The skies above the Cradle fractured into prismatic shards as the final battle reached its zenith.
The Ascended Chronomancer, now stripped of illusions, radiated raw cosmic force. Fractures split across his body where stolen timelines leaked like molten fate. He was no longer a man, nor even a god—he was the embodiment of order without soul, of perfection without memory.
Akuzai stood before him, the Eternis Edge ablaze, flanked by Aditya, Abhishek, and the echoing spirits of the fallen.
"This ends now," Akuzai said.
The Chronomancer's voice boomed across the void. "You fight for chaos. For uncertainty. For pain."
Akuzai narrowed his eyes. "No. We fight for choice."
Then the worlds collided.
The battlefield warped into a shifting arena—past, present, and future looping in bursts. One moment, they stood in Ashkara's burning skies. The next, in the ruins of Nexus Prime. Then, a world yet unborn.
The Chronomancer moved like a glitch in time—appearing in multiple places at once, striking from impossible angles. His blade wasn't steel—it was made from finality, every swing seeking to erase rather than wound.
Abhishek countered with spatial redirection, turning the Chronomancer's attacks into his own confusion. Aditya struck with explosive rhythm, each attack bolstered by Tanishk's fire and Anuj's echoes.
Still, the Chronomancer adapted.
"You cannot win," he said coldly. "I have seen every outcome."
"But you haven't lived them," Akuzai snapped back, charging.
With a cry that carried every wound, every betrayal, every choice—Akuzai struck.
The Eternis Edge collided with the Chronomancer's core.
A crack split across the throne of the Throneless Core.
Light erupted.
The spirits behind Akuzai surged, pouring their memory, sacrifice, and strength into the blade. The Eternis Edge glowed brighter than it ever had—not because it was whole…
But because it was willing to break to protect others.
And then—
The Chronomancer screamed.
His body fractured, timelines bleeding out in golden light. A hole opened in the center of reality. The scripts of the universe unraveled.
He reached out, not to strike—but in fear.
"Akuzai," he whispered. "I only wanted… peace…"
Akuzai looked him in the eye. "Then you should've started with mercy."
And drove the blade home.
The Chronomancer shattered—
Into memory.
Into silence.
Into truth.