Chapter 8 – The Chosen and the Crownless
The first punch never landed.
Because time around it stopped.
The boy—the Godkiller Seed—moved his hand forward, and time stilled like a painting. Leaves hung in the air. Lightning curved mid-flash. Raindrops glowed like diamonds in midair.
But Kaian moved anyway.
Time roared as it was ripped apart by something that shouldn't exist. He appeared behind the Godkiller, palm raised—not to strike, but to touch.
"Your system doesn't work on me," Kaian said softly.
The boy's eyes widened. "I know."
And he smiled again.
The moment their hands clashed, reality gave up.
The entire continent beneath them cracked—not from strength, but from narrative rejection. The world couldn't comprehend both entities in the same place. The concept of "what should happen" began to unravel.
System notifications burst across the sky like fireworks only Kaian could see:
> [Dimensional Axis Folded]
[Causal Flow Interrupted]
[Paradox Level: S-Class+]
[Warning: Reality Thread Count Below Minimum Stability Threshold]
Kaian blinked. For a fraction of a second, he saw every version of the boy across infinite timelines.
In one, the boy killed him.
In another, Kaian never existed.
In a third… they merged.
"Why are you smiling?" Kaian asked.
The boy didn't answer. Instead, he reached into his own chest—and ripped out his heart.
The object he held wasn't organic.
It was a code core—a seed of divine programming so ancient, even the Architect had marked it with a lock that no one was supposed to open.
Except now it was open. Cracked.
And leaking light that sang in forgotten languages.
"This is my origin," the boy said. "But it's also my shackle. And now... I break it."
The Godkiller crushed the seed.
Kaian felt the ripple before it hit. The sky tore open—not just locally, but cosmically. A wound bled across stars. Entire constellations screamed as something buried beneath time began to awaken.
And for the first time since Kaian had awakened…
He felt resistance.
The boy stood in the silence, glowing with unfiltered logic, anti-law, and divine contradiction.
"You're not alone anymore, Kaian," he said. "The Architect doesn't fear you. He's afraid you'll realize you're not the only broken piece."
Kaian clenched his fist. The Crown on his back flared—the silver ring behind him expanding into layers.
First Ring: Memory.
Second Ring: Rejection.
Third Ring: Creation.
Fourth Ring: Void.
A fifth ring began to spin.
Something no one had ever seen before.
"I don't need to be the only one," Kaian replied.
"But I'm the one who decides how this ends."
The boy raised his hand. Kaian mirrored it.
Then reality shattered again, and their battle finally—truly—began.
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