The divine battlefield lay in eerie stillness, its silence more deafening than the roars that had preceded it. Aetheron was gone—his light extinguished, his will shattered. Only the remnants of the clash remained: broken fragments of reality, spiraling voids, and echoes of time torn open and stitched shut by Kael's power.
Kael stood alone atop a broken spire of celestial stone, his body flickering between forms—mortal and something else. He was breathing heavily, though the concept of breath felt almost unnecessary now. His chest ached, not from wounds, but from the unbearable weight of what he had consumed.
Aetheron's soul.
The god's essence, knowledge, power, and purpose had all been pulled into him. It was more than strength. It was understanding. Kael saw the threads of creation now—the invisible code that bound existence together. And he knew: he was no longer just a Gatekeeper.
He had become a Nexus.
From deep within, the new ability pulsed like a living sun.
[Nexus Core]Command the threads of reality. Rewrite or restore. But beware: overreach may trigger paradox collapse.
He could see them now—threads extending from every star, every soul, every future. And it terrified him.
"This is too much," he whispered, voice raw.
Then came the message.
[System Notification: Divine Council Detected][Warning: Nexus Core usage has drawn attention from the Primordials.]
The stars above flickered, as if reacting to the warning. A new presence began to loom in the distance—not a god, but older. Larger. Deeper.
The Primordials.
Kael steadied himself, gripping the Riftblade. "They were never watching Aetheron," he realized. "They were watching me."
He thought of everything that had led to this: the trials, the dungeons, the gods he'd slain. And now, the gods' creators—or perhaps their executioners—were stirring.
The ground beneath him trembled.
Suddenly, the void cracked like glass, and from within spilled a surge of uncharted time—an anomaly. Kael backed away, blade raised, as the anomaly formed a shape: not a being, but a door.
An invitation.
Inscribed on its frame were symbols Kael instinctively understood: "Threshold of Origin. Beyond this lies the truth."
Kael hesitated. He could turn back. Return to his family. Pretend to live.
But he was no longer built for that.
He stepped forward. The Riftblade responded with a hum—part warning, part encouragement.
As he reached out to touch the door, it opened not outward, but inward, peeling reality back like paper.
And Kael walked through.
Inside was not a place, but every place. A storm of beginnings. The moment stars were born. The first thought. The first god. The first lie.
Floating before him were seven thrones. Empty.
And behind them… a chained mass of light, shifting with all colors, yet none.
A voice boomed, not aloud, but inside his mind:"You walk where gods feared to tread, Nexus. You carry stolen flame. Will you burn the world... or reforge it?"
Kael didn't answer right away. His hand clenched the Riftblade.
"I didn't steal power," he finally said. "I earned it."
The chained light stirred. The chains groaned.
"Then prove it. Reclaim the balance. Face the Firstborn."
Kael's system blinked.
[New Quest: The Firstborn of Chaos]Objective: Defeat the original anomaly. Restore harmony or reshape it.
He exhaled slowly. No more hesitation.
"Let's end what they started."
He stepped forward again, as the chained light cracked open its eye, and across the multiverse, time began to bleed
end of chapter