The rift hurled them into darkness.
Not the absence of light, but the absence of existence. Akuzai and Abhishek found themselves floating in the Void of Origin, the space between the first breath of time and the first beat of creation. It was quiet. Still. Eternal.
And yet—something shimmered in the distance.
A single flickering light.
"The Codex said nothing about this place," Abhishek whispered, voice swallowed by the void.
Akuzai narrowed his eyes. "Because this isn't a realm. It's a memory. The Source remembering what it used to be."
They moved toward the light, drifting without steps. As they approached, shapes began to form—phantoms of their past: Kaelra, Tanishk, Aditya, even Anuj. All silent. All watching.
Then the light condensed into a being—Luma, the forgotten spirit of creation's first spark. She appeared as a woman with stars in her skin and galaxies in her eyes.
"You carry the Keystone," she said to Akuzai. "But it alone cannot stop what's coming."
"We need to stop Rivan," Abhishek said. "We'll gather the shards, unlock the Nexus, and end this."
Luma's gaze turned sorrowful. "Rivan no longer seeks domination. He seeks erasure. Not just of timelines… but of choice. Of uncertainty. Of chaos. He wants perfection. And he'll destroy all realities to write one flawless existence."
Akuzai clenched his fists. "Then we destroy the rewrite mechanism."
Luma shook her head. "To reach it, you must pass through the Glimmer Field—the last defense of pure, unshaped possibility. Only those who have accepted all of themselves may survive it."
Suddenly, the Void twisted. Shadows of doubt took form: versions of Akuzai who gave up, who betrayed his friends, who became the very villain he now fought. Abhishek too saw his regrets—lives he couldn't save, battles he lost, the day he froze in fear as Tanishk died.
The Glimmer Field wasn't physical.
It was emotional truth—made real.
To survive, they had to face themselves.
Akuzai stepped toward his darkest reflection. "I am fear. I am doubt. But I am also the one who still stands."
The shadows trembled… and faded.
Abhishek followed. "I failed. But I learned. And I kept going. That's enough."
The light around them surged. Luma smiled, proud. "You may now pass."
She handed Akuzai a fragment of the Eternal Flame—the core of potential itself.
"You'll need this at the Crown Nexus," she said. "But remember: defeating Rivan isn't about power. It's about faith—in what's imperfect, in what's broken, in what's real."
The Void faded.
Reality returned.
Akuzai and Abhishek stood once again in the living universe—just outside the Crown Nexus Gate.
The final arc had begun.