The Axis did not open like a door.
It unfolded.
Space peeled back layer by layer, revealing a corridor of overlapping realities—each one slightly out of phase, each echoing with decisions that had almost been made.
Saswat stood at the center of it, hands raised, eyes already fading.
"This path will collapse behind you,"he said.
"No retreat.No rescue."
Kashyap nodded once.
"Thank you."
Saswat smiled faintly.
"Make it count."
He twisted his wrists.
The Axis screamed.
Reality surged forward and swallowed Kashyap and Mandakini whole.
---
They moved without motion.
Time bent into curves.
Sound became color.
Mandakini staggered, steadying herself against Kashyap.
"You're anchoring me," she said.
"You're anchoring me too," he replied.
Around them, versions of themselves flickered—
Kashyap who chose power over restraint.
Mandakini who never touched the Gate.
Worlds where they never met.
None of them survived long.
The Axis corrected itself ruthlessly.
Mandakini felt the Gate drawing closer.
"She's aware of us now,"she said.
As if summoned, the corridor shifted—
And she stood there.
The Construct.
Mandakini—perfected, sharpened, stripped of hesitation.
Her eyes glowed with Origin light.
"Hello," the Construct said.
"I am what you refused to become."
Kashyap stepped forward instinctively.
Mandakini raised a hand gently.
"No,"she said.
"This is mine."
She faced her other self.
"You're not alive," Mandakini said.
The Construct tilted her head.
"I am optimized."
"Then you'll never understand why you're wrong."
The Construct smiled.
"Explain."
Mandakini gestured toward Kashyap.
"You don'tchoose him," she said.
"Youcalculate him."
For the first time, the Construct hesitated.
Kashyap felt the Axis tremble.
The Construct turned to him.
"You are the anomaly,"she said.
"With you,outcomes degrade."
He met her gaze.
"Good."
The Construct raised her hand.
The Axis fractured.
Timelines clashed violently, tearing at Mandakini's continuity.
Kashyap lunged forward, resonance flaring—
Too much.
Agastya's voice echoed faintly through the fracture.
"Kashyap—control!"
Mandakini grabbed Kashyap's arm.
"Not force,"she gasped.
"Choice."
She turned back to the Construct.
"You want to replace me?"she asked.
"Then choose."
The Construct stared.
"I don't—"
Mandakini stepped closer.
"Choose to protect a world you'll never see again."
Silence.
Then—
The Construct screamed.
Not in pain.
In confusion.
The Axis shuddered violently.
The Construct's form destabilized, Origin light leaking away.
"This is inefficient,"she whispered.
Mandakini embraced her.
And absorbed her.
The Axis roared.
Mandakini collapsed into Kashyap's arms as the corridor stabilized.
But something was wrong.
The Gate loomed ahead—closer than ever—
And the Chrono Sunder began to activate.
Kashyap felt it.
A pull.
A demand.
Mandakini looked up at him, eyes shining with merged awareness.
"They're forcing the trigger,"she said.
"And this time…it's you."
The Gate flared.
The Axis began to collapse.
And Kashyap had seconds to decide—
Whether to act—
Or let reality tear itself apart.