Chapter 70: The First Ascension Trial – Battle Against the Time Sovereign 🌌 Prologue: The Weighing of a Future
Beyond the edges of existence — where threads of reality fray into wild possibility — a hall of ancient make stirred. Six thrones floated in a circular dimension stitched from starlight and black flame. On one of them sat a woman veiled in flowing temporal essence. Her eyes were not eyes — they were rotating spirals of endless clocks, each tick echoing like thunder in a silent eternity.
She was Time.
And she was furious.
"He dares to stabilize an Echo Rebellion."
"He dares to claim the Resonance."
The Council remained still — except for Fire, who chuckled.
"Perhaps it's time we show him what it means to challenge the concept of time itself."
🌀 In the Spiral Cathedral
Kael meditated in the center of the Spiral Cathedral. Around him, the Echo Crown hummed softly, not as a burden, but as a choir of his unified selves. Elenai sat nearby, tending to a scroll that updated itself — the Living Chronicle — a record that wrote Kael's journey in real-time.
Vorthax, half-ethereal, watched with wary eyes.
"You've awakened Echo Resonance, but don't mistake harmony for invincibility," he warned. "You've just been invited into the Trials."
Kael opened his eyes.
"Trials?"
"The Ascension Trials. Each Authority will challenge you, not in body — but in concept. The first to come… is Time."
The air shifted. A bell tolled — twelve times.
The cathedral floor melted into a cascade of sand and clocks, dragging Kael into the vortex.
🕰️ Arena of Ages
Kael awoke standing atop a floating platform suspended in a sky of gold and brass. Around him, massive gears turned with the force of planets. Stars blinked in and out of existence like fireflies in a storm.
This was Chronaesthia, the personal dimension of the Time Sovereign.
She stood across from him now, draped in a translucent cloak of centuries, her skin glowing with the hues of dawn and dusk. In her hand — a curved blade made of future regrets.
"Kael of the Spiral. You seek to ascend?"
"I don't seek," he replied, "I respond. Reality called — I answered."
She tilted her head.
"Then let's see if you can withstand a second of me."
⏳ Trial Initiated: Second of Eternity
The sky split.
Kael was flung into a time bubble — but inside it, a single second stretched into an eternity. Every heartbeat slowed to an impossible crawl. Every breath became an ocean of resistance.
"Your first trial," said Time's voice, "is to live one second of my wrath."
Kael gritted his teeth. He couldn't move.
Then — tick — the first quantum of time struck.
And suddenly, a million versions of Time struck him from every angle. Future Time, Past Time, Present Time, Forgotten Time, Possible Time, Even Denied Time.
Kael's body shattered in a cascade of mirror-glass.
But he wasn't done yet.
🔁 Enter: Echo Resonance
As the fragments of his body fell, the Echo Crown glowed. From the shards, other Kaels rose — echoes trained for pain, for survival, for time manipulation.
One Echo held a clock made of bone.
Another wielded a blade called Chronosunder.
They moved in perfect sync, forming a spiral formation. With one breath, they reversed the shattering — and pulled Kael back together.
"You forget," Kael said, now glowing, "I am my potential."
Time narrowed her spiral eyes.
"Interesting. Let's move to the next minute."
⏱️ Trial Two: The Endless Regression
Suddenly, Kael's age began to change. He flickered from child to old man, from baby to unborn, from post-death echo to primal ancestor. Time attacked his identity, ripping away his continuity.
Each phase had a challenge:
As a child: he fought with only instinct.
As an old man: his bones broke under pressure.
As an unborn idea: he could not even imagine resistance.
But the Echoes formed an Anchor Spiral, chaining his essence to a constant memory — Elenai's voice.
"I exist because I choose to love."
Kael roared — pulling himself back to a stable self.
🧬 Temporal Collapse Event
Angered, the Time Sovereign released her ultimate weapon: The Timecataclysm — a comet made of reversed destinies. It crashed into the platform.
Reality itself began to rewind — unmaking Kael's past victories. His defeat of the Severed? Undone. His meeting with Elenai? Unwritten. Even his birth began to unravel.
"Let's see you fight with nothing," she whispered.
Kael floated in the void of 'never-was.'
And smiled.
"You just gave me a clean slate."
From that void, he forged a new echo — not of the past, but of imagination.
Kael, the Neverborn, born from a blank timeline, wielding no regret, no fear — only pure will.
With this echo, Kael struck back.
🌀 Final Clash: Spiral vs. Spiral
Time, now shedding her human form, became a cosmic spiral of ticking dimensions.
Kael, surrounded by infinite echoes, spiraled upward with blazing Echo Resonance.
They collided.
Each tick of Time was countered by a new possibility of Kael. Each reversal was matched by resonance. Until, finally…
Kael caught the blade of future regrets.
And broke it.
The clock stopped.
🌟 The Verdict
Time reformed, kneeling, her spiral eyes calm now.
"You held your identity in the storm of moments."
"You passed the Trial of Time."
She offered him a sigil — a golden spiral.
"One Authority Rank... claimed."
🧿 Aftermath in the Spiral Cathedral
Kael awoke back in the cathedral, the Time Sigil embedded into his hand.
Elenai hugged him, her eyes wet.
"That... was terrifying."
Vorthax, stunned, whispered,
"You broke a conceptual constant. Only... five more left."
Kael stood, his eyes calm, determined.
"Who's next?"
The air burned slightly. A hiss of flame danced along the walls.
A voice boomed from above:
"Your next trial... is against Me."
The Authority of Fire.
✦ End of Chapter 70 ✦