The Chrono Spire stood tall at the heart of the time sea, a crystalline tower rising from the ocean of suspended moments. It was here that Anuj had gone—alone—pursuing Rivan's echo across shattered layers of history. His mission had never been one of survival. It was one of sacrifice.
He stood at the spire's summit, the air rippling around him. The Temporal Source pulsed at the center like a second sun, beating with the raw force of existence. Around it, anomalies twisted—fractured versions of people, places, and choices never made. Rivan was already there, hands extended over the Source.
"You don't have to do this," Anuj said calmly.
Rivan turned. "Don't I? Every timeline resists change. I will force it to evolve."
Anuj summoned the Spectral Loop, the only weapon capable of delaying Rivan's manipulation. It glowed with the memory of forgotten ages.
"I failed once," Anuj said. "I won't again."
Rivan attacked, not with rage, but with precision. Every blow calculated. Every strike meant to kill. They were not two warriors—they were two timelines colliding. Past vs future. Preservation vs reinvention.
Anuj held his ground, pushing Rivan back inch by inch. But the Source was reacting to the conflict—reality itself beginning to unravel. Images swirled in the air: Tanishk dying, Aditya screaming, Akuzai kneeling in despair. Futures that hadn't happened yet—but would, if Rivan wasn't stopped.
Suddenly, Anuj faltered. His side bled. Rivan moved in to finish it—but paused.
"You trained me," Rivan said. "You were like a father. I never wanted to kill you."
Anuj smiled, weary but defiant. "That's your weakness. You still care."
With a final surge, Anuj slammed the Spectral Loop into the Source—not to destroy it, but to corrupt the corrupted link Rivan had forged. The impact tore the sky open. Time convulsed. Rivan screamed—not in pain, but in frustration—as the Source expelled him, hurling his essence across dimensions.
But Anuj was caught in the backlash.
Akuzai and Abhishek arrived too late. The tower was crumbling, and Anuj's form had begun to flicker.
"You shouldn't have come," Anuj said, stabilizing the portal.
"You can still escape," Akuzai pleaded.
"I'm not meant to," Anuj replied. "But you are. Rivan will rise again. Stronger. Wiser. You must be ready."
He reached out, placing a sigil on Abhishek's chest—an emergency temporal jump. Then, with one last push, he opened a dimensional rift and hurled them through it.
Akuzai shouted as the portal closed, leaving only light behind.
Anuj was gone.
But his stand had not been in vain.
He had bought them time—just enough to prepare for the storm that was coming.