The chamber trembled again, its walls shuddering under the immense power of the Conflux Core. Aiden's senses blazed with warnings from his system—every inch of the chamber was alive, reacting to the surge of unstable energies swirling around them. The crystal sphere in the center hummed louder, its aura more erratic with every second.
Veyrion had vanished, but his words hung heavy in the air, like an anchor dragging them toward inevitable danger. Aiden felt the weight of the choice before him—the core could be neutralized, but at the cost of his own existence. Yet there was no time to dwell on that. If they didn't act now, the Forge would consume them all.
The platforms around them began to move faster, each one drawing closer to the sphere, their speeds unpredictable. The artifacts floating in the air were beginning to react to the increasing instability, their energy signatures fluctuating wildly.
Kaela stepped forward, her staff crackling with energy. "We need to shut it down, or we'll all be absorbed into the Forge's collapse."
Aiden nodded. He could already feel the power of the hybrid Nexus energy coursing through him. The convergence of two incompatible forces—the Nexus and the Red Singularity—was both a blessing and a curse. The more he relied on it, the more unstable his form became. But there was no turning back.
Brant gripped his hammer, eyes burning with determination. "Let's do this, Aiden. We don't have time to waste."
Suddenly, the air shimmered, and Veyrion reappeared in a flash of phase-shifted light, now standing in the middle of the central platform. His cloak rippled like smoke, and his eyes were hard, like two cold stars.
"You'll have to get through me first," Veyrion said, his voice echoing like an ancient machine grinding against time.
Kaela's eyes widened in realization. "He's not here to stop the Forge. He's here to stop us from stopping the Forge."
Aiden clenched his fists. "Then we have no choice. We fight."
The Warden's hand moved, and before Aiden could react, a wave of destabilized energy shot from his palm, crackling with an unholy mix of Nexus energy and the chaos of the Singularity. It slammed into the floor, sending a shockwave that shattered the nearest platform. The chamber itself seemed to respond, as if the very walls were alive, warping and distorting around them.
Brant leaped forward, his hammer raised high, but Veyrion flicked his wrist, and a barrier of rippling red energy formed between them. Brant's hammer collided with it, but instead of breaking through, the hammer was deflected, sending him stumbling back.
Aiden felt the rush of power within him. The Nexus Surge still coursed through his veins, but now, combined with the unstable Singularity energy, it felt like he was on the brink of losing control. His system was barely holding on, warning him of imminent overload.
[Warning: System Overload Imminent – Excessive Power Draw Detected]
"I can't hold this for long," Aiden muttered, barely audible over the roar of energy filling the chamber.
He activated a skill he'd never had to use before, tapping into the raw essence of the Nexus and Singularity hybrid.
[Skill Activated: Temporal Rift – Unleash Fragmented Nexus-Singularity Pulse]
[Skill Level: 1 | Energy Drain: High | Time Manipulation Stasis for 3 Seconds]
The world around him froze, and Aiden's body surged forward at an unnatural speed. Veyrion's expression barely changed as Aiden struck—his sword slashing through the air, the blade flickering between reality and the fractured timestream.
But Veyrion was prepared. His hand shot up, summoning a vortex of red energy that slammed into Aiden's sword, knocking him off course. Time seemed to skip—Aiden's vision blurred as the distortion tore at his senses.
"You truly think you can challenge me with time itself?" Veyrion's voice was calm, but there was a hint of something darker beneath it. "I was born in the Rift, Divergent. I understand time's cruelty."
Aiden shook off the temporal disorientation and forced himself back into the present. Brant had recovered and was charging again, his weapon glowing with the resonance of his own system abilities. Kaela, too, was ready, her staff crackling as she prepared another counterspell.
The battle raged in a flurry of strikes and counterstrikes. Aiden's sword collided with Veyrion's barrier once more, each impact causing the very air around them to warp. Kaela's magic shimmered in the background, lashing out at the Warden's shifting form. But despite their best efforts, Veyrion was an immovable force—his mastery over the Nexus and Singularity gave him a near god-like control over the environment. The ground beneath them twisted, floating platforms flickering and shifting as if they were caught in a dream.
Veyrion's eyes gleamed with dark amusement. "You think you can save this world? This Forge? It's too far gone. Even if you defeat me, the Conflux Core will destroy you all."
Aiden's grip on his sword tightened. "We'll see about that."
His system surged with a final, desperate burst of power. **Nexus Surge—**he thought, focusing all his energy on a single strike.
The core of his attack was the perfect fusion—Nexus and Red Singularity combined. The sheer force of it tore through the chamber, a blinding burst of light and shadow. The barrier around Veyrion shattered with a deafening crack, and for a brief moment, he was exposed.
With a primal roar, Aiden hurled himself forward, his sword aimed at the Warden's chest.
But before the blade could land, a sharp crack split the air. Time seemed to fold in on itself, and Aiden was thrown back by an invisible force, landing hard against the floor.
[Warning: Temporal Rift Activation Detected – Unstable Time Fragmentation Imminent]
Veyrion stood, his form flickering as though reality itself was struggling to maintain his presence.
"Fool," Veyrion hissed. "You have no idea what you've unleashed."
Aiden's eyes flickered, realizing the truth. The final strike had triggered something far worse than he'd expected.
To his horror, the Conflux Core had begun to crack, fracturing along the seams. Reality itself was starting to break apart.
And they were right in the middle of it.