Time itself seemed to shudder as the Hollow King rose from his throne, the air around him distorting in rippling waves. Caius could feel it pressing against him, an invisible weight threatening to drag him under, to pull him into the currents of time where the Hollow King reigned supreme.
"You march into my domain as if you hold dominion over fate," the Hollow King mused, his voice layered, echoing as though spoken from countless different moments at once. "But time is not a weapon you wield, child. It is the cage you have yet to understand."
Caius gritted his teeth, raising his sword. "You speak as if you aren't trapped in it too. If you had truly conquered time, we wouldn't be standing here now."
The Hollow King chuckled, his form flickering between ages—one moment a young prince, the next a crowned emperor, then a weathered husk of a man draped in the remnants of his former glory. "You see only the surface of eternity. But soon, you will understand."
Selene tensed beside Caius, her daggers shifting in her grip. "Less talking, more ending this."
Elias gave a sharp nod. "We take him down now, before he bends reality itself."
The Hollow King merely smiled. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the world fractured.
Caius barely had a moment to react before he felt himself being torn away. The floor vanished beneath him, and suddenly, he was no longer in the Nexus. He was—
—standing in the ruins of the capital, the sky crimson with fire, bodies scattered across the cobblestone streets. The air was thick with the scent of smoke and blood. He recognized this place. He had been here before.
This was the future he had seen.
A scream rang out. Selene's voice.
Caius turned, his chest tightening. There she was, just as he had seen in his visions—trapped beneath rubble, blood seeping from a wound in her side. Elias stood before her, fending off shadowy figures with desperate swings of his sword, but he was slowing, exhaustion setting in. And looming over them, an ominous figure wreathed in darkness—
—himself.
Or rather, a twisted reflection of him. A future where he had taken the Hollow King's throne, where he had become the very tyrant he sought to destroy. The shadow-Caius turned his head, his golden eyes locking onto him. "You cannot change what is meant to be."
Caius gritted his teeth. "Watch me."
He lunged forward, but the moment his blade made contact, the world shattered again.
He stumbled, finding himself back in the Nexus. Elias and Selene were beside him, panting as if they too had been torn through different realities.
"What—what was that?" Elias asked, his voice raw.
"A trick," Selene spat, wiping sweat from her brow. "He's trying to break us."
The Hollow King tilted his head, watching them with something akin to curiosity. "Not a trick. A lesson. Every step you take leads you to the same destination. No matter how you resist, the throne will claim you."
Caius clenched his fists, his breathing ragged. "You don't get to decide that."
The Hollow King let out a sigh, almost disappointed. "Then prove it. Show me that fate is yours to command."
The air twisted, and suddenly the Hollow King was upon them.
Caius barely managed to block the first strike, the force sending him skidding backward. Selene darted forward, her daggers flashing, but they met only empty air as the Hollow King dissolved into a blur of movement. Elias followed up with a powerful strike, but the Hollow King caught his blade with an open palm, time itself reversing around his hand, undoing the attack before it could land.
"You fight against time itself," the Hollow King murmured. "And time is not so easily conquered."
Caius gritted his teeth, his mind racing. They couldn't win this battle by fighting conventionally. The Hollow King didn't just move through time—he dictated it. They had to disrupt him. They had to sever his control.
Then, an idea struck him.
"Selene! Elias!" Caius called out, his voice firm. "We're not fighting to kill him—we're fighting to unbind him."
Selene's eyes widened in realization. "You mean—?"
"We sever his hold on time itself!"
Elias nodded grimly. "Then we hit him where it hurts."
They shifted their strategy. Instead of aiming for fatal blows, they struck at the Hollow King's surroundings—the Nexus itself. Caius reached into his power, not to manipulate time, but to disrupt it. The golden threads weaving through the Hollow King's domain wavered, fraying at the edges. The structure of the Nexus trembled.
The Hollow King's calm demeanor faltered. "What are you—?"
Caius didn't let him finish. He lashed out, not at the Hollow King, but at the foundation of his throne. The golden energy splintered, cracks forming in the air itself. Time stuttered, faltered—
And the Hollow King staggered.
Selene was on him in an instant, her blades sinking into his side. Elias followed up, his sword cutting through the distortions of time surrounding their enemy. The Hollow King let out a sharp breath, his form flickering, losing cohesion.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
Caius stepped forward, his voice steady. "You've ruled for too long. It's time for time itself to move forward."
The Hollow King's golden eyes met his, and for a brief moment, there was something almost human in them.
Then—
The Nexus collapsed.
The last thing Caius saw was the Hollow King reaching toward him, his expression unreadable.
Then darkness swallowed them whole.