The city streets below were silent. No alarms, no sirens. Just a creeping distortion in the air. The battle against Nullframe had barely begun—yet the team already knew: brute force alone would not win this fight.
On the rooftop, Kael's breath misted. His aura flickered—threads of silver light laced with deeper echoes, faint… but growing. The presence within him stirred stronger with every passing moment.
Zevak's eyes darted across his holo-display. "He's a living glitch… bypassing causality itself. Our attacks will keep vanishing unless we change the approach."
Cryalis stood near him, calm but wary. "And if we fail—this entire zone may be frozen in eternal stasis."
Veyra looked at Kael.
"You… your energy—it's changing."
Kael nodded slowly, voice edged with something deeper—faint harmonics beneath his words.
"I can feel it. Something waking up… not just my power. A higher will."
Lyra added quickly, "If that's part of you—embrace it. We'll cover you."
Zevak's plan:
Fingers flying, Zevak brought up a projection—an outline of Nullframe's aura, glitching across multiple dimensions.
"To beat him… we need to anchor him. Force him to obey causality. I can deploy a stabilizer drone—something keyed to the 'Core of Continuum' concept. If we can land it—he'll be trapped in local time and space."
Orion cracked his knuckles. "Then we hit him for real."
Cryalis raised her hand, forming a spear of crystalline frost.
"I will shatter his stillness."
Kael closed his eyes, the strange voices rising within:
"Awaken… bring forth the will beyond time…"
In that instant—his body surged with light, veins glowing silver. A faint humechoed from his core, layered voices blending beneath his own.
He opened his eyes—burning bright.
Kael — nearing Divine Ascension Form.
He spoke—voice deeper, echoed:
"We strike… as one."
The team launched into coordinated action:
•Zevak deployed drones—small constructs laced with dimensional anchors.
•Cryalis and Veyra layered light and resonance—forcing space around Nullframe to "solidify."
•Orion charged to keep Nullframe's attention.
•Kael stood at the center—power building, form evolving.
Yet… Nullframe remained still.
No motion. No fear. Just a calm, fractured voice:
"You blinked. I was always here."
Suddenly—Retrocause triggered: across the city, distant structures collapsed, their fall rippling backwards through the moment—forcing the team to dodge out-of-sync debris!
Zevak's eyes widened.
"He's… reversing outcomes—BE READY!"
Kael clenched his fists—his aura now singing, a chorus of voices layered into his being.
"This is the beginning. We will bring him down."
⸻
TO BE CONTINUED…