The Forge of the God of War burned with divine fire, its flames shining in the Goddess of Wisdom's crystal eyes. Elara drank ambrosia from a screaming mortal-shaped goblet. "Your brute strength entertains me, Kaelos. But to shatter the Universe, we need to shatter his illusion."
Kaelos slammed a fist, shattering a star anvil. "Enough riddles! My Titans failed. Your Echo failed. What next? A tea party?"
Elara smiled.
"A test of duality. Send your champion to the mortal world—not to battle, but to reveal him. Let the mortals rip their savior apart."
She hurled a silver coin into the flames. It melted, forming a sigil—a snake eating its tail.
"Speak to Veythos. The God of Paradox."
A figure emerged, his face veiled in shifting shadows, his face young and ancient. "I'll cause the Creator's lies… to unravel themselves."
Astra Academy was abuzz with gossip. Ravi's "snow globe of doom" rested on Professor Elm's desk, tagged "Artifact: Handle with Delusion." Students took selfies without realizing it contained a divine assassin.
Ravi leaned over his desk, drawing Kaelos in a puffy apron. Liora kicked his chair. "Wake up. Seraphina's questioning everyone about the Shard."
"Relax! I'm just a guy who stumbles into trouble," he said, yawning.
Lysandra leaned against his shoulder, her breath cold. "Such modesty. Almost as if you're hiding celestial secrets."
Mira squealed, knocking her healing kit all over. "N-no one's hiding anything!"
Klaus took the snow globe. "Bet this stuff's what pushed the Titan out. Watch—it'll burst if I—"
Crack.
The room froze. A wisp of shadow seeped out.
Ravi exhaled. All that for subtlety.
Veythos appeared in the slums, his presence distorting reality. A beggar's amputated leg grew back; a flower wilts and blooms immediately. He leaned into a child and whispered, "The Universe walks among you. But does he save… or destroy?"
By morning, the city divided: cults praying to The Universe were at odds with mobs accusing him of causing plagues.
Seraphina stormed into Ravi's dorm, Shard in hand. "You. Now."
Seraphina's research had the acrid scent of burned sage and paranoia. The Shard hovered between them, pulsating like a heartbeat.
"The Titan retreated when you 'tripped.' The Echo vanished near your snow globe. Explain."
Ravi massaged his head. "Coincidence?"
"Liar." She slammed the Shard onto the desk. The room was lit up in scarlet light—recollections flashed: Ravi closing the Titan, playing with the Echo.
Oops.
Seraphina drew a dagger.
"Who. Are. You."
Ravi grinned. "A man in desperate need of a nap?"
The Shard screamed.
Veythos burst in a shower of contradictions—singing rocks, plummeting flames. "REVEAL YOURSELF, CREATOR!"
Ravi took cover behind a statue, trading identities step-by-step. The Universe arrived, cloak spinning with galaxies.
"Party crashers get turned into lawn gnomes."
"I am contradiction," Veythos hissed. "For every lie you spawn, I birth truth."
He snapped—The cloak of the Universe unraveled, exposing Ravi's face to the masses.
Gasps erupted. "The blacksmith's boy!!"
Ravi yawned.
"Deepfake. Have you heard of it?"
He suddenly snapped back, turning Veythos into a garden gnome.
The crowd paused. "Perhaps. perhaps it's a trick?"
Veythos' voice squeaked from the gnome: "He's lying!"
Ravi kicked it into a pond. "Gnomes should be seen, not heard."
Liora pinned Ravi after combat. "The gnome… that was you. Wasn't it?"
"Nope. Definitely a gnome."
She clutched his collar. "I'm not your fool."
Lysandra materialized, smiling. "Oh, but fools make the best pets."
Mira rushed in, crying. "P-please don't quarrel! Ravi's… Ravi's just Ravi!"
Ravi stroked her head. "Just that! Just a napping type of fellow… and occasionally saves the world."
In the goddess's kingdom, Elara glared at her broken chessboard.
"He mocks us."
Kaelos growled.
"Next time, I go myself."
Ravi tossed the gnome into one of his bedroom drawers. The Shard pulsed underneath his pillow, whispering: " Become. Become. Become." He grinned. Not yet. The show's just getting good.