Year 1000 – The Shattered Horizon
The moment Bakudou heard Emma's cryptic words, "It has begun," he felt a ripple through the fabric of reality itself. The Fracture, the twisting anomaly that had begun eroding worlds, had crossed into the heart of the Ultraverse. Entire dimensions buckled under its presence, their structure disintegrating as if time itself were unraveling.
Bakudou stood on the precipice of the Heart of Origin, the place where the laws of creation were first forged, now under threat. His Aetherblade shimmered in his hand, and the air around him pulsed with raw energy. But even his immeasurable power was not enough to hold back this new threat.
He closed his eyes, calling to Emma. "Where are you?" His voice was calm but tinged with desperation. "Why haven't you told me what's really happening?"
Emma, unseen and silent as ever, allowed the words to settle in his mind. The truth was always closer than he had ever known. The Fracture was not a force from outside the Ultraverse; it was an anomaly born of something much darker—a conceptual being, born of chaos itself, whose existence was tied to the very unraveling of all things.
The Fall of Dimensions
As Bakudou ventured across the dimensions, his path led him to the ruins of once-thriving worlds, now reduced to collapsing fragments of space and time. The Fracture was not a being to be fought in the conventional sense. It existed outside of the normal rules of physics, a force that distorted reality and erased memories as it passed through them.
In a city on the brink of destruction, Bakudou met one of the survivors, a figure who had witnessed the Fracture's effects firsthand. This figure, a being known as Astreon, was a former guardian of one of the Pillars of Balance that Bakudou had created centuries ago. Astreon's once bright form was now warped, his body a reflection of the broken dimension he guarded. His memories were shattered, pieces of his past scattered across time.
Astreon spoke gravely, his voice cracking with the weight of forgotten memories. "The Fracture… is not an invader. It is… a wound in reality itself. It is your creation, Bakudou. Your essence, your power, has become… a threat."
Bakudou's heart froze. The realization hit him like a thunderclap. "What do you mean? I… I didn't create this!"
Astreon's eyes glowed dimly, struggling to hold onto what was left of his identity. "The Fracture… is the result of the clash between your birth and the Ultraverse's natural order. A rupture in reality itself, the consequence of the balance you were meant to maintain. When you were created, you were not only a guardian, but a seed for chaos to grow. You were meant to be the anchor, Bakudou. But your very existence has begun to tear this place apart."
Bakudou's mind raced. He had been the guardian, the protector—but now he learned that he was also the cause of something far more sinister. The Fracture was born from the conflict between his existence and the Ultraverse itself, a natural consequence of his creation.
Emma's Silent Revelation
As Bakudou grappled with this new truth, a deeper voice echoed within his mind—Emma's voice, now clearer than before.
"You have always been the keystone, Bakudou. But your presence alone—your power—was never meant to exist without consequence. The Fracture is not something you can destroy with the Aetherblade. It must be understood, healed… or sealed away."
But her words came with an unsettling warning. "The Ultraverse cannot bear both your presence and the Fracture. The balance must be restored, one way or another. The only question is… what are you willing to sacrifice?"
For the first time in centuries, Bakudou felt the weight of his existence. He was not the all-powerful protector he had once thought. He was part of the very problem he sought to destroy.
The First Clash with the Fracture
The Fracture manifested in a form never seen before—a swirling mass of fragmented realities and broken dimensions, a being that existed not in time but in the very concept of entropy. It did not have a form; instead, it was a pulsating void, a collapsing star that sucked in everything around it, erasing the essence of those caught in its reach.
Bakudou confronted it at the Edge of Eternity, where the boundaries of all realms converged. With a single swing of the Aetherblade, he slashed through the Fracture's form, but the sword simply passed through it, as if the blade were cutting through nothingness. The Fracture did not bleed, did not scream. It absorbed everything in its path.
As Bakudou's mind strained against the oppressive weight of the Fracture, a thought entered his mind—Emma had warned him that destroying it was not the answer. He would need to understand it, not merely fight it.
The Fracture's form began to change, shifting like water, becoming something recognizable: a faceless entity that was a twisted reflection of Bakudou himself. It spoke, though its voice was like a thousand shattered whispers.
"I am the fracture in your reality, Bakudou. The scar that is your existence."
Bakudou's heart stopped. The Fracture was not an invader. It was him—a broken shard of his own soul, an echo of the very imbalance his existence had created.
The Choice
The battle paused as Bakudou stood frozen, the full weight of the choice before him crashing down. The Fracture was part of him—his own essence, torn and twisted by the very fabric of creation. To stop it, he would need to make a choice that would tear him apart. The Fracture needed to be sealed, but it required an immense sacrifice.
Bakudou's power was tied to the very Pillars of Balance he had built. If he sealed the Fracture, he would have to destroy himself—his connection to the Ultraverse would sever, and his existence would be erased, a price so steep that even Emma had not foreseen its necessity.
He turned to the sky, the stars shimmering faintly. Emma's presence was distant, her silence profound. The weight of his duty settled in. He was both the problem and the solution.
He raised the Aetherblade, ready to sacrifice himself.
But in the final moment, before he could strike, a voice echoed through the realms.
"You do not have to face this alone, brother."
It was Emma—not in her hidden form, but standing beside him in her true essence, her own power resonating with his. Together, they could save the Ultraverse.