The spiral path led them deeper into unreality. The laws of cause and effect faded with every step. Clocks melted, light curved, and sound echoed backward. At the base was a vast chamber of broken mirrors, floating glyphs, and unfinished symbols—half-code, half-memory. This was the Edge of Reckoning, where the First Chronomancer once stood to rewrite the laws of existence.
And waiting at the center… was Rivan.
But not as they remembered him.
He was whole again—but different. No longer fueled by corruption, nor bound to the Rewrite Matrix. His armor was cracked, his aura dimmer, his eyes… clearer.
"I knew you'd come," Rivan said softly. "But I'm not your enemy anymore."
Akuzai remained cautious, Eternis Edge ready. "Then why are you here?"
"To warn you," Rivan replied. "He's coming. The Seed has awakened. And the thing that once whispered to me—it no longer whispers. It commands."
Abhishek stepped forward. "Then help us stop it."
Rivan shook his head. "You can't stop it. Only delay it. You need more than strength. You need understanding."
The room shifted. From the mirrors rose ghostly projections—the five original Bladelords: the bearers of Pulse, Flame, Rift, Light, and Time. They spoke in one voice.
"You are the convergence, Akuzai. But even convergence must face its reflection."
A sixth mirror rose from the floor.
In it stood Akuzai's echo—an alternate self, forged from failure, bitterness, and rage. The Akuzai who let Rivan fall. Who chose vengeance over unity. His armor was dark, his blade a corrupted version of the Eternis Edge.
"Before you face the First Chronomancer," the echoes intoned, "you must overcome yourself."
The mirror-self stepped forward, blade drawn.
The duel began.
Each clash of steel rang with emotional weight. The dark Akuzai anticipated every move. Every strike came with a question: Why did you forgive Rivan? Why do you still carry guilt? Why do you lead them into a war they can't win?
Akuzai faltered—until he remembered Ishara's final words.
"This path is not about winning. It's about choosing to walk it, even when it hurts."
He dropped his guard. Accepted the echo. Merged with it.
Light exploded from the chamber as the final mirror shattered.
When the smoke cleared, Akuzai stood taller. Stronger. Not perfect—but whole.
The Bladelords bowed.
"You are ready."
Even Rivan knelt, placing his corrupted shard at Akuzai's feet. "This... is all I can give."
The Eternis Edge absorbed it—becoming complete.
The Edge of Reckoning opened a final path: a spiraling tunnel of stars, leading to a place no one had seen in millennia—
The Throneless Core.
Where the First Chronomancer waited.
And where the true war would begin.