Riley saw the fate of stars before they were ever lit.
He felt the heartbeat of beings not yet born and grieved for lives lost a trillion years from now.
He walked through his own past lives—countless of them—spread across various timelines and incarnations, some familiar, others alien and unrecognizable.
And in the deepest recess of the temporal stream, he met himself—a version of Riley that had existed outside linear causality.
A man who had long since become the embodiment of time.
That version smiled, nodded, and disappeared… like mist at dawn.
Back in the void sanctuary, Riley's eyes remained closed, his body floating a few inches above the desert ground he created.
The space around him was no longer still—it pulsed with silent force.
Unlimited energy crackled around him like arcs of lightning slowed to a crawl, weaving ethereal symbols and ancient runes into the air.
