Lightning tore the sky.
Kairos stood on a hillside, wind screaming through his coat. At his feet, the world was ablaze—cities collapsing in unison. The horizon pulsed with power that was not of this world, warping the air like heatwaves.
"They've opened the Vault," Riven beside him, gaze elsewhere. "The Circle no longer has use for reincarnates. they're re-writing the cycle."
Veyra spun, her voice acidic. "They found the Anima Core—the pre-First Age soul-engine. That monstrosity does not rewire time—it devours it."
Kairos balled his fists into tight fists. "So we blow it up, then."
Arius shook his head, though. "We can't—at least, not directly. The Core has a temporal shield—passing through it would kill our bodies over centuries."
"So what do we do?" Kairos snarled.
Riven wove a crystal out of his cloak. It hummed with stacked voices.
"We outrun it."
He described: he could jump between alternate timelines of their world through the power of his dream-walking—grasping a moment when the Core was open. A timeline in which the Circle had made a mistake.
"But every jump, your soul is bound," Veyra warned. "Too many, and you'll unravel."
Kairos didn't flinch. "One good timeline. That's all we need."
Riven nodded. "Then cling to yourselves."
He plunged forward—and the world twisted.
---
[Timeline 1: The World of Cinders]
They came into a world burned, where ash rained from the heavens like silver. The Circle already had power here. Black crystal spires pierced the clouds, and cities were stuck in loops.
Here, Kairos was slain—slaughtered in chains.
Arius discovered his own grave, grave-marked with a sword.
"We're too late here," Veyra panted. "Next."
---
[Timeline 2: Shattered Sky]
Magic had torn the air apart here. Earth was broken into fragments floating in the sky. Time lurched. Days were seconds.
And this is how they spoke of themselves—spirits of that world—trapped in endless combat against abominable bodies of the Circle, twisted by the Core.
Riven's voice boomed: "Wrong again."
---
[Timeline 3: The Turning Point]
Then—hope.
They stood in a still forest. The Vault intact. The Core unscathed. The host of the Circle. behind. Here, they had made a deadly error.
For this world had not come cheaply.
This Kairos of this world—living—before them.
Crowned in flame, waves of energy radiating from him.
"You're me," he declared, his eyes icy. "And you brought them."
His eyes locked on Riven—and held.
"I took that dream-walker in the Void ten years ago. He defected."
Riven stepped forward, his jaw clenched. "I made a decision to protect the Nexus."
"And lost us everything," this Kairos growled.
Weapons formed in his fists—two curved soulsteel blades.
Veyra stood between them. "We have no time for this. The Circle is here."
Too late.
A shockwave ripped the air.
The Circle had arrived—dozens of armed enforcers teleporting in, the leader in the middle: The Severed King—half-machine, half-recall, a monster stitched up from dead Kairoses' bodies.
"Found you," it snarled. "All of you."
Fighting erupted.
The forest was a war zone.
Riven danced between chronologies, blurring through blows.
Arius stood firm, cutting through soldiers with cuts preserved by time.
Veyra brought out ancient seals to guard them—but they rattled with every hit.
And Kairos—the true one—met his duplicate.
"You don't have to fight me," he begged. "Help me to end this."
But the crowned Kairos roared, "I am the Flame. You are the shadow."
Their swords met. Stars of sparks rained down about them. Every blow a memory, a recollection.
But our Kairos did not battle to win, but to understand.
And when he saw the grief beneath the crown… he withdrew his sword.
"I forgive you," he told her.
The crowned Kairos lost his footing.
And in that instant of doubt—Kairos reached out and combined himself with him.
Blaze blazed. Memories burst. Two hearts became one.
When fog dissipated, stood a new Kairos taller, stronger, brighter.
Eyes burning with fire eternal.
And he uttered but a single word:
"Enough."
He turned on the Severed King and released the Flameheart, unleashing its full fury to seep through.
Time unspooled.
The Circle howled.
And the Core was now revealed, depleted by the gash in front of it.
"This is our last chance!" Veyra shouted.
Riven did. He blew the last door ajar between worlds.
And Kairos marched through to the Nexus.