The alarm tore through the Continuum Chamber like a blade of sound.
Red fractal lights pulsed across the walls—
not circular,not linear—
patterns that only appeared when reality itself was under attack.
Viraj slammed the control panel.
"Multiple breaches opening—not Nullborn signatures this time!"
Agastya's staff glowed violently.
"Everyone,brace yourselves. This isn't an invasion…"
Mandakini whispered, her voice trembling:
"…it's an execution."
Kashyap stepped in front of her instinctively.
"Who's executing who?"
Mandakini's answer was barely audible.
"Me."
The air suddenly felt heavier—
as if gravity had doubled.
A single fracture opened in the center of the hall.
Thin at first.
Silent.
Then—
BOOM.
The fracture exploded outward, ripping the floor into spirals of floating debris.
The temperature dropped—frost webbing across metal surfaces.
Dim blue flames drifted upward like cold fire.
Footsteps echoed.
Slow.
Measured.
Absolute.
A dark silhouette walked out of the rift.
THE PARADOX WARDEN
The figure was tall, armored in a shifting exosuit made from black paradox steel.
Fragments of erased timelines flickered across its body faces,entire cities, moments of life rising and disappearing like ghosts trapped in metal.
But the most terrifying part wasn't the armor.
It was the mask
smooth,emotionless, with a vertical slit of cold blue light in the center.
No eyes.
No mouth.
No humanity.
Viraj whispered,
"Oh god… it really is him…"
Agastya lowered his head.
"Paradox Warden:
the enforcer of erased timelines.
He hunts beings that should not exist."
Kashyap tensed.
"So he's here for Mandakini?"
Mandakini stepped forward wincing from her wounds.
"No," she said softly.
"He's here for both of us."
Kashyap felt a surge of anger.
"Why me?"
Mandakini's eyes darkened.
"Because you carry my energy now.
Because you're tied to my existence.
Because you saved me once
and that creates a paradox bond."
The Warden lifted a hand.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Just inevitable.
A single finger pointed toward Mandakini.
The temperature dropped another 20 degrees.
And then the Warden spoke
a voice like grinding stone mixed with broken radio signals:
"MANDAKINI.
PARADOX ENTITY.
TERMINATION."
Mandakini's breath hitched.
She wasn't afraid of Nullborn.
She wasn't afraid of collapsing universes.
But this—
this terrified her.
Kashyap stepped in front of her.
"You want her? You go through me."
The Warden tilted its head.
A sound vibrated through the air
almost like a distorted laugh.
"UN-AU-THO-RIZED PAR-A-DOX ENTITY DETECTED."
Viraj's eyes widened.
"It means you, Kashyap. It sees you as a threat now."
The Warden raised its hand
and the world exploded.
A wave of compressed paradox energy blasted outward.
Consoles shattered.
Walls ripped open.
The chamber collapsed into jagged shards of floating metal.
Vasundhara created a shield, straining under the pressure.
Agastya reinforced her,sweat dripping down his forehead.
Mandakini grabbed Kashyap's wrist.
"We need to RUN."
Kashyap yanked his hand back.
"No.I'm not leaving you."
Mandakini's expression softened for the briefest moment.
"You didn't leave me last time either.
But this time you don't remember why."
The Warden stepped forward
And with one movement,
he flickered across the room
—instantaneously appearing just inches from them.
Kashyap swung his fist
his paradox energy flaring brightly.
The Warden caught his punch mid-air.
Cracks spread across Kashyap's arm
not physical,
but timeline fractures.
He roared in pain.
"Kashyap!" Mandakini grabbed him, pulling him back.
The Warden tilted its head mechanically.
"YOU—SHOULD—NOT—EXIST."
Mandakini's power surged uncontrollably.
Energy burst from her body
wild,unstable, enough to shatter the chamber entirely if unleashed.
"Stay behind me," she whispered desperately.
Then she stepped forward, eyes glowing like newborn stars.
"Warden!" she shouted.
"You want a paradox?
Here I am."
The Warden didn't react with anger
only with cold precision.
"ACKNOWLEDGED."
He lifted his arm.
Blade-shaped energy formed.
Mandakini braced
ready to die if she must.
But before the blade fell—
Agastya slammed his staff down.
TIME SPLIT.
The entire chamber fractured into two overlapping realities
one where the Warden's attack landed,
and one where it missed.
In the overlap between them
Agastya shouted:
"RUN! ALL OF YOU!
NOW!"
Kashyap grabbed Mandakini's hand.
She hesitated -
her eyes locked on the Warden,
on the fate she'd been running from all her life.
Kashyap squeezed her hand.
"I'm not letting them take you.
Not again."
Something flickered in her eyes
fear,hope, memory
all tangled together.
Then she nodded.
They sprinted toward the exit
Viraj covering them,
Agastya holding the timeline split,
Vasundhara sealing the collapsing corridors.
Behind them, the Warden broke through the split in time—
his voice echoing like a cosmic verdict:
"YOU—CAN—NOT—RUN—from—ERASED—FATE."