S Ranked Reincarnation: My Infinite Leveling System
Chapter 20: The Memory War

Chapter 20: The Memory War

Ning Que awoke to suffocating silence.

The medical bay was dim, its white lights flickering overhead. Tubes were still connected to his veins, monitors hummed, and the faint scent of antiseptic was in the air. But it wasn’t the room that bothered him — it was the heaviness he felt in his chest.

Something pulsed beneath his skin, slow and steady, like a second heartbeat fueled by Riftlight.

His fingers twitched.

He sat up, breath hitching.

Across from him, Lyra sat in a metal chair, her knees drawn up, her coat draped across her shoulders like a shield. She looked pale, her golden hair tousled, and there were dark rings under her eyes.

"You’re awake," she said, barely above a whisper. Her voice cracked at the edges.

He nodded once, swallowing hard. "How long?"

"Three hours." She looked at him like he was a bomb she wasn’t sure had stopped ticking. "You were shaking, then glowing. I didn’t know if you were coming back." She was worried.

Ning said nothing. His eyes drifted to the reinforced window above the bed. Outside, clouds gathered unnaturally over the mountainside. Lightning crawled through the sky in crooked lines, but there was no thunder. Just the low hum of energy. Riftlight shimmered faintly along the ridges.

He could still feel the aftershock of the Sovereign Gate.

Then came the voices outside the door.

Aeris. Grandmaster Li. Tao Cheng.

"You can’t be serious," Tao snapped. "He’s unstable."

"Unstable," Li replied calmly, "but alive and evolving. I want to see the end."

Ning’s breath caught.

The system flared in his vision:

> {Warning. Memory Anchor Overload. Rift Contamination spreading beyond host.}

His spine arched as pain erupted behind his eyes. The bed monitors flatlined. Lyra shouted his name — but he was already gone.

He slammed into ground made of ash.

The sky above him was crimson. Not red from sunset — red from the break. The clouds spiraled in impossible patterns, like the world had forgotten what direction meant.

The landscape was a battlefield. Endless, ruined, scorched.

But there were no corpses.

Only shadows floating around aimlessly.

Ning stood shakily, his boots crunching over cracked earth. The air shimmered. He could taste metal. Smoke. And something far older.

Figures approached.

Three.

And each of them... was him.

The first wore black armor etched in gold, a crown of Riftlight hovering above his head like a halo of blades. His eyes glowed with arrogance and cruelty.

"I ruled them," he said with Ning’s voice. "And they feared me. As they should."

The second walked barefoot, draped in torn white robes stained with blood. His face was tired, mouth trembling.

"I died for them," he whispered. "And still they cursed us."

The third kept his hood up. His hands were hidden. He spoke from the shadows.

"I watched it all burn," he murmured. "And I let it."

Ning stumbled backward. "What is this?"

> {Memory-Warrior Projection. Sovereign Conflict Detected. Psychological convergence engaged.}

"You must choose," the tyrant version said, stepping forward. "Rule them again. End the pretending."

The martyr shook his head. "Or redeem us. Make the pain mean something."

The renegade sneered. "Or finally walk away. Let the world fall without you."

Then they attacked him.

Steel met steel.

Ning’s katana formed in his hand with a crackle of Riftlight. The Tyrant fought like fire — overwhelming and relentless. The Martyr moved like water — defensive, elusive, each movement laced with grief. The Renegade struck like wind — silent, fast, leaving no trace.

Ning fought them all, slashing and spinning, heart pounding, teeth clenched.

Each strike sent visions through his mind —

— Lyra’s face, tear-streaked at his bedside. — Mireya screaming as the Sovereign Gate closed. — His own reflection, warped by Riftlight.

Pain lanced through his ribs as the Tyrant drove a blade into his side. He dropped to his knees, gasping, blood spilling from his mouth.

> {Synchronization at 49%. Emotional Anchor destabilizing.}

He closed his eyes. "I... I’m not enough."

Then — a voice. Gentle. Warm.

Lyra’s.

> "You’re not your mistakes. You’re what you choose now."

He opened his eyes.

Stood.

And dropped his blade.

He walked into the Tyrant’s attack, letting the sword pierce him. He gripped the Martyr’s trembling hands and held them. He looked into the Renegade’s eyes and forgave him.

The battlefield cracked like glass.

All three versions shattered into light.

> {Synchronization: 54%} {New Skill Unlocked: Rift Conscience}

Ning’s eyes flew open.

The medical bay ceiling greeted him. So did Lyra, who stumbled backward in shock.

His body glowed faintly — not chaotically like before, but in rhythmic pulses. Riftlight veins traced his skin like tattoos of ancient circuitry.

The katana floated beside the bed, humming.

Lyra was trembling.

Before either of them could speak, the door burst open. Guild enforcers flooded the room, weapons raised. Grandmaster Li followed, coat flaring.

"Stand down!" Aeris barked as she entered behind him. "Lower your weapons!"

"He’s a threat," Li snapped. "He could detonate the entire floor!"

Aeris stepped in front of Ning. "He survived a Sovereign merge. He didn’t detonate. He came back."

Tao appeared behind Li. "And what if next time he doesn’t?"

Lyra moved beside Ning, eyes blazing. "Then maybe you should ask why he had to survive it alone."

Li hesitated.

Then the system chimed, cold and undeniable:

> {ALERT. SECOND GATE ACTIVATING. LOCATION: HAVEN CITY.} {Riftpath interference detected. Sovereign Signature: Unknown.}

Ning Que turned to the window.

In the distance, the clouds over Haven split open, Riftlight flooding the sky like ink spilled into water.

Far across the sea, Mireya stood before a new gate.

Violet wind blew around her. Her coat flapped behind her like a battle flag. Her arm was bandaged — still healing.

Beside her, a man stepped from the shadows.

He was beautiful and terrible all at once. His face was young, but his eyes were old. Riftlight pulsed beneath his skin like veins of starfire.

"Commander breathes again," he said.

Mireya didn’t look at him. "He’s more than that now. The Sovereign Thread is active."

The man smiled. "Then let him remember what it means... to lose everything."

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