here before, but this time, something was different. The weight of the Rift, that malevolent force that had shaped his journey, lingered in the air, like a dark cloud on the horizon.

The figure—the version of himself from the Rift—was gone, but his presence remained like a phantom in the corners of Echo’s mind. What had happened to him in the heart of the Rift? Was it just a vision? Or had it been something far more real?

Echo rubbed his temples, his fingers trembling slightly. The power within him, that insatiable force that had been growing ever since he first unlocked his ability to summon armies, was shifting again. He could feel it, as though it were an entity within him, constantly reaching out, testing his will. It was as if the Rift had left a mark on his very soul.

"Echo..."

The voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned sharply to see the woman—the one who had stood by him through every trial, the one who had given him her trust despite everything—standing a few paces away. Her eyes were wide with concern, though there was a hint of something else too. A quiet apprehension.

"You’re... not yourself," she said softly. "Something’s changed. That thing you fought... was it really you?"

Echo swallowed hard. He didn’t have the answers. All he knew was that after the confrontation, after the Rift had torn him apart and remade him, he felt different. Stronger, yes—but there was something darker within him now, a pull he couldn’t quite ignore.

"I’m not sure what it was," he replied, his voice distant. "But it felt real. More than just a vision." He clenched his fists. "Whatever it was, it’s inside me now. And I don’t know how to control it."