The shattered air hummed with tension, the ruins of fractured time collapsing and reforming in wild rhythms around them. Kael's heartbeat thundered in his ears as Vaelen's words echoed, a ghost from the past resurfacing with cruel clarity.
"You carry the legacy of the Rift..."
Kael's gaze locked with Vaelen's. For a long moment, silence stretched—heavy with the weight of unspoken histories.
In that suspended second, the chamber seemed to pulse with memories not entirely Kael's own: flashes of ancestors wielding impossible power, timelines bending beneath their will, and sacrifices made in shadowed wars.
Aeris stepped close, her voice steady but soft.
"This legacy isn't a curse, Kael. It's a choice."
Kael clenched his fists, the talisman around his neck glowing fiercely. He felt the surge of something ancient awaken inside—a force shaped not by fate, but by will.
"I decide what the Rift means," he said, voice hardening. "Not some guild, not a broken past."
Vaelen's mask fractured further, revealing a flicker of vulnerability beneath his cold exterior.
"Then choose wisely. Because your choices will ripple through every second yet to come."
The battlefield seemed to tilt, reality bending as Kael raised his hand. Time slowed, fractured seconds spiraling outward like a storm caught in glass.
Aeris spread her wings, their light wrapping around Kael in a cocoon of warmth and power.
"Together," she said, "we're the future."
In a blinding surge, they unleashed a wave of raw temporal energy—a beacon of defiance against the Paradox Guild's relentless grip.
Vaelen staggered, his forces faltering under the combined might.
But in the depths of the shattered time-stream, deeper shadows stirred—unseen yet watching.
The chapter closes on the precipice of victory and threat, with Kael embracing his bloodline not as a burden but a weapon—and the battle for all time far from over.