The moment Jin Long grasped the Echoblade, the Citadel shuddered. A blast of energy erupted from the blade—blinding and pure—rushing through the ancient walls and sweeping across dimensions like a beacon. The storm outside didn't just calm—it paused, as if the universe itself was holding its breath.
Then came the echoes.
Distant at first, like the footfalls of giants across a starless plain.
Kael looked up sharply. "They've felt it."
Yue Lan's hand instinctively found Jin's. "What have you done?"
Jin closed his eyes. The Core and the Echoblade were now one with him, and with that union came knowledge—raw, chaotic, and horrifying.
"They're coming," he said grimly. "The Void Heralds."
Valen's eyes narrowed. "The Four Lieutenants of Zhan Wuhen. The legends weren't exaggerating?"
"No," Jin said. "They were understatements."
Before any more could be said, the sky above the Citadel tore like paper.
One rift. Then four.
Each one spewed forth a twisted presence—one that corrupted the air, twisted time, and bent reality to its will.
From the first stepped Ashkara, the Blade of Oblivion—an armored woman whose sword fed on memories, her eyes devoid of past or future.
From the second emerged Vorran, the Mouth of Echoes, a whispering beast who devoured voices and spoke only in the regrets of the fallen.
The third birthed Serrik, the Beast of Broken Time, half-machine, half-beast, eternally rewinding his own death in a loop of endless torment.
And from the last rift came Lady Nyra, the Shroud of Dreams, a ghostlike figure whose presence warped the minds of those around her, trapping them in nightmares of futures that never were.
The Void Heralds had awakened.
Ashkara's voice rang out, cold and merciless. "The Core sings. The Blade answers. Our master calls. And you, Jin Long… are the chosen sacrifice."
Yue Lan stepped forward, radiating defiance. "You'll have to go through us."
Nyra floated forward, smiling. "Oh, little star... We intend to."
The battlefield was set—atop the Citadel of Shattered Time, four against four, destiny against the Void.
Jin raised the Echoblade. It shimmered with a light that defied entropy itself.
"We fight," he said. "Not just for ourselves. But for every timeline they've destroyed… and every future we can still save."
As the Void Heralds descended, the sky split open.
And the true war began.