"You burn, you release, you walk away… but the world always leaves one more hook in your spine."
He was almost free.
The ash had stopped falling.
His skin was warm from the fire, but not blistered.
He could breathe without pressure.
No glyphs. No Core.
Just... air.
For the first time in a long, long time, Ren reached out without a weapon.
Then Gravity spoke.
GRAVITY (flat, loud, unfiltered):
"You need to leave. Now."
The ground beneath him buckled — not physically, but as if memory was folding in from too many angles.
REN (blinking hard):
"What the hell—"
SPACE (appearing beside him instantly):
"There's a breach. Not local. Not coded. Just... present."
FROST:
"Time just collapsed over Sector Five."
BLAZE (growling):
"Someone's slipping past layer locks."
TIME (serious now, no jokes, no winks):
"I didn't see this one coming. That never happens."
Ren reached for the Drift.
Fingers spread.
The portal shimmered — weak, but forming.
Then—
CRACK.
No magic. No glyph.
Just a sound.
Like the universe cleared its throat and spat something out.
And from the sky — no portal, no light trail —
a man fell.
Straight down.
Landed on one foot like it meant nothing.
Didn't even stumble.
He looked… smug.
Too clean.
Eyes like he'd stolen time and made it beg.
Wore a coat stitched with languages Ren didn't recognize.
No weapon. No aura. Just presence.
MYSTERIOUS GUY (tilting his head, smiling):
"Oh. Looks like I just overdo somethings."
Ren didn't even move.
The man stepped forward once, leaned in like whispering a joke he wasn't going to tell—
and then vanished.
No sound. No trace.
Just gone.
SNARKSTEEL (twitching in Ren's arm):
"…I don't like that guy."
GRAVITY (immediately):
"GO. That was not part of the script."
SPACE:
"That wasn't even part of reality."
TIME (in a low voice):
"Someone just walked in from a door I don't remember locking."
Ren didn't say a word.
He just shoved the portal open with both hands and stepped through.
Behind him?
The world shuddered.
And whatever had just arrived?
It wasn't done yet.