The Realm of Time left scars Kael couldn't see — but could feel in every moment that passed too fast, or not at all. Returning to the mortal realm, he expected unrest. He didn't expect to become a myth. As war brews across the Realms, Kara reveals a secret that could shatter everything Kael thought he was fighting for.
Kara's Truth
The return through the time fracture was rougher than the entry.
Kael stumbled out of the rift, breathing hard, clutching the fragment hidden beneath his cloak. The mortal realm's air hit him like a slap — warm, chaotic, real. His boots touched dirt again, and for a second, he thought they were safe.
They weren't.
Fires raged in the distance. Lightning cracked across a red-hued sky, unnaturally wide bolts forming sigils that shimmered then vanished. The winds carried screaming — not just of people, but creatures. War beasts. Skybound constructs.
And in the heart of it all: banners. Dozens. Clashing colors and clashing causes.
Kara's jaw clenched. "This… is worse than before."
Ress scanned the horizon. "We were gone for two days."
Kael felt the words land like a hammer. Two days?
"How the hell did it fall apart this fast?"
Kara answered first — but her voice was distant. Distracted. "We weren't just in the Realm of Time. We were inside its heart. Time doesn't flow the same there."
They moved fast, sticking to back paths, avoiding skywatchers and patrol drakes. At one point, Kael saw an entire guild torn apart in a street brawl — divine energy flashing between war priests and elemental summoners. On a nearby spire, someone was broadcasting a glowing glyph that floated in the air:
"THE CATALYST HAS RETURNED.""HE WHO WILL BREAK THE REALMS."
Kael stared at it, stunned.
"That's you," Ress said. "Guess the Pantheon made it official."
Kael didn't reply.
They finally reached one of their old safehouses — a hidden chamber beneath the ruined Shrine of Whispers. The moment they entered, Kael sank to a bench, running a hand through his hair.
"I need time to think. We can't fight all the Realms. Not like this. Not now."
Ress nodded and stepped out to scout the perimeter, but Kara stayed.
She didn't sit. Didn't pace. She just stood, staring at Kael like she'd already fought through a dozen versions of this conversation.
"Kael," she said softly. "We need to talk. Alone."
His brow furrowed. "What is it?"
Her voice was steady. Too steady.
"Do you remember what I told you, when we first met? That I was hunted by the gods. That they feared what I could become?"
Kael leaned forward, nodding slowly. "Yeah. You said your potential scared them."
She shook her head. "That was a lie."
Kael froze.
Kara walked toward him, each step heavier than the last. When she stopped, she held up her arm and began to roll up her sleeve — revealing pale skin laced with glowing scars, and at the center of her forearm:
A burning brand.A circular sigil.Thirteen interlocking rings.
They pulsed softly. Each one faintly whispering. Singing a different harmonic tone, like echoes from realms far apart, all calling… to her.
Kael stood up. "What is that?"
"My curse," she said. "Or my truth."
Kael didn't speak.
"I'm not just from a Realm," Kara continued, her voice beginning to crack. "I am one."
Silence.
"I'm the sealed consciousness of the 13th Realm. I was given flesh. Memories stripped. Bound inside a mortal shell. The Realms feared what I was. What I could become if I remembered."
Kael stared at her like the air had been knocked from his lungs. "You're saying—?"
Kara nodded. "I'm not a person, Kael. Not in the way you think. I'm a world that dreamed it was a girl."
The sigil on her arm glowed brighter. The 13th ring shimmered with unstable light.
"That's why I hear them. Why the Realms whisper to me. Why I bleed echofire." She raised her other arm — a faint shimmer danced along her veins, gold-blue and shifting like liquid memory.
"I always wondered why I could see through veils others couldn't. Why I resonated with seals. It wasn't training. It was instinct. Because I'm the lock."
"And the key?" Kael asked quietly.
She didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at him, eyes bright with unshed tears.
"If you unseal the 13th Realm, Kael… I die."
The words dropped like thunder between them.
Kael's knees weakened. He sat again, trying to breathe. "No. No, there has to be a way to separate you from it. To extract the essence. The seal. Something."
Kara shook her head.
"There is no separation. I am the Realm. The moment it's freed… I'm undone."
Kael looked at the Fragment hidden beneath his cloak. The very thing he had taken to stop the end of everything. The very thing that might force the 13th seal to break.
"And you didn't tell me."
"I didn't remember… not until we entered the Realm of Time. That place unravels barriers. I saw it all. Every life I've ever carried. Every fragment of me, screaming to be whole."
Tears rolled down her cheek.
"I didn't want you to know. Because I didn't want you to choose."
Kael stood slowly. "You thought I'd pick the world over you?"
She didn't answer.
And that silence hurt worse than any answer.
[End Of Chapter 20]
Ress burst into the room, sword half-drawn, eyes wide.
"They've found us."
Kael blinked. "Who?"
But before he could finish, the chamber shook.
A divine glyph carved itself into the air — burning hot with godfire.
And a voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:
"KARA OF THE THIRTEENTH. WE HAVE COME TO COLLECT OUR LOST REALM."
The gods had arrived.
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Chapter 21: The Cycle Begins Again (Finale)
As divine enforcers descend upon the shrine, Kael, Kara, and Ress are forced into a battle they can't win — not to survive, but to escape. Kael unlocks a new layer of the Fragment's power, but it comes at a cost: warping time around Kara. With the gods closing in and Kara's body beginning to destabilize, Kael is forced to use the one thing he swore he wouldn't…