Kael hit the void hard—though "hit" was the wrong word. His body felt weightless, stretching and folding as the Architect's energy thrust him through impossible angles of space. When he finally landed, the white void had fractured into a jagged horizon of black crystal and shimmering light, like a battlefield built from thought itself.
And there, at the center, stood a figure both familiar and terrifying: Kael. Only taller, broader, eyes burning with a certainty the original Kael hadn't yet earned. The energy of the Nexus pulsed around him like living armor.
"So… you are the Prime Convergence," Kael said, voice tight, fingers twitching with the mark's residual energy.
The alternate Kael's expression didn't change, but the air seemed to bend around him. "I am what you could become if you followed every choice without hesitation. I am the Kael who completed the Convergence."
Kael's chest tightened. "And… why am I here? To fight you?"
The Prime Convergence shook his head slightly. "No. To understand you. To see if you can surpass yourself."
Kael clenched his fists. His mark pulsed violently in anticipation. The Architect's voice echoed softly in the void, resonating in every shard of light and crystal.
"Observation is over. Action begins."
Before Kael could respond, the alternate Kael moved. Not with aggression, but with precision—a demonstration. He struck the void floor with a pulse of Nexus energy. The crystal horizon bent and twisted, forming labyrinths, tunnels, and spikes in an instant.
"I can bend the Convergence as easily as breathing," the Prime Convergence said. "Every thread. Every reality. Every version of myself. And yet… I can see your potential, your hesitation. That is your weakness."
Kael's mind raced. He could feel every shard of fractured reality responding to the Prime Convergence's energy, but he could also feel his own mark thrumming in counter-rhythms—like a heartbeat in sync with Lumen, with Veyra, with every part of himself that had survived the Architect's trials.
"Then I'll make my hesitation my strength," Kael muttered.
The Prime Convergence's lips twitched, almost a smile. "Good. That is why you survive where others fail."
And then the void reacted violently, folding into a whirlpool of paradox energy. Kael was forced to leap, dodge, and push with every ounce of his newly honed forbidden flow. He realized quickly: this was not just a duel.
It was a test.A lesson in supremacy, restraint, and identity.A trial to prove whether Kael could wield his Nexus potential against someone who had already mastered every path he might take.
Energy collided in the center, light shattering into fractal explosions. For every pulse the Prime Convergence unleashed, Kael countered, bending the chaos into shapes he had only begun to understand.
And as the horizon twisted into impossible angles, Kael caught a glimpse of something chilling: timelines collapsing in tandem with their clash.
The Architect's voice whispered behind him:"Do not fail. For the Prime Convergence is your shadow, your mirror, and your guide. Learn—or be unmade."
Kael exhaled sharply, gripping his mark. The realization hit him: survival alone would not suffice. To return, to stop the Architect, to preserve the multiverse—he would have to transcend himself.
The void pulsed again. The Prime Convergence extended a hand.
"Step forward, Kael. Or be consumed by the reflection of what you fear most."