Chapter Next: "The Path of Fractured Oaths"
They emerged into twilight.
Not the quiet dusk of a normal world, but an in-between place—where the sun and moon hung side by side in a crimson sky, casting long, confused shadows. The land stretched out like a battlefield forgotten by time: ruins of ancient temples, half-sunken towers, and pathways cracked with age. Air shimmered with tension, like the world itself was holding its breath.
Eryon stepped through last, his gaze scanning the horizon. "This is the Crossrealm. A neutral plane between timelines. Only those who've broken oaths are bound here."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Sounds... cozy."
"It's where our next champion waits," Eryon said. "But she won't welcome us."
Lina adjusted the crystal shard in her hand, its glow now fainter. "Why not?"
Eryon hesitated. "Because she once led us—and she believes we betrayed her."
The path curved downward into a valley where violet flames flickered endlessly across the ground without burning it. As they descended, strange sigils rose from the air, spinning briefly before vanishing—like forgotten languages trying to speak again.
"She was the first to resist the Architects," Eryon continued. "The first to remember them."
Lina frowned. "You're talking about Sereth."
He turned to her, surprised. "You've seen her?"
"Only flashes. A woman wrapped in starlight and chains."
Kai added, "She's the one who split the timelines once, isn't she? When the war began."
Eryon nodded. "And now she guards the shard of the Infinite Vow—the one that binds or breaks all alliances. Without it, the resistance cannot hold."
They reached a vast field of mirrors.
Each mirror floated midair, reflecting not their current selves, but versions of who they might have become: Kai as a tyrant king, Lina robed in fire and loss, Eryon as a fallen god wrapped in shadow. The reflections whispered lies. Or truths.
Lina tried to ignore them—but one mirror cracked as she passed, and her reflection stepped out.
Not corrupted. Not twisted. But... tired.
This Lina looked her in the eye. "You can still turn back. You don't have to be the one."
Lina stepped forward until their foreheads nearly touched. "I know."
She walked through the mirror.
And into the presence of Sereth.
The woman sat on a throne of fractured moonlight, her armor woven from constellations and silver blades. Her eyes were galaxies held still.
"I told them not to bring you," Sereth said softly. "You're still bound by doubt."
Lina knelt, not out of weakness—but out of respect. "Then help me shatter it."
Sereth stood, and in her hand formed a sword unlike any other—transparent, humming with a frequency Lina could feel in her bones.
"The vow must be reforged," Sereth said. "But to wield it, one of you must sever a part of yourself. A truth you've hidden. A promise you fear to break."
She looked between them.
"Who will step forward first?"
Silence.
Then Kai exhaled. "I will."
Lina turned to him in shock. "Kai—"
He smiled, soft and sad. "You carried us this far. Let me be the one who bleeds for once."
Sereth approached. "Then speak the truth."
Kai closed his eyes.
"I once swore to protect her," he said. "But there's a part of me that wanted to leave. To run. To save myself. I was afraid… that she'd become what we're fighting."
Lina felt the weight of those words hit her harder than any blow.
Sereth raised the blade. "Then with this truth, the Vow is reforged."
She plunged the sword into the ground between them. Light erupted—blinding, cleansing. The shard of the Infinite Vow lifted from the earth, floating between Kai and Lina, now whole.
When the light faded, Sereth was gone. Only her voice remained, carried on the wind:
"One path ends. Another fractures. Trust each other… or fall."
Eryon stepped forward. "Two shards gathered. Two remain."
Lina turned to Kai, eyes steady despite the ache in her chest. "Let's keep moving."
Above them, cracks began to form in the sky—thin lines of unraveling light.
The Collapse was no longer coming.
It had already begun.