The Central Nexus of the multiverse stretched out before them, an endless expanse of luminous pathways connecting infinite realities. It was like standing at the heart of an endless star map, where each point of light was a living world, a thriving universe. Giant crystalline structures floated in the air, spinning slowly, weaving the invisible threads that tied the multiverse together.
The ground was made of shimmering glass, each step rippling with ancient energy. Strange symbols floated under their feet, pulsing softly as if recognizing the arrival of beings not native to this place.
Julius staggered slightly, still drained from the battle and the teleportation spell. Goku helped steady him, giving him a reassuring nod. "We made it."
But Julius could already feel it. The Nexus was unstable.
Madara's corruption had reached even this sacred place.
Above them, the sky rippled like water, bleeding dark tendrils of void energy that slowly seeped into the pathways. Some of the lights in the distance flickered and went out, like dying stars.
Madara stepped through the portal last, his presence warping the space around him. The scythe of shattered timelines floated at his side, dripping strands of broken reality that burned holes in the ground where they fell.
"You cannot stop the collapse," he said, his voice echoing unnaturally. "The multiverse is already poisoned. It is mercy to erase it before it rots completely."
Goku cracked his knuckles. "Funny. You keep talking like you're doing everyone a favor."
Gojo smirked, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "Typical villain monologue. You forget one thing."
Madara raised an eyebrow.
"We're still standing," Gojo said.
Around them, the corrupted heroes — Naruto, Luffy, Vegeta, Ichigo — struggled to their feet. Their bodies bore the scars of the void, but their spirits burned bright once again. The memory resonance Julius had triggered had saved them.
But they were weakened. And Madara was stronger than ever.
Julius glanced at the Nexus pathways. If Madara destroyed them, there would be no fixing this. No reboot. No restart. Everything — every world, every story, every life — would end in permanent oblivion.
There was only one option.
Fight.
Madara didn't wait. He launched himself forward with terrifying speed, scythe slicing through the air. Goku met him first, blocking the blow with both arms crossed. The force sent shockwaves through the ground, fracturing the glass-like surface.
Gojo flickered behind Madara, aiming a cursed red reversal directly at his back. But Madara twisted impossibly midair, intercepting the attack with a backhanded strike that shattered the technique.
Ichigo and Vegeta joined in, unleashing a combined blast of spiritual pressure and ki, but Madara moved like a specter, dodging, weaving, counterattacking.
Julius knew brute force wouldn't win this.
He summoned strands of time magic again, weaving them into traps along the Nexus pathways. If they could seal Madara even briefly, they could weaken him enough to finish the fight.
Naruto, barely standing, summoned the last of Kurama's chakra, forming a massive, crackling Rasengan. Luffy, battered and bruised, stretched his arms into monstrous fists, ready to strike.
The battle exploded into a chaotic dance of energy and violence.
Madara fought like a god, blending raw power with ruthless precision. He wasn't just defending — he was attacking the Nexus itself, sending waves of destructive energy into the fragile pathways.
Each attack caused lights to flicker and die.
Each loss tightened the clock ticking down to total annihilation.
Julius felt the pressure mounting. Time itself was bleeding out. Soon, even his magic wouldn't work properly here.
He reached into the core of his chronogear, pulling out the last forbidden technique he had never dared use.
Temporal Override.
It would allow him to freeze the flow of time for a few seconds — but at the cost of erasing years of his own life span.
He didn't hesitate.
Julius triggered the spell.
For a brief, precious heartbeat, everything slowed.
Madara froze mid-strike.
The others moved sluggishly, like they were underwater, but Julius could move freely.
He sprinted across the battlefield, weaving intricate glyphs into the air, carving sealing spells directly into the Nexus pathways. Each sigil glowed with radiant golden light, converging on Madara's position.
When time snapped back to normal, the traps triggered.
Chains of pure chronomagic erupted from the ground, wrapping around Madara's limbs, his weapon, even the scythe of shattered timelines.
Madara roared in fury, struggling against the bindings.
"Now!" Julius shouted.
Goku unleashed a full-force Kamehameha, Gojo followed with an immense Hollow Purple, Ichigo charged a black Getsuga Tenshō, Vegeta hurled a Final Flash, and Naruto slammed down his Rasengan.
The combined attacks hit Madara at once.
The explosion lit up the Nexus like a newborn sun.
The ground buckled. Cracks raced across the pathways. Pieces of the crystalline sky rained down like falling stars.
When the light faded, Madara was kneeling in the center of a massive crater, his armor shattered, blood running down his face.
But he was laughing.
"You think... this will stop me?"
He stood, the scythe reforming in his hand, larger and more monstrous than before.
"You cannot win," Madara said. "I am no longer bound by your rules. I am Oblivion itself!"
He stabbed the scythe into the ground.
The Nexus screamed.
The pathways ruptured.
Entire sections of the multiverse began collapsing, worlds folding in on themselves and vanishing in flashes of white light.
Julius realized the horrible truth.
Madara wasn't just trying to destroy the multiverse anymore.
He was trying to rewrite it.
Twist it into a single, dead world under his complete control.
And unless they stopped him now, there would be nothing left to save.
Goku pushed himself upright, blood dripping from a split lip. "No matter what it takes... we're stopping you."
Gojo cracked his neck. "Even if we die trying."
Ichigo rested Zangetsu across his shoulders. "Better to burn out than fade away."
Naruto smiled through the pain. "Believe it."
Julius felt something stir deep within him.
Not just his own magic.
The will of every world, every life, every memory fighting to survive.
He gathered it, shaping it, forging it into a new spell — one not of destruction, but restoration.
Chrono Genesis.
A spell to restore the Nexus, to rebuild the multiverse even as it was being erased.
But he couldn't cast it alone.
He needed them.
All of them.
"Channel your energy into me!" Julius shouted.
Without hesitation, Goku, Gojo, Naruto, Ichigo, Luffy, Vegeta — even the partially-recovered heroes — poured their power into Julius.
He almost collapsed under the sheer weight of it.
But he held on.
He focused.
And he cast the spell.
A wave of radiant golden light burst from him, sweeping across the Nexus.
The pathways began repairing themselves.
Collapsed worlds reignited.
Broken realities stitched themselves back together.
Madara howled in rage, lashing out wildly, but the restoration magic shielded them all.
It wasn't enough to destroy Madara.
But it was enough to deny him his victory.
He would have to be defeated the hard way.
The heroes gathered, battered but unbroken, facing Madara one last time.
This was it.
The final battle.