Jax ran with the leash glowing brighter than it ever had, the new god-corpse echo thrumming inside it like a second heartbeat. Every footstep sent fresh power crackling up his arm, but the cost was immediate and vicious. Lena's voice no longer whispered. It spoke clearly through the links, raw and wet, exactly as she sounded in the underlevels right now.
"Jax… it's in my mouth."
He stumbled once on the slick stone, the old survival tactic fracturing under the weight. Three moves ahead, he forced himself to think. Reach the surface. Find solid ground. Use the new strength before it uses you. The leash felt alive in a way it never had, almost affectionate, like it had finally found a host it liked.
Mira was right on his heels, breathing hard, her left shoulder jerking violently with every third step. The old flood memory was riding her hard now. "Keep moving!" she snapped. "That thing behind us isn't the only one coming. I can feel the Choir leader binding something from the corpse."
Lira ran silent behind her, her hand pressed to the tunnel wall. Blood streamed from her nose and ears in steady lines. "The futures are stabilizing," she gasped. "Two left. In one we reach the next isle alive. In the other the god-corpse echo takes control and you let it speak with her voice permanently."
The tunnel sloped upward sharply. Behind them the chanting grew louder, dozens of voices overlapping in perfect unison.
"The leash remembers."
"The leash chooses."
"The leash becomes us...."
Jax burst out of the tunnel mouth onto a narrow ledge overlooking another chained isle. The black sea churned far below. The isle itself was a cluster of half-sunken towers linked by swaying bridges of living chain. Flickering fires burned in some of the windows — real fires, other Cursed already camped there. The god-corpse's final groan echoed across the water one last time, then fell silent.
They had made it out of the cavern.
But the Choir leader was already emerging from a parallel tunnel fifty meters to their left, his cracked porcelain mask glowing green. Chains writhed around his arms like living serpents. A dozen cultists fanned out behind him, their own chains rattling in rhythm.
The leader raised one hand. "The echo you carry is ancient. Give it to us and we will end your girl's suffering. Keep it and we will take it while she drowns in real time."
Through the leash Jax saw her again, this time, water over her mouth now, head tilted back, one last desperate breath bubbling out. Her eyes were still open, still looking for him.
The survival math locked back into place, colder and meaner than ever. Three moves ahead. Cross the nearest bridge. Reach the occupied towers. Use the new echo to break their formation. He snapped the leash forward and lashed it around the nearest bridge support. The god-corpse fragment answered instantly, blue light flaring. The bridge chain straightened under the surge, giving them a stable path.
"Go!" he barked.
Mira vaulted onto the bridge first, lightning crackling across her fists. She punched the first cultist who tried to follow, sending him screaming into the black sea. Her shoulder tic was so violent now it looked painful. "I held my brother too long," she growled over her shoulder. "I won't watch you drown the same way."
Lira ran beside Jax, blood dripping steadily. "The leader is binding something from the corpse on his side. He's trying to match your new echo. If he succeeds, the whole bridge collapses."
The Choir leader stepped onto the far end of the bridge. His chains lashed out like whips. One wrapped Lira's ankle and yanked. She hit the chain floor hard, fingers still circling desperately on her thigh. "One future left," she choked out.
Jax whipped his leash sideways. The god-corpse echo surged through the links and slammed into the cult leader's chains. The impact rang like a bell. The leader staggered, mask cracking further, but he laughed behind the porcelain.
"You are already becoming what we worship," he called. "Feel it. The echo wants to wear you. Let it."
The leash tightened around Jax's wrist, warmer, almost loving this time. Lena's voice came through again, soft and pleading.
"Jax… help me I can't breathe."
He felt his free hand rising toward his own throat. The survival tactic slipped for a heartbeat. The new echo was pushing, testing, learning exactly how to make him hesitate.
Mira burned the chain off Lira's ankle with a desperate burst of lightning. "Jax! Move!"
He snapped back into the math, yanked the leash, and fed the god-corpse fragment into the strike. Blue light exploded along the bridge. The Choir leader's chains shattered. The man stumbled backward, mask splitting completely, revealing a face that was already half-shadow, eyes glowing the same green as the nullifiers.
The bridge held.
They reached the far tower just as the first cultists tried to swarm after them. Jax turned at the doorway and lashed the leash one final time. The god-corpse echo roared through the links, shattering the bridge supports. The entire structure collapsed into the black sea, taking half the Choir with it.
Silence fell for a heartbeat.
Then the tower door behind them slammed shut on its own. Firelight from inside spilled across the threshold. Voices murmured —real voices, other Cursed already inside.
Jax stood breathing hard, the leash glowing with fresh power. The new echo settled deep, making the links feel almost alive. Lena's voice had gone quiet again, but he could still feel her through the bleed — water over her nose now, eyes fluttering.
Mira leaned against the wall, shoulder still twitching. "We made it... barely."
Lira wiped blood from her chin, fingers resuming their slow circle. "The futures are shifting again. Something inside this tower already knows we're here. And it wants the same thing the Choir wanted."
The leash pulsed once, warm and patient, as if it already knew what it would ask Jax to feed it next.
He pushed the tower door open and stepped inside.