Mandakini's breathing was uneven.
Too shallow.
Too fast.
Kashyap held her as Vasudha's broken skyline slowly stabilized behind them—half a world saved, half forever lost.
Vasundhara knelt beside them, her hands glowing as she scanned Mandakini's energy lattice.
Her expression darkened.
"This isn't just overload," she said quietly.
"She absorbed residue from an Origin Enforcer."
Viraj clenched his jaw.
"That shouldn't even be possible."
Agastya arrived through a folding gate, his staff humming violently.
"It wasn't," he said.
"Until Kashyap erased one."
Silence fell.
Kashyap didn't look up.
"I know," he said hoarsely.
"I felt it tear through me."
Mandakini's fingers twitched weakly against his arm.
"Hey," she whispered.
"Still here."
He swallowed hard.
"Don't joke."
She managed a faint smile.
"Did we save anyone?"
"Yes," Vasundhara said gently.
"Millions."
Mandakini exhaled—relieved—
then gasped as pain ripped through her again.
Light flared under her skin, unstable and sharp.
Vasundhara pulled back sharply.
"The residue is rewriting her Lock matrix," she said.
"If it completes,she'll become visible to the Origin Gate permanently."
Nirbhay finally spoke, his voice low.
"Meaning?"
"She'll be hunted," Vasundhara said.
"Relentlessly."
Kashyap's grip tightened.
"Fix it."
Vasundhara shook her head.
"I can't. Not alone."
Agastya looked up sharply.
"There is one place," he said slowly.
"The Still Axis."
Saswat's calm expression finally cracked.
"That place exists outside cause and effect."
"And outside the Council's direct reach," Agastya replied.
"It's where broken constants go to…settle."
Viraj frowned.
"Or shatter completely."
Mandakini's eyes fluttered open.
"Sounds comforting," she murmured.
Kashyap pressed his forehead to hers.
"We'll go," he said instantly.
Agastya raised a hand.
"No. Only she can enter safely."
Kashyap froze.
"What?"
"The Still Axis stabilizes singularities," Agastya explained.
"Kashyap,your resonance would tear it apart. If you enter—she dies."
Mandakini squeezed Kashyap's sleeve weakly.
"He's right."
"No," Kashyap said, his voice breaking.
"I'm not leaving you."
She looked up at him—eyes steady despite the pain.
"You already crossed a line for me," she whispered.
"Don't cross another."
Vasundhara turned away, her jaw tight.
"You have minutes," she said.
"The residue is accelerating."
Kashyap felt something inside him fracture again—but this time, quietly.
Agastya opened a narrow, shimmering passage—
colorless,silent.
Mandakini struggled upright with Kashyap's help.
She paused at the threshold.
"Listen to me," she said softly.
"You're not becoming a monster.You became something new today."
"I erased a being," he said.
"I felt…how easy it was."
She cupped his face, thumbs brushing away the blood.
"Then remember this moment," she said.
"Remember that it scared you."
She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his.
"Wait for me."
His voice cracked.
"I will."
She stepped into the passage.
The Gate closed.
The absence was immediate.
Crushing.
Kashyap staggered, his resonance flaring dangerously.
Viraj grabbed his arm.
"Easy."
Kashyap shook him off.
"She's alone."
Agastya placed a hand on Kashyap's shoulder.
"She's strong," he said.
"Stronger than the Council ever predicted."
Vasundhara stared into the space where Mandakini vanished.
"They won't ignore this," she said.
"An Enforcer erased.A Lock evolving. A Key destabilizing fate."
Kashyap slowly straightened.
His eyes burned—not wild, but focused.
"Then let them come," he said quietly.
"But next time…"
The hum deepened—controlled, deliberate.
"…I choose where the line is."
Far beyond reality's edge, the Origin Gate pulsed—
no longer cautious.
No longer furious.
Interested.
And in the Still Axis—
Mandakini opened her eyes
to a place where time stood still
and something ancient was waiting for her.