The underground corridor breathed.
Every time Kashyap or Mandakini stepped on the dust-coated stone floor, the walls responded—humming softly, like a giant creature inhaling after centuries of sleep. Blue glyphs glowed faintly on both sides, illuminating their path with shifting patterns that no one truly understood.
"Stay close," Kashyap whispered.
Mandakini walked beside him, blades drawn, eyes alert. Vayu, Viraj, Vasundhara, Bhrigu, Nirbhay, and Saswat followed behind in a defensive formation. Even Agastya seemed unnerved, his fingers hovering near the inscriptions with scholarly fascination mixed with fear.
"This place wasn't built by humans," he murmured.
"No," Mandakini replied. "But it remembers them."
Before Kashyap could ask what she meant, the walls shivered—
as if reacting to her voice.
A circular chamber opened before them, carved with spirals of light that converged into a single massive structure in the center:
A crystalline vault suspended above the ground by invisible force.
It pulsed gently, like a sleeping heart.
Bhrigu exhaled, awe-struck. "The Nexus Vault… the core of the Forgotten City."
Viraj frowned. "What's inside?"
Agastya swallowed. "Not what. Who."
Before anyone could process that, the vault flickered.
And a projection burst from it—
an echo made of light and memory.
A tall figure, cloaked in shimmering energy, face indistinguishable yet unmistakably aware.
Mandakini froze.
Kashyap felt her hand twitch.
The being spoke—not in sound, but directly into their minds:
"Guardians of the Lost Path. You were never meant to return."
Nirbhay stepped forward. "We didn't come to return. We came to survive."
The figure's head tilted. "Your chosen path leads to collapse. Your fate was written long before this moment."
Kashyap felt something else—beneath the voice, beneath the message:
A pull.
A recognition.
A familiarity that terrified him.
"Who are you?" Kashyap demanded.
The vault dimmed. The figure leaned closer, its presence chilling yet strangely human.
"I am the Echo of Him-Who-Was-You."
Mandakini whispered sharply, "What?"
The being continued:
"Across timelines, you fractured realities. You were the key, Kashyap… and the weapon."
Kashyap clenched his fists. "I don't remember any of that."
"You will."
Before they could question further, the chamber rumbled. Cracks of blue lightning raced across the vault. The projection flickered violently.
Viraj shouted, "The system is destabilizing!"
A bright pulse shot out—
a shockwave of memory and light—
throwing everyone backward.
Kashyap tried to reach Mandakini, but the force ripped them apart.
The chamber collapsed into glowing dust.
The vault cracked open.
A blinding ray shot skyward, tearing through layers of stone and earth.
And then—
The Pulse erupted into the sky.