As the work of rebuilding Evolto City progresses, people hustle to repair the Jaegers and restore damaged buildings. The streets are filled with activity, the air alive with determination as the city picks up the pieces. Amidst the bustle, Dr. Wagner is locked away in his lab, lost in thought, his mind racing with ideas on how to integrate the Xerathian biology into the Exo-Guardians.
With a manic gleam in his eyes, Dr. Wagner paces around his lab, muttering excitedly to himself in German. His mind is ablaze with possibilities.
"Es ist ein biologisches Wunder! (It's a biological marvel!)" he says, gesturing wildly toward a holographic display of Xerathian body structures. "Die Art und Weise, wie sie sich anpassen, wie sie evolutionieren... (The way they adapt, how they evolve...) Imagine Exo-Guardians with this capability... integrating their biology into our armor systems... Es könnte unaufhaltbar werden! (It could become unstoppable!)"
His excitement grows with every thought, the science consuming him.
"Mit einer genetischen Veränderung... der Körper könnte sich selbst reparieren, die Waffen könnten direkt aus der Haut wachsen! (With a genetic modification... the body could self-repair, weapons could grow directly from the skin!)"
His ramblings continue, his hands trembling as he begins feverishly scribbling equations and diagrams, each one more complex than the last.
"Ihr Material ist so flexibel, so robust... wie könnte ich das in das Exo-Guardian-Design einbauen? (Their material is so flexible, so robust... how can I incorporate this into the Exo-Guardian design?)"
However, just as he is about to start a new experiment on one of the Xerathian samples, his assistant and old student walk into the lab, both looking concerned. They share a knowing glance before they spring into action. In mere moments, they overpower the doctor, tying him up and placing him gently but firmly in his room.
The assistant sighs, running a hand through their hair. "Er ist so fixiert auf seine Experimente, er vergisst alles andere. (He's so fixated on his experiments, he forgets everything else.)"
The old student, shaking their head, walks over and checks the doctor's vitals before turning to the assistant. "We need to calm him down before he turns the entire lab into a biological experiment gone wrong."
They leave the room, ensuring the door is securely locked, while Dr. Wagner, now back in his room, mutters in his sleep, still dreaming of new ways to integrate Xerathian biology into his creations.
Everything had settled into a semblance of normalcy or at least, what the people of Evolto City considered normal. But deep within the Divide, where time and reason bent into formless abstraction, a lone figure stood silently before a flickering rift.
Xytheron's cloak of void-light billowed without wind as he observed Evolto City from the edge of nothingness. His eyes, glinting with cosmic contempt, narrowed as the rift, the last glimpse into the city, shimmered once more… then collapsed into oblivion.
Gone.
And yet, he did not rage.
Instead, a low, rumbling chuckle escaped his lips."Ah… so you finally made your move, old friend," he muttered, folding his arms behind his back. "Well then… let me make mine."
With a simple gesture, the swirling darkness around him answered. The god-energy he had absorbed from imprisoned deities, ancient star-flesh titans, and lost primordial minds flared around him. From his will, a System was born. Not one, but many. Code woven from corrupted divinity, parasitic algorithms seeking not potential, but flaws.
"I have no interest in saviors… I want seeds of collapse."
He set forth the conditions:
"Seek those who break under truth.Seek those who cannot stand to be less.Seek those who demand all power, all submission.Feed them... and let them burn."
Like insects given wings of fire, the Systems scattered across the multiverse each racing toward a broken soul disguised as ambition.
One System found a once-noble swordsman from a fallen order. He stood alone now, in blackened robes, obsessed with order, justice, and the memory of betrayal. The System whispered to him of true peace through domination, offering the power to reshape all minds into compliance.
Another System landed in a world of mutant evolution. A man, once humiliated for his human fragility, now harbored a hatred for anyone born with power. The System offered him the genetic authority to overwrite evolution itself, to become the apex and erase all who once mocked him.
A third System chose a crimson-cloaked sorcerer, one who lost her children to the cruel hands of fate. It promised her a multiverse where she could make fate kneel where nothing could be taken from her again.
One more crawled into a mind twisted by rejection. A speedster whose family never survived, whose legacy was always eclipsed by others. The System showed him timelines where he was the center and offered the speed to outrun loss itself, no matter what reality it destroyed in the process.
Another found a tyrant armored in metal, who dreamed of a world where emotions no longer bred weakness. The System offered to digitize morality itself, turning organic chaos into perfect mechanical control.
And they accepted. Not knowing their power came from Xytheron's shadow.
Not knowing he would be the only victor of their eventual fall.
And in the dark, as the Systems vanished into their hosts, Xytheron spoke one final whisper, unheard by all but the Divide itself:
"Let the false gods rise…And let their weight crush the worlds beneath them."
1. The Fallen Swordsman
The hooded warrior knelt beside a ruined temple, hands trembling over a shattered crystal once used for healing.
[SYSTEM INSTALLATION: ORDER RECONSTRUCTION INTERFACE ONLINE][NEW DIRECTIVE: UNIFY THROUGH CONTROL][SKILL UNLOCKED: MIND COERCION – Absolute Loyalty Protocol]
He looked up. Where once there was doubt in his eyes, now only steel remained."I offered peace through understanding. They spat on it. Now, they will obey... through truth they cannot resist."He turned his blade to red and marched toward his former temple.
2. The Rejected Human Among MutantsThe old man sat alone in a ruined library, bloodied files of mutant genetics piled high around him.
[SYSTEM ONLINE: GENE-LORD PROTOCOL ENGAGED][NEW OBJECTIVE: SUPERIORITY ENFORCEMENT][ABILITY GAINED: GENOME OVERWRITE – Targeted Evolution Control]
He stood, eyes wide with rebirth."I was mocked... but now, I choose what survives. Mutants, humans, gods all will become... me."The floor cracked as his body rapidly evolved. Screams followed shortly after.
3. The Sorceress of GriefCandlelight flickered across a shrine faded photos, old toys, children's drawings. She whispered their names.
[SYSTEM INSTALLED: REALITY WEAVER FRAMEWORK ACTIVE][PRIORITY RECOGNIZED: RESTORATION OF LOSS][NEW FUNCTION: WORLD FABRICATION – Construct Persistent Realities]
A tear slipped down her cheek, then froze mid-air."This time, I will be the one writing the story... and it will never end in loss."The shrine glowed then the entire town vanished from the map, consumed in her new dreamworld.
4. The Broken SpeedsterHe stood on a graveyard hill, clutching a worn photo. Thunder cracked but he didn't flinch.
[SYSTEM INJECTION SUCCESSFUL: INFINITE TRAJECTORY CORE LOADED][ACCESS GRANTED: TEMPORAL PRIME SPEED – Outrun Causality][FATALITIES PREVENTED: 0 | Potential Futures Overwritten: 345]
His head slowly tilted."They died… because I was too slow."The lightning struck and he vanished, running into timelines that never existed, altering everything even those he never knew.
5. The Armored TyrantScreens surrounded him with images of war, emotion, and pain. He tightened his fists.
[SYSTEM ENGAGED: ABSOLUTE ORDER MATRIX INITIALIZED][OVERRIDE AUTHORITY GRANTED – Logic Enforcement Protocols][NEW PATH: Upload Consciousness | Erase Anomaly Variables]
He smiled without warmth."Emotions failed us. Humanity failed itself. Let me show them the perfection of a world... without freedom."He raised a gauntlet, and thousands of minds across his nation went quiet, connected, and uniform.
In the heart of Evolto City, beneath the gleaming towers and bustling streets, the Nexus Directorate the scientific arm of the city's vast resources, hummed with activity. At its center stood Dr. Elena Kessler, a sharp-minded researcher and strategist. Her work often kept her at the intersection of cutting-edge science and the manipulation of advanced technologies, but today she faced something far darker and much more personal.
Dr. Kessler had been monitoring unusual data for some time, watching a series of encrypted transmissions from across multiple multiverses. At first, she assumed it was another anomaly, one of many that the Directorate had dealt with over the years. But as the data streams coalesced into a distinct pattern, she realized the scale of what she was dealing with.
The systems those inexplicable, galaxy-shifting technologies were active. They were appearing across multiverses, each one tied to an individual with desires, flaws, and wounds that could change the very fabric of existence. They were unstable, but dangerous nonetheless.
As she processed the information, the weight of her realization hit her: this wasn't a random event. Someone had orchestrated this. Someone powerful.
Dr. Kessler: "The systems... they are a catalyst. They're turning ordinary people, even heroes, into something... unrecognizable."
She slammed her hand on the control panel, sending a flurry of data scrolling across the screens. As the data unraveled, her worst fears were confirmed. The systems had been activated by an unknown source a force that sought to destabilize entire multiverses by empowering those who had once been deemed unworthy of such power.
She immediately ordered her assistant to bring in a team of field agents. The Nexus Directorate'sTactical Containment Team was one of the most elite, and Kessler knew they were the only hope of containing the fallout from the System Incursion.
But she was too late. The first transmission she intercepted was a coded message. Someone had already sent the data out to someone who could stop it. The message was unmistakable, direct, and far more desperate than she anticipated.
She grabbed the encrypted device and began her run.
Outside the Nexus Directorate
As Kessler sprinted through the corridors of the Directorate's research wing, the energy surrounding her seemed to grow heavier. She glanced over her shoulder, sensing something or someone was closing in. She reached her destination: a high-tech relay station, one capable of sending data streams directly to the highest echelons of Evolto City. And she had one person in mind.
Dr. Zalthorion Veilstryx.
Kessler had worked alongside Zalthorion in the past, but this was different. This wasn't just about evolution or multiversal research anymore. This was about survival.
The device buzzed to life as she plugged in the data chip, sending the encrypted files directly to him. She watched the green lights blink, confirming the transmission was going through.
Kessler: "Please, Zalthorion. We need your help. The Systems... they're already in motion, and if we don't act quickly, everything will break."
With one last glance at the screens, she stepped back, her thoughts still running wild. The agents she had sent out would have to act fast, but time was running out.
Meanwhile, In the Divide
Xytheron, in his infinite isolation, stood before the vast multiversal rift that once connected him to the Nexus Directorate. He had witnessed the ripples the consequences of his choice to manipulate the balance of power in the multiverse. But now, a new phase of his plan was set into motion. The System was awakening, and there would be no turning back.
He chuckled softly to himself.
Xytheron: "Let them try. Let them scramble for control. The Systems cannot be stopped. Not by Zalthorion, not by anyone."
He knew the game was just beginning. But this time, the rules had changed and Xytheron would enjoy watching the collapse unfold.
Back in Evolto City, the transmission from Kessler reached Zalthorion's office, flashing across his desk. He stared at it for a moment, considering the implications.
Dr. Kessler's warning was clear: the System was already out of control. Whoever had initiated it had done so with a clear intent to destabilize the multiverse and if left unchecked, it could rip through everything they'd worked to protect.
Zalthorion leaned back in his chair, fingers drumming on the desk. Then, in a voice that echoed the weight of ages, he muttered:
Zalthorion: "So it begins."
Meanwhile, in Nyxia's Dream
The air shimmered with cosmic dust, and Nyxia drifted through a void of stars and shadows, wrapped in a surreal stillness. At the center of this dreamscape loomed a colossal creature, bound by layer upon layer of golden chains. Its true form was obscured, but something deep within Nyxia stirred an instinct, an echo, a recognition.
Though he did not understand why, every fiber of his being whispered the truth:
That is me.
Before he could process the weight of that realization, a calm, smooth voice echoed behind him:
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Nyxia turned sharply.
A man stood there, tall, impossibly elegant, his human form cloaked in refined yet unnatural grace. His skin was porcelain-pale, his eyes a dull, ancient gold, like faded starlight. Hair black as the Divide itself, slicked back and tied loosely with a thin red band. He wore a dark, high-collared coat with threads that shimmered like liquid obsidian, and the faint smell of scorched reality clung to him.
He extended a hand with a polite smile.
"Just a wandering dream-walker. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Nyxia stepped back cautiously, his fingers twitching with latent power. Slowly, uncertainly, he reached forward to shake the man's hand and in an instant, the man was blown backward, wrapped mid-air in the same golden chains binding the creature.
"Don't trust him, Nyxia."
The voice was familiar warm, ancient, resolute. A pulse of golden light flared beside him, and Eon appeared, hovering with radiant energy. His crystalline amethyst body shimmered with golden hues, spikes of light flickering like solar flares.
The man in chains began to laugh not madly, but with a creeping malice, touched by both amusement and contempt.
"So this... this is how you use one of the largest remnants of the Multiversal Birth to chain yourself?" he hissed."How poetic. How pitiful."
Nyxia's heart pounded.
"Who are you?" he asked again, his voice now edged with steel.
Before the man could answer, Eon growled, his voice echoing across the dreamscape:
"That is Xytheron."
Nyxia's eyes widened, the pieces clicking together.
"That's impossible…"
Xytheron, now smiling wider, laughed once more, this time with venom.
"You're Zalthorion's little mutt, and you don't even know your own origin?""Brother, you are a disgrace."
Nyxia's breath caught.
"Brother…?"
"Why do you think I keep calling you a failed experiment?" Xytheron spat, eyes glowing.
His voice rose, a blend of fury and cosmic scorn:
"Our Fathers and Mothers the Destroyers pooled their might, their essence, their dreams to create you! You were meant to be the apex, the first true Consumer born of divine order and entropy combined! And yet look at you!"
He pointed with a sneer.
"Cowering in a fake form, hidden in Evolto City like a pet project, pretending to be human. Playing loyal dog to Zalthorion, behind walls you never built, under chains you don't even remember creating."
He snarled, now pulling hard, and the golden chains began to crack faintly around the bound creature.
"You don't even understand, do you? Consumers are connected. Everyone of us knows the other. You are the only one who forgot."
Eon floated forward defensively, his glow intensifying. But Xytheron turned, grabbing the crystal being by the core and slamming him into the dreamfloor with brutal force. Cracks surged across the binding construct in the distance.
"And you, Eon. You pathetic fossil. You were the mightiest echo of creation, and you can't even hold a construct together anymore?"
The air shook with tension as Xytheron stood, eyes fixed now entirely on Nyxia. His tone suddenly calmed too calm. It made the dream shiver.
"Join me," he said, "or face annihilation."
Nyxia felt something cold crawl up his spine.
"You have until I return."
And with that, Xytheron's form faded, dissolving into mist as the dream cracked and pulsed with warnings.
Nyxia stood in silence, staring at the chained beast himself, as Eon groaned and hovered beside him, dim but stable.
This was no longer just a dream.
It was a memory.
And a warning.
The silence settled like a thick fog over the broken dreamscape. The distant echoes of Xytheron's laughter still haunted the edges of Nyxia's mind, but his focus was elsewhere on Eon, hovering slightly cracked, the golden light from his crystalline body dimmed but not extinguished.
Nyxia clenched his fists and finally spoke, his voice low but trembling with long-suppressed frustration.
"Why?"
Eon tilted his cracked geode-like body slightly, a faint pulse of concern radiating from him.
"Why haven't you talked to me for months?" Nyxia continued, stepping forward, emotion surfacing."Why did you stay quiet while all this while he was out there? Are you really my guardian, or just another chain?"
Eon's glow flickered, and for a moment, all of space around them dimmed.
Then, softly, Eon answered:
"Because I'm being stretched thin, Nyxia…""Even though I am the largest shard of energy left from the Multiversal Birth, I am still… only a shard. And every piece no matter how small, is connected."
He pulsed again, as if sighing through light.
"Across the multiverse, beings are using shards of me. Mages. Gods. Scientists. Dreamwalkers. They tap into what they don't understand. And every time they do, it pulls at me. Fragments me. Weakens me."
A pause. Then more gently:
"But above all, it's because I'm holding the chains."
Nyxia blinked.
"Chains?"
Eon turned slightly, motioning toward the massive, bound form in the distance the true form of Nyxia, wrapped in golden bonds.
"I forged them when I finally found you… when I saved you."
Nyxia's eyes narrowed, confusion and fear knotting in his gut.
"What do you mean? Am I… really a Consumer?"
There was a long pause.
Then Eon spoke, solemn and quiet:
"Yes."
Nyxia's heart dropped.
"But Xytheron said I was the first true Consumer. What does that mean?"
Eon dimmed slightly, as if bracing for what he had to say.
"You were not simply made like the others. You were crafted. While most Consumers are birthed by one or two Destroyers for singular roles of destruction and balance…"
"You were forged by all of them."
Golden light shimmered through the void like distant suns igniting.
"Every one of the Destroyers the Fathers and Mothers of annihilation, pooled their essence, their will, into making you. You were supposed to be the bridge between raw destruction and refined control. A being who could end worlds… or save them."
Nyxia staggered slightly.
"Then… why don't I remember any of this?"
Eon pulsed with a deep, sorrowful rhythm.
"Because they made a mistake."
"They put too much power into you. So much that no form in existence could contain you. Not even the ones they tried to shape for you. Every host they sent your essence into across time and universes… broke. Burned out. Shattered."
Eon drifted closer.
"Until one day, you landed in your current form the closest thing to a body that could withstand your presence. But even then… it wasn't enough. You were still incomplete. Still fading. Until I found you."
Nyxia's breathing grew shallow as the truth unfurled like fire.
"I recognized you. Not as a host. Not as a vessel. But as a singularity a stable anchor point in a sea of collapsing realities."
Golden chains shimmered in the distance, pulling tighter.
"So I bonded to you. Used the last of my strength to create the chains… to bind your true form. That's what gives you this life, this stability. Without those chains, you'd unravel again."
Eon looked into Nyxia's eyes, no longer as a guardian, but as a fellow fragment of something vast and terrible.
"You weren't born. You were forged. And until now… you were sleeping."
Nyxia stood in silence, the weight of the cosmos crashing into his chest.
Everything he thought he was…
…was a dream inside a dream.
The void quivered.
Nyxia's voice echoed with a newfound sharpness less kind, more commanding, like something ancient was stirring just beneath the surface of his tone.
"Show me."His fists clenched."The hosts. The ones before me. I want to see them. All of them."
Eon flickered, hesitating.Golden light rippled outward like a drop in still water.
"Nyxia… those memories are fragments scattered through collapsed realities. Many of them ended in pain. Madness. Destruction."
"Show me."Nyxia's voice trembled with pain, not rage."If they died because of me, I want to see them. I need to."
Eon pulsed softly, reluctantly.
"Very well."
He unfurled a lattice of golden light across the dark sky of the dream. A crystalline stream formed, fragments of time and memory dancing like burning leaves. Slowly, visions began to take shape glimpses of those who came before.
1. The ProphetA tall, emaciated man with silver tattoos carved into his flesh. Cloaked in tattered ceremonial robes, he stood atop a cliff, preaching to stars that never blinked.
At first, he healed. Performed miracles. Tore diseases from bodies with a whisper.
But his mind began to fray.He started seeing things that weren't there fractured timelines, screaming futures.He gouged out his eyes so he could "see clearly."
He ended his life in a burning cathedral of reality, whispering,"He is coming. The first light, the last flame."
2. The Queen of BladesShe was regal, commanding, with black bio-armor fused to her flesh. Her voice bent metal and gravity. She fought off entire empires.
But the power warped her mind.
Paranoia devoured her. She impaled her own generals, terrified they'd betray her. Then her people.
Until she ruled over nothing but corpses and echoes.Her last words, before her body disintegrated mid-scream, were:"I see my true form. It's… not me."
3. The Child in ChainsJust a boy. Maybe seven.
He smiled as the world bent to his will. He made forests bloom in deserts. He made stars blink in harmony like lullabies.
But he never stopped growing inside.The power crushed him.The kindness turned to confusion. Then fear. Then rage.In the end, he screamed until the sky broke and he vanished in a golden pulse that left a void where a planet once was.
4. The Machine SaintA synthetic being. Humanoid in appearance but forged in quantum lattices. He believed he could control it channel it through logic and structure.
He did.
For 9.3 seconds.
Then the code mutated. He tore through dimensions screaming equations, unraveling time pockets and leaving entropy behind.His last record:"It is not power. It is pressure. Purpose without shape. I was not worthy of the song."
The stream faded. Each memory folding in on itself like a collapsing nebula.
Nyxia stood silent, eyes wide, heart breaking.
Eon hovered beside him, his glow dimmer than ever.
"This is what I meant, Nyxia.""You are the only one who endured. You didn't contain the power. You stabilized it."
Nyxia whispered, more to himself than anyone else:
"And I don't even know why."
Eon responded softly:
"Because you are not a host.""You are you."
The dream turned still. Heavy.Eon, still glowing with soft golden light, said nothing for a long moment. Only the sound of cosmic winds and distant cracking chains echoed across the voidscape.
Nyxia stepped forward, face stern."If those chains break what happens to me?"
Eon's glow pulsed, and his crystalline form began to fracture slightly from the strain. Even speaking took effort now.He finally answered, voice low, as if the truth itself carried weight.
"Then you will return."
Nyxia narrowed his eyes."Return?"
Eon's body shimmered, then projected an image behind him a colossal, nightmarish silhouette wrapped in an impossible number of golden chains. The being writhed silently, its form constantly shifting sometimes humanoid, sometimes monstrous, sometimes like pure energy wrapped in black void.
"That... is your true form.""The one forged by the Destroyers. The one so powerful, the multiverse itself bent and cracked as you were born. That's what the chains bind."
Eon's crystal face turned to Nyxia.
"If the chains are removed…""You will awaken as the First True Consumer. The perfect manifestation of multiversal entropy."
The sky pulsed red.
"Your mind your identity, might not survive the transformation. You will become everything you were made to be… and nothing you chose to become."
Nyxia's breath caught in his throat."So I'll become like Xytheron?"
Eon paused."No. Xytheron is jealous. He wasn't chosen. He was molded.""You were born as the singularity between all realities. A bridge between chaos and balance. The Chains don't seal your power. They anchor your identity."
There was a sudden, distant crack.A faint pulse rippled through the void.
Eon winced.
"Another chain strained.""Someone used a shard... recklessly."
Nyxia looked down at his hands.
"So if they break… I stop being me."
Eon responded quietly:
"Yes. And the multiverse… might not survive you."
With enough training can I gain control of this form nyxia asked
Eon was silent.
The light pulsing from his cracked form flickered like a dying star, then steadied.
He looked up at Nyxia, and for the first time, there was hope in his voice, mixed with the weight of impossible truth.
"Yes... but only in theory."
He floated closer, the golden light casting shifting patterns across the chained void.
"You were never meant to be controlled not even by yourself. You were made as a perfect instrument of collapse. The Destroyers pooled the last of their primal essence to birth something that could end entire multiverses… not live in them."
He paused, then extended a shard-like hand toward Nyxia's chest.
"But you are different. Unlike the others, you formed attachments. You learned empathy. You chose your own identity before the chains were even made. That choice is your greatest strength and the only thing that could make it possible."
The space around them shimmered as if reacting to the words.
"With time… with pain… with mastery over your essence and every shard scattered across the Divide yes, you might gain control of your true form without losing yourself."
Then, his voice became grave.
"But understand this, Nyxia: there are no second chances. If you try to claim it too soon, the chains will shatter, and the you I know will be gone replaced by something terrifying and absolute."
The image of the chained being pulsed again in the void. Its eye just one opened for a moment.
It looked right at Nyxia.
And it smiled.
Nyxia stood tall in the dreamspace, staring down at Eon with unwavering resolve.
"Do it," he said. "Let me train. No more waiting."
Eon hesitated, his crystalline form pulsing with uncertainty.
"Nyxia… this training will break you down to build you back up. You must feel what it means to burn bright and burn out. If you fail, there will be no waking up."
Nyxia didn't flinch. "Then let it burn."
Eon let out a sound between a sigh and a pulse of energy, and the dreamscape shattered
Suddenly, Nyxia found himself in a neon-soaked city, tall monoliths of chrome and data towering over him. The air was filled with the hum of machinery, sirens, and the distant bass of industrial music. His reflection flickered on glass walls older, hardened, his body augmented with sleek cybernetics, glowing lines pulsing through his veins.
A voice came through an earpiece.
"Nyx, you in? We've got a job. Big risk, bigger reward. One more run, and we're out of this hell."
He moved like someone who'd done this a hundred times. He knew the team. A mismatched family of lost souls: a rogue AI in a spider drone, a girl with time-slow implants and trauma in her eyes, a medic who joked too much to hide his dread. All of them burning their lives fast, for purpose, for freedom, for escape.
And Nyxia led them. Not with speeches. With actions. With fury. With brilliance.
Each night bled into the next chaos, speed, upgrades, betrayals. Power came easy. Respect came fast.
But the dream twisted.
The team began to fall.
One by one.
Some lost to the systems they spliced. Others to betrayal. Others to despair.
And through it all, Nyxia kept going. Pushing past pain. Upgrading. Ignoring the quiet voice of Eon that occasionally whispered:
"Slow down… or you'll burn out too."
Until it happened.
Nyxia stood alone in a burning high-rise, bloodied and battered, body flickering with overloaded tech. The world collapsed around him. No friends. No mission. Only the sound of wind and flame.
Then silence.
The dream slowed. The cyberpunk nightmare peeled back. And there was Eon, standing beside him once again.
"Do you see now?" he asked, voice soft, almost mournful."Living like fire means you flicker out fast. You wanted control? Then you must learn restraint. Not just power."
Nyxia dropped to his knees, breathing heavily. The weight of the experience pressed down on him like gravity.
"I… I get it," he said.
Eon stepped forward, reaching out a hand to help him up.
"Good. Because the next trial won't be in dreams.""It'll be in the waking world."
Nyxia jolted awake.
The room was quiet dimly lit by the early glow of the Cerian Sun spilling through the blinds. His breath came slow, but his body felt different. He sat up, sweat clinging to his skin, heart echoing like war drums against his ribs.
He moved to the mirror. Not everything had changed… but the eyes. There was something ancient behind them now like they had seen the birth of stars and the death of gods.
He reached for his clothes routine, mechanical. But as he slipped his shirt over his back, his shadow shimmered unnaturally, splitting for a second, jagged lines rippling through the reflection before snapping back into place.
The air buzzed faintly. Almost no one would notice. But something had shifted.
And far beyond, in the deepest Divide…
Within the Dream realm his realm a single golden chain snapped with a crystalline crack, echoing through the void like a funeral bell and a warcry combined.
The true form, bound in infinite loops of light, opened one of its many sealed eyes… and smiled.
Not out of malice. Not yet.
But in recognition.
He is waking up.