Kael's presence was like a quiet storm—gentle on the surface, but filled with untold pressure. Even after the battle, his body glowed faintly, the silver in his eyes shifting like constellations under a dark sky.
Jin Long watched him as they walked along a path of flickering light, suspended over a sea of memory. The Hollow Realm had calmed for now, but every step forward felt like trespassing through someone else's dream—or nightmare.
"I don't understand," Jin said. "You called yourself Mirrorborn. What does that mean?"
Kael looked ahead, his voice thin. "I was created—not born. A shard of a celestial mirror was bound to my soul the moment I was summoned into existence. I carry fragments of what was, what is… and sometimes, what will be."
Valen raised an eyebrow. "You're saying you can see the future?"
"Not see," Kael replied. "I remember it."
A chill swept over them.
Yue Lan stepped closer to Kael, her tone soft but direct. "And what do you remember about Zhan Wuhen?"
Kael stopped, staring at the horizon where floating islands shimmered like broken moons. "He's searching for the Temple of Echoes. It lies deep within the Hollow Realm. If he finds it, he can rewrite fate. He'll shape the past to suit the Void… and erase the Core from all timelines."
Jin's heart sank. "Erase the Core… and me?"
Kael nodded. "You were never supposed to find it. You disrupted the script written by the Ancients. Now the timeline is unraveling, and Zhan Wuhen is using that chaos to reshape everything."
Jin felt the Genesis Core pulsing against his chest, responding to the mention of fate and time. For a moment, he saw flashes—of cities burning, Yue Lan bleeding beneath a shattered moon, and himself alone on a throne of ash.
He snapped back, shaking the vision off.
"No," he said. "That future won't happen. We'll stop him."
Kael looked at him—really looked—and for the first time, a small smile touched his lips. "Then you'll need more than strength. You'll need the Echoblade."
Valen blinked. "The what now?"
"The Echoblade," Kael said, "a weapon that exists in all timelines simultaneously. Only one chosen by the Core can wield it. It was forged to kill beings like Zhan Wuhen."
Jin's grip on his sword tightened. "Where is it?"
Kael turned and pointed to a storm hovering in the distance—a spiraling vortex that swallowed light and bent space around it. From its heart rose a spire of obsidian.
"There," Kael whispered. "In the Citadel of Shattered Time."
Yue Lan stepped beside Jin. "Then we head there next."
Valen groaned. "Fantastic. A citadel built inside a time-warping death spiral. I'm sure it'll be a warm welcome."
Jin allowed himself a rare smile. "We've faced worse."
Kael looked up at him, hopeful but uncertain. "If you truly mean to stop Zhan Wuhen… you must be willing to confront every version of yourself—especially the ones who failed."
Jin looked toward the storm, feeling its gravity pulling at him already.
"Then I'll face them all," he said. "Because only one version of me is going to shape the future."