The sky above the Ashen Wastes churned with clouds of metallic sheen, and at its heart, the silver rift pulsed like a heartbeat echoing across dimensions. Unlike the ominous darkness of Zhan Wuhen's void, this rift radiated something else—neither evil nor pure, but ancient and unknowable.
Jin Long, still catching his breath from the Trial of Flame, stood at the canyon's edge and stared up. His Core pulsed violently inside him, reacting with both fear and curiosity.
Yue Lan stepped beside him, her face pale but resolute. "This energy... it's not from this world."
Valen approached slowly, his molten armor cooling, eyes narrowing. "I've heard whispers of the Silver Path. A rift not born of light or dark—but of time itself."
"Time?" Jin Long asked, gripping his sword. "You mean… the future?"
Valen shook his head. "No. Not just the future. All timelines. All possibilities. The Silver Rift is where destinies collide. If Zhan Wuhen's power stems from the void… then the force behind this rift exists to balance it."
Suddenly, from the rift, a figure descended.
Unlike Zhan Wuhen, this one wasn't made of shadow, but of luminous threads—like strands of fate woven into a humanoid form. She landed gracefully, barefoot on air, silver hair billowing as if underwater. Her eyes shimmered with countless galaxies.
"I am Elarys," she said, her voice layered with echoes of a thousand selves. "The Weaver of Fate."
Jin Long's grip on his blade tightened. "What do you want?"
"To warn you," Elarys replied calmly. "Each time the Genesis Core awakens a fragment of itself, you shift the balance between existence and annihilation. Zhan Wuhen does not seek power alone. He seeks convergence—the moment when all timelines collapse into one where he reigns eternal."
Yue Lan stepped forward. "And what do you seek, Weaver?"
Elarys raised her hand, and in it materialized a shard of glowing crystal—neither fire nor void, but neutral essence, a pure fragment of probability.
"I offer a choice," she said, her tone grave. "You may follow the path of fire, the path of light, or…" she looked toward the rift behind her, "walk the Silver Path—to gain foresight, but risk unraveling the present."
Jin Long hesitated.
The Genesis Core within him stirred, humming in resonance with the crystal.
Yue Lan touched his arm gently. "We came this far to protect the future, Jin. But maybe… to protect it, we need to see it."
Jin Long locked eyes with Elarys. "If I walk this path, will I understand what Wuhen truly wants?"
Elarys nodded. "You will see what he becomes. And what you must become to stop him."
He took a deep breath… and stepped into the Silver Rift.
In an instant, the world around him melted into threads of time—visions flickering before his eyes: entire worlds burning, Yue Lan falling into darkness, Zhan Wuhen standing atop a tower of bones.
But among them, a glimpse of hope—a future where Jin Long stood with other Core bearers, united, powerful, unbreakable.
Then it was gone.
He stumbled back, Yue Lan catching him.
"What did you see?" she whispered.
Jin Long looked up, eyes blazing with resolve.
"War. Destiny. Sacrifice. But also… a chance to win."
Elarys smiled faintly. "Then the next step is clear. Find the next Core. Before Zhan Wuhen does."
And with that, she vanished, the rift folding in on itself with a silver flash.
But the war had already begun.