The sky above Solistra burned red.
Ash rained down like snow.
The Queen's castle—the heart of the timeless kingdom—was cracking. Walls fell. Towers split. Screams echoed across the battlefield.
Harvie stood on the edge of the castle's broken balcony. His body was covered in wounds. Blood ran down his legs. His breath was shallow.
He turned back.
"Edna…"
She was fighting behind him, blades of flame dancing from her hands. Three enemies charged at her. She burned the first with a wave of her hand. The second fell to her sword. The third…
Was a Hero.
He wore gold armor. A crest of light burned on his chest. Lucan had sent this one.
Harvie moved before he could think. His blade cut through the air, slicing into the Hero's shoulder. But the Hero didn't fall.
He grabbed Harvie's neck and slammed him into the wall.
"You shouldn't exist!" the Hero shouted.
Harvie grinned, even as blood filled his mouth.
"Tell me something new."
Suddenly, the Hero froze. His eyes went wide. He looked at his own body in confusion.
[Event Loop Lock Activated.]
> Event Locked: "Hero's killing blow."
Harvie had stopped that moment. Just for today. That one attack would never land.
The Hero screamed as time bent around him. And then, Edna's sword pierced through his back.
---
They ran.
Through burning halls. Through falling rocks. Through memories of a kingdom that could no longer stand.
Queen Aureline waited at the Timelost Gate.
Her crown was gone. Her dress was torn. But her eyes still held the same calm.
"You have to leave now," she said.
Harvie stepped forward. "Come with us."
She shook her head.
"My time is already broken. I was meant to end here."
Edna looked at the Queen with pain.
"You'll die."
"I already did. A hundred years ago."
Aureline stepped close to Harvie. She touched his chest—right above where his heart should be.
"You carry it now. The last Seal. Not in the world… but inside your body."
Harvie blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"The moment you broke the third Seal… the fourth moved to you. You are the Seal now. You are the end… and the beginning."
A pause. Then she smiled softly.
"Don't let them use you."
Behind them, the Hero Order's airships started to rise. Soldiers poured into the ruins. The sky cracked again.
The Queen turned. Raised her hand. And for one final time, her power returned.
A bright golden dome spread around the Timelost Gate. The ground shook. The castle behind them split open like a broken clock.
"Go," she whispered. "I'll hold them."
Harvie didn't want to leave.
But Edna grabbed his arm.
"We have to."
The Gate opened—blue, swirling, chaotic.
As they stepped through, Queen Aureline spoke her final words.
> "The world forgot me. But I won't forget you… Chrono's Mistake."
---
They appeared on the other side.
The Timelost Gate closed.
And the Kingdom of Solistra—frozen for a hundred years—collapsed into dust.
Harvie fell to his knees.
He felt it now. The Seal inside him. Heavy. Cold. Alive.
He whispered to no one.
"She died… because of me."
Edna knelt beside him.
"No," she said. Her voice was strong. "She died for what you carry."
Harvie looked at her. His eyes full of sorrow.
"How much more will we lose?"
Edna held his hand.
"As much as it takes."
And above them, the stars blinked—like eyes watching from behind the curtain of fate.
The war had only just begun.