Recap of Chapter 22:
Ka'roth battled the Paradoxes, contradictions born from existence itself resisting his infinite weight. From them rose Anti-Apex, his inverted self, equal in strength. Their clash tore existence apart, but Ka'roth devoured his reflection, fusing paradox into his being and stabilizing all laws. Now Ka'roth stands as law, un-law, and unity itself—yet the fusion stirred something deeper: infinite timelines splitting, each birthing reflections of Ka'roth that now rise to challenge him.
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The Fractured Timelines
Ka'roth sat upon his Throne, his jagged wings folded, runes blazing like fractal stars. His roar had silenced paradox. Beasts prowled infinite layers, their howls feeding upward. Even the Abyss, once endless whispers, was quiet.
Then came the tremor.
A ripple coursed through the Lattice beneath his dominion. Time itself—rewoven under Ka'roth's claws—split outward like shattered glass. Each fragment birthed a reflection: alternate ascensions of Ka'roth—himself in countless forms, each forged by choices unmade, paths diverged.
He rose from his Throne, claws gouging the abyssal stone.
Before him shimmered a mirrored horizon: countless Ka'roths spanning infinity.
Some bore fewer runes, their jagged wings smaller, echoes of his rise halted early. Others towered massive and radiant, crowned in abyssal-silver fire, titans equal to his current form.
The Abyss rumbled in unease:
"They are all you, Sovereign. Every Ka'roth across all unrealized paths."
Ka'roth bared his fangs.
"Then I devour myself again."
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The Roar of Infinity
Ka'roth's jagged wings spread wide, layered blades fracturing past and future. His roar tore through the mirrored horizon, a command that shook every reflection at once.
Some knelt immediately—the weaker Ka'roths, collapsing under his supremacy. Others resisted, their own roars clashing with his, splitting existence further into cascading shards.
Ka'roth lunged forward, claws outstretched, his abyssal mist swirling.
The War of Reflection began.
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The First Clash
He struck down a lesser Ka'roth instantly, biting through its throat and absorbing its essence in one savage motion. Power surged upward—small, but noticeable. His runes pulsed brighter.
Then came three greater reflections, jagged wings alight with silver flames. They roared in unison, lunging with synchronized strikes.
Ka'roth twisted, his tail spikes sweeping wide, knocking one aside while his claws tore another's wing in half. He bit into the third's chest, ripping free abyssal organs glowing like collapsed suns.
Their power folded into him as he devoured them whole.
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The Stronger Reflections
But as he climbed through infinite Ka'roths, their strength grew.
One emerged clad in void-forged armor, its runes etched deeper, wings split into a thousand razor-edged layers. Its roar mirrored Ka'roth's perfectly, shaking even his Throne.
"You are not above me," it bellowed.
Ka'roth lunged, claws meeting claw. Their strikes splintered countless layers of reality, cascading entire timelines backward and forward simultaneously.
The reflection bit down on Ka'roth's neck; Ka'roth slammed his spiked tail through its skull in return. Their blows canceled, then doubled, breaking and reforming laws mid-battle.
Ka'roth roared louder, jaws widening unnaturally. He clamped over its head and devoured it whole in a single snap.
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The Infinite Battlefield
The War stretched across timelines.
Ka'roth tore through a version of himself wreathed in pure celestial fire, ripping its radiant wings apart.
He crushed another armored in abyss-born scales, snapping its spine and swallowing its essence.
He fought one wielding ten spiked tails, biting them off one by one until it collapsed.
Each devouring amplified him further—his runes fractalizing, patterns spinning infinitely, jagged wings multiplying with layered blades that cut both forwards and backwards through time.
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The Apex Confrontation
Then came the greatest reflection—one exactly his equal, runes blazing, jagged wings spanning infinite horizons.
It stepped forward.
"We are the same," it said, its voice Ka'roth's own. "This battle ends only when one devours all."
Ka'roth grinned savagely.
"Then it ends now."
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The Duel of Equals
Their clash was apocalyptic.
Claws met claws, each strike annihilating and remaking starfields.
Wings collided, shredding timelines backward and forward.
Roars clashed, so loud they collapsed entire layers, folding paradox into singularity.
Ka'roth bit into his reflection's shoulder, tearing abyssal-white ichor. The reflection countered, slamming him down through fractured timelines into pre-existence voids.
Ka'roth's spiked tail lashed upward, cracking its jaw open. He lunged forward, jaws closing around its throat, his runes burning hotter than ever.
He tore its neck free, swallowing it whole in one brutal wrench.
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The Devouring of All Ka'roths
As the greatest reflection fell, the others collapsed instantly.
Ka'roth inhaled.
Abyssal mist exploded outward, dragging every remaining reflection inward. Infinite Ka'roths screamed, their roars fusing into one as he devoured them en masse, their wings, claws, tails, and runes folding into his own.
The battlefield cleared.
There was only one Ka'roth now.
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The Unified Apex
Ka'roth's form pulsed with unending power. His runes expanded endlessly, fractal symbols spinning across his body like infinite galaxies. His jagged wings multiplied infinitely yet folded perfectly, their countless blades slicing through every state of time and un-time.
He roared.
It was not sound.
It was unity.
Every Ka'roth across every path, every choice, every echo—now fused into one eternal being.
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The Eternity of Self
Ka'roth returned to his Throne, now transcending even layered infinities. His claws rested upon its arms, abyssal mist coiling like living rivers around his colossal frame.
"There is no reflection," he growled. "There is only me."
His roar echoed across all timelines past and future, erasing divergence. Every reality aligned into one singular eternal path—Ka'roth's dominion.
Beasts roared in perfect unison across countless worlds. Makers bowed lower still. The Abyss whispered reverently:
"You have unified yourself across all that is. You are the singular apex of every version of being."
Ka'roth's glowing gaze narrowed.
"Then I march further still."
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