Kael stood still, his breath caught in his throat.
The Wardens of the Lattice—the mythical protectors of the multiversal grid—stood before him like living relics. Each radiated a different energy: Time, Thought, Entropy, Memory, Balance, and War. They didn't walk or move—they shifted through space, each existing slightly out of sync with reality.
The one who'd spoken—tall, draped in robes that flickered with constellations—stepped closer.
"I am Solon, Warden of Continuity. And you, Kael Soran, are our final gamble."
Reeva raised her weapon instinctively. "Why bring us here?"
Another Warden, her body made of flowing numbers and equations, answered. "Because the Architect has breached too many timelines. If one more Anchor falls, the lattice collapses. All realities become one—twisted in his image."
Kael frowned. "Then help us stop him."
Solon shook his head. "We cannot intervene directly. We are the lattice now—bound to its laws. But you are outside those laws, Driftbearer."
Kael glanced at Elara. "They're saying I'm exempt from multiversal causality?"
"More than that," Elara said. "They're saying you're unaligned. A flaw. A break in the pattern."
Kael stepped forward. "Then why summon me? If I'm so dangerous to your system, why not just erase me like the others?"
The Warden of Memory, her voice a whisper of forgotten dreams, answered: "Because unlike the others, your echo never resolves. Every version of you ends in change. Collapse. Rebirth. Paradox."
"You're the anomaly that can repair the multiverse," Solon said. "Or destroy it."
Kael swallowed hard. "So... what do you want me to do?"
The Warden of War, his armor forged from broken timelines, stepped forward. "We want you to fight. To reclaim the last Anchor before the Architect does."
A star map unfolded in the air—fractured, glitching.
At its core: Earth-Z3R0.
"Zero Point," Reeva muttered. "The Origin World."
"The first timeline," Elara said softly. "The place where the multiverse began."
Solon nodded. "The Architect has already seeded his presence there. If he takes it, he won't need Anchors anymore. He'll rewrite everything retroactively."
Kael stared at the glowing orb that represented Earth-Z3R0. "Then that's where I go."
"Not alone," said Reeva. "We're with you."
The Wardens extended their hands.
A cascade of energy surged into Kael—fragments of ancient protocols, weapon schematics, map coordinates, even memories that weren't his.
"Protocol Download: Driftbearer Ascension."
His mind expanded.
He saw every timeline he had touched.
Every person he had saved... or doomed.
Kael fell to one knee, gasping.
Solon's voice rang out one last time:
"The Architect is no longer seeking dominion. He's preparing for annihilation. You must stop him at Zero. Or lose everything."
The platform beneath them shimmered.
In an instant, the trio was gone—hurtling through the Lattice toward the origin of creation.
Behind them, the Wardens faded into starlight.