CHAPTER 17: The Seventeenth Fracture

The scroll slipped from my fingers and drifted to the floor like ash.

Still glowing. Still humming.

Still bearing his name.

Arkai Meika.

I hadn’t said that name in what felt like years. Not since the day the Scalar Grid tore open and swallowed me whole.

I stared at the scroll in silence.

“Your twin…” Saaya said softly, sitting across from me, her eyes still fixed on the parchment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to steady my breath.

“Because I thought he was dead. Just like my mom and dad.”

I hesitated, voice tight.

“But how did he get caught up in this world? It doesn’t make sense. Was he spying on me at the lab? Watching while I worked on the scalar simulation loop? Maybe planning a prank? Recording a stream?”

I paused, shook my head. “No… those questions don’t matter now.”

I looked down, voice lowering.

“If he was near me when the collapse happened, he must’ve been pulled in through the edges of the Scalar Grid. Not enough to kill him—just enough to change him. Into the Black Knight.”

Another thought hit me—sudden and cold. I spoke it aloud, even knowing Saaya wouldn’t have the answer.

“Could Arkai have been the same Black Knight I fought in the realm between realms?”

I dropped my head into my hands.

“If what Yuuka said is true—and he’s not entirely mortal—then the gods must’ve gotten their hands on him. Before exiling him to that realm.”

A long pause.

“But even then… how did he escape? There are too many unsolved questions.”

Saaya moved closer. Her hand brushed gently against mine—warm, steady.

“Then maybe it’s time we found the answers.”

I let out a slow breath.

Standing, I walked to the bed and sat down, elbows on my knees, staring at the floor.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to face him again,” I murmured. “I never expected to see him in this world. If it truly is him… I wanted to return to my homeland to see them. Not like this.”

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she followed and sat beside me, shoulder to shoulder. The glow from the scroll still bathed the room in a low, ominous light.

“You don’t have to be ready,” she said. “You just have to be you.”

I turned to her, surprised by the firmness in her voice. Her beautiful violet eyes didn’t waver.

“Even if he’s your brother,” she continued, “and even if this gets worse than either of us can imagine… I’m not leaving your side. Remember the promise I made to you?”

The silence between us felt sacred.

I wanted to say something—anything—but then—

The scroll shivered.

Not physically. The space around it warped—like reality was breathing wrong.

The floor trembled.

A low hum filled the room. Scalar frequency. But unstable. Recursive. Dangerous.

Saaya reached for me instinctively. “Sukara…”

The scroll unfolded itself.

No longer parchment, but a window—a scalar fracture tearing open in midair.

Through the distortion, a figure emerged.

Not in full. Just fragments. Armor. A faint pulse of red light behind a cracked helmet.

Arkai.

But his voice didn’t reach us in words.

It came in flickers. Garbled. Fragmented.

Like a corrupted transmission.

“Ṣ̵̓u̸̟̓k̷͈͋a̴̩͠r̶̹͗a̸̪̚… F̶̰̓r̸͖̿a̸͕͊c̷̗̋t̷̲͌u̴͜͝r̸͕̚e̵͎͝… w̶̻̓r̶̟̿o̵̥̓n̷̄͜g̷̪̉…”

His outline dissolved before we could react—his image glitching into static.

The fracture snapped shut.

The scroll disintegrated into ash.

Saaya exhaled, her voice tight. “What the hell was that?”

I stood slowly, heart pounding. “I don’t know. But it looked like a bleed-through… and it sounded like he’s being controlled. Or worse—rewritten.”

She reached out again, her fingers brushing mine. “He’s not just changed. He’s breaking something. Maybe himself. Maybe more.”

Before I could answer—

A loud slam echoed through the room.

The door burst open.

Three figures stormed into the room—cloaked enforcers clad in anti-magic gear, their eyes glowing with detection runes. Behind them, Principal Lyra entered with a sharp look, her silver staff humming with suppressed energy.

Her gaze swept the room—and immediately locked onto the ash on the floor.

“What happened here?” she demanded. “We detected a scalar rupture strong enough to register at the outer wards.”

I stood up, heart still pounding. “A message came through. From my next opponent.”

Lyra’s eyes narrowed. “A message? That wasn’t a message, it was a breach. Do you have any idea what kind of damage scalar destabilization can cause inside the academy?”

Before I could reply, another figure stepped in behind her—quiet, deliberate.

Yuuka.

She didn’t say a word at first. Just walked forward and knelt by the ashes of the scroll, touching the charred remains with her gloved fingers.

“…It left a signature,” she murmured.

Lyra turned to her, clearly annoyed. “Yuuka, this doesn’t concern—”

“It concerns me,” Yuuka interrupted, standing up. “Because I know who sent it.”

Lyra hesitated. “…Speak.”

Yuuka turned to me. Her expression wasn’t playful this time. It was heavy with meaning.

“That was no ordinary projection. That was a scalar bleed from beyond the Fractal Threshold. Someone—or something—is forcing Arkai’s consciousness through corrupted channels. That kind of message doesn’t just happen.”

“You’re saying he’s being controlled,” I said quietly.

“I’m saying he’s being overwritten,” Yuuka corrected. “And someone is using him as a vector to fracture stability from the inside.”

Lyra looked between us, the gears turning in her head. “You think this is coordinated.”

Yuuka gave a small nod. “I think we’re all just starting to see the edges of what’s coming.”

Then she looked at me again. “Sukara… when you fight him in the next round, it won’t be just to win. It may be the only chance you have to reach what’s left of him. If there is anything left.”

I swallowed, throat dry. Saaya reached for my hand again, squeezing it.

“I’ll bring him back,” I said. “Whatever it takes.”

Yuuka tilted her head. “Just make sure you don’t lose yourself in the process.”

Lyra turned toward the door. “There’s one more thing you need to see.”

We followed her through the corridor beneath the central tower to a reinforced vault chamber lined in scalar-null alloy. A crystalline terminal sat at the center.

She activated it.

ACADEMY REGISTRY – STUDENT DATABASE

A shimmer passed through the air. A profile opened.

Name: Arkai Meika

Status: Enrolled

Origin: External Scalar Injection

Sponsorship: Divine Override Code — Null Class

Next Match: Sukara Meika vs. Arkai Meika

My breath caught. The system had registered him. Officially. Somehow, impossibly… he was here.

My eyes didn’t leave the glowing registry.

“How long?” I asked, voice sharp. “How long have you known he was here?”

Principal Lyra didn’t flinch. “Longer than I’d like to admit.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” I stepped forward. “Why let me walk blind into this?”

Her expression hardened. “Because it wasn’t safe. For you. For him. For anyone.”

“That’s not a reason,” I said. “That’s avoidance.”

“No,” Lyra replied, eyes narrowing. “That’s survival. His arrival didn’t trigger the normal admission protocols. He didn’t arrive—he was placed. And with override clearance the likes of which I’ve never seen. I was under divine lock until the scroll fractured.”

“Divine override…” I echoed.

Yuuka nodded. “That’s what allowed him to bypass standard registration. It’s not just a passcode. It’s a command. One only the high gods—or something higher—can issue.”

Lyra folded her arms. “The moment his file appeared, it was already too late to stop the match from being assigned. All I could do was try to monitor him from the shadows—and pray he didn’t activate.”

And now?” I asked quietly.

Lyra’s gaze turned cold. “Now he was active and you are the cause of it.”

I swallowed hard, the weight of everything crashing down on me.

Saaya and Yuuka just stared at me

“Lyra…” I said quietly, eyes locked on the glowing registry. “If he’s been ‘placed’ here by something beyond… what does that mean for his abilities? What can he do?”

I swallowed hard, eyes still fixed on the glowing registry.

“Lyra…” I asked cautiously, “if he’s been placed here, what do we know about his abilities?”

She hesitated, her expression tightening.

“That’s just it,” she said quietly. “We don’t really know. His classification as Null Class means our usual detection methods don’t work. It’s like he’s… off the grid, beyond our normal reach.”

She shook her head. “We can only guess what he’s capable of. The scroll’s fracture was a rare glimpse—something unstable, definitely scalar in nature, but how far his powers extend… that remains a mystery.”

Her eyes met mine, serious and somber.

“When you face him, expect anything. But know this—he’s not someone we can predict or control. You’ll have to discover his limits yourself.”

Saaya frowned, folding her arms. “If Arkai’s so unstable—if he’s being controlled or rewritten—why is he even following the academy’s rules? Why would he show up for the match at all? It doesn’t make sense.”

Lyra’s eyes darkened as she met Saaya’s gaze. “That’s because Arkai isn’t acting purely on his own will. Deep within his scalar core lies a divine command—an override implanted by a power beyond even the gods who watch over this realm.”

She stepped closer, voice low but firm. “This command binds him to obey the system. It’s like a cosmic leash, forcing him to abide by the rules of the tournament, no matter how fractured or corrupted he is.”

Saaya blinked, absorbing the weight of Lyra’s words. “So, he can’t just refuse or disappear?”

“No,” Lyra said grimly. “Not without risking catastrophic consequences. This divine override keeps him tethered—to the system, to the match, and ultimately, to the confrontation with you.”