The crater erupted into chaos.
Nyx and Mina held off the Riftborn, spells and blades colliding with twisted timelines. Kai fought Lucien directly—blow for blow, Void against Rift.
> [Kai Activated: Temporal Echo]
[Lucien Countered: Rift Pulse]
For every strike Kai predicted, Lucien unleashed anomaly bursts from fractured future timelines.
"I see all your choices," Lucien roared. "I've lived your failures."
Then he impaled Kai with a Rift-forged blade.
> [Health Critical. Voidwalker Core Breach: 78%]
Blood spilled into the Crater's Core chamber, triggering the ancient mechanism.
> [Final Counter-Core Activating…]
Kai collapsed—his domain flickering, unraveling.
And then… it spoke.
Not Elias.
Not the system.
But the Voidwalker Domain itself.
"You are not a user of time. You are its wound."
> [Emergency Evolution: Rift Ascendant Initiated]
The world froze. Everything turned grayscale.
And Kai rose.
Eyes glowing indigo. Veins lit by cosmic ink.
> [New Evolution Unlocked: Rift Ascendant – Kai gains control over Short-Term Causality and Dimensional Lag. Enemies near Kai move 40% slower. Second rewind per battle enabled.]
Lucien faltered.
For the first time—afraid.