Malice dripped from my voice like venom.
"Long time no see, brother…
Mind getting your filthy paws off my mate?"
His expression shattered.
The rage.
The certainty.
Gone.
He stared at me—
like I shouldn't exist.
Like I should have died long ago.
Before he could react—
I moved.
I tore her from his grasp—
careful—
controlled—
pulling her into my chest.
She was so small.
Fragile.
Her golden eyes fluttered as she looked up at me—
calm—
despite the storm burning behind mine.
"Pretty…" she whispered.
Then she fell asleep.
…
Something else spoke through me.
Not entirely mine.
But not foreign either.
I lifted my hand—
and pointed behind him.
Reality split.
A distortion opened—
And beyond it—
A black hole.
Not distant.
Not passive.
Alive.
"How…" he whispered, turning between me and the void beyond.
"No one survives that… So how is she here… and there…?"
"And yet," I said coldly,
"you still chose to kill her."
Silence.
His hands trembled.
"But… everyone died for that fake queen—"
"Time hasn't happened yet."
His head snapped toward me.
"When you betrayed her… time itself rewound."
My grip tightened.
"With the force of the blast… trying to save its one and only ruler."
His breathing broke.
"You don't get to question reality after what you did."
I stepped forward—
and grabbed him.
Hard.
Crushing.
"Take her place."
I pulled back—
rage flooding every movement—
"AS THE CORE."
And threw him.
With everything.
He tore through the distortion—
faster than gravity could claim him—
And vanished into the black hole.
Inside—
a mass of intertwined forms—
a core—
shifted.
Replaced.
The black hole pulsed.
Then stabilized.
A prison.
For him.
…
My breathing slowed.
Rage faded—
bit by bit.
The darkness around me loosened—
breaking into drifting droplets—
like evaporating shadow.
I looked down.
She was still there.
Still safe.
Still—
mine to protect.
…
But something was wrong.
My body—
hadn't returned to normal.
It had grown.
And it stayed that way.
—Shift—
Behind me—
something moved.
Unseen.
Massive.
Watching.
The droplets of darkness paused—
then drifted—
as if responding to something else.
—Elsewhere—
A metallic figure hovered in space.
Six arms.
Three glowing.
Three moving—typing across shifting interfaces.
He paused.
A vessel entered a black hole.
Another object—
was ejected.
Then—
a third—
faster—
stronger—
followed.
"…There."
He accelerated.
"If there's even a chance…"
His systems flared—
"…I'm not missing it again."
—Collision—
Impact.
Something slammed into us—
hard enough to throw us sideways.
I tightened my hold on her—
forcing my eyes open.
And saw—
Him.
Clear blue eyes.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
And in his arms—
Kyrniz.
Another Kyrniz.
My thoughts stopped.
Impossible.
I shifted slightly—
checked—
She was still in my arms.
Then—
His Kyrniz turned to light.
And merged—
into mine.
Encasing her—
in a cocoon.
I couldn't move.
Could barely think.
"…You survived that?" his voice echoed calmly in my mind.
Warm.
Steady.
"If you're alright… I'll take it from here."
I didn't resist.
I couldn't.
"…Rest."
I nodded.
Darkness took me.
—After—
We became one.
Again.
Control returned slowly.
This body—
larger—
stronger—
stable.
Six arms.
I flexed—
adjusted—
understood.
Then looked down.
The others.
Broken.
But not gone.
I reached out—
threads of energy spreading between us—
blue lightning binding them to me.
Their hearts restarted.
Their souls—
returned.
Guided back into place.
One by one—
they opened their eyes.
Red.
Watching me.
Waiting.
Like I was—
their center.
Their origin.
Their…
I exhaled.
[Sleep.]
The command spread instantly.
Images followed—
combat—
survival—
instinct—
burned into their minds.
Then—
silence.
I let go.
And drifted into sleep.