Reality warped around the edges of the chamber as the multiverse buckled. Kael felt the pressure instantly—like someone pressing directly onto his mark with cosmic weight.
Aria's display flickered wildly. "Nexus rifts appearing everywhere! These aren't normal distortions—they're structured, patterned—"
Ryken finished the thought. "Someone's designing them."
Lumen nodded grimly."The Architect is shaping the lattice. Testing you."
Kael's mark flared painfully. "Why now? I only just started learning this!"
Veyra placed a steadying hand on his back. "Because you touched their domain. They felt it."
All at once, the chamber's walls dissolved into a panoramic projection of eight realities simultaneously. Each one showed a different version of the city collapsing:
— skyscrapers bending into spirals— the sky cracking like shattered glass— shadows consuming entire districts— time loops trapping buildings in repeating collapse— gravity reversing in pockets— citizens phasing in and out of existence— the Null commander's minions multiplying uncontrollably— and one reality where a colossal eye watched from the clouds
Kael staggered back. "This… this is impossible."
Lumen stepped beside him. "This is the Architect's will. They are rewriting the lattice, forcing you into a corner."
Ryken shouted over the chaos, "Then what the hell do we do?!"
Lumen turned to Kael."We fight back by stabilizing the paradox currents. You must anchor the realities before they fold into each other."
Kael clenched his fists, breath sharp. "Then teach me."
"No." Lumen shook his head."You already know it. You felt the forbidden flow. Now you must wield it."
Kael closed his eyes.He felt the eight collapsing realities.Felt the Architect's pressure.Felt the paradox currents swirling like twin storms.
And then—
He reached.
The chamber erupted with blinding light as Kael extended paradox energy into the multiverse. The collapsing realities slowed. Distortions froze. Time stabilized—barely.
But something else happened.
A shape appeared in the shared vision of all eight realities.
A silhouette.Tall.Calm.Watching.
The Architect.
They raised a hand and pointed directly at Kael.
Kael's breath caught.
Lumen whispered,
"They have acknowledged you."
And then—
Every reality shattered into darkness.