The Cradle of Rivan trembled as the Ascended Chronomancer stepped fully into the chamber. No longer bound by time or restraint, his form flickered between god and ghost—one moment cloaked in ageless robes, the next a lattice of starlight and code. The fabric of reality around him hissed like a wounded beast.
Akuzai stood firm, the Eternis Edge pulsing in his grip.
"I'm not yours," he said.
The Chronomancer tilted his head. "But you will be. Because you understand what Rivan never did."
Behind him, Rivan gritted his teeth. "I understand now."
The Chronomancer's gaze flicked to his former pawn. "Do you? You sought peace. But lacked the will to pay its cost. I needed a weapon. Not a waverer."
He raised a hand, and a spiral of past selves surged around him—versions of himself across infinite timelines. He was not one man. He was all of his possibilities.
Abhishek stepped forward, shielding Rivan. "You used him. Broke him. Now you want Akuzai?"
"He's stronger," the Chronomancer replied. "He carries guilt and purpose. He questions. And he still walks forward. He is what I was, before I outgrew humanity."
Akuzai's blade flared.
"I don't want to be your successor," he said. "I want to be your end."
The Chronomancer smirked. "Then I'll show you the truth."
With a wave, the room shifted.
A vision slammed into all of them.
They stood in a field, long ago. A younger man—before he was a Chronomancer—stood holding a child. Rivan.
"My son," the man whispered. "You'll do what I never could."
Back in the present, Rivan's breath caught. "No… I never saw that. I thought… I thought he found me."
Akuzai understood now. "He created you. From code and broken timelines. You were born to unlock the Nexus. Not to live."
Rivan collapsed.
The Chronomancer spoke softly. "And Akuzai was born to succeed me."
"No," Akuzai growled. "I was born to choose. And I choose to fight."
The Ascended being sighed. "Then let us begin."
Reality shattered.
And the final convergence began.