The skies darkened by the time Haruto, Serenya, and Lucien reached the edge of Vel'Tharion's ruins. Storm clouds twisted in unnatural patterns, frozen like bruises in the heavens. From the cliffs above, the city below looked as if it had been caught mid-collapse—buildings half-crumbled, glass floating suspended in the air, as if time had fractured.
"This doesn't look like it was destroyed," Lucien muttered, adjusting the buckle on his blade harness. "It looks… paused."
Serenya pressed her hand to the air. Her fingertips sparked against something invisible. "Time wards. Dozens of them, layered."
Haruto narrowed his eyes. "To trap something inside… or keep something from escaping."
He pulled the shard the Keeper had given him. The obsidian pulsed faintly, a beacon drawing them toward a spire in the center of the city—still untouched by ruin. It pulsed with a red glow, like a heartbeat behind layers of glass.
As they descended into Vel'Tharion's ghost-town streets, the silence was oppressive. No wind. No birds. No echoes.
Only memory.
Haruto slowed as they passed a toppled statue—half-buried in the rubble. The face was familiar.
It was his.
Lucien noticed too. "That's you… isn't it?"
"No," Haruto said, his throat dry. "It's the other me."
Statues of the warrior version of Haruto stood in ruined plazas, their faces solemn, eyes empty. Inscribed beneath them were titles in old script:
The Ash-Born Sovereign.
The Skyfire Tyrant.
Serenya's face paled. "You weren't just a legend here. You were feared."
The Nullblade vibrated gently at Haruto's side.
"They didn't just split me," he said quietly. "They made him… into a weapon."
Suddenly, a shriek tore through the stillness.
From the broken domes above, a creature descended—metal wings flaring, its eyes glowing the same red as the spire. It was humanoid in shape, but its body was burned, stitched with wires and arcane restraints.
Lucien drew his weapon. "Great. A guardian."
Haruto stepped forward, the shard in one hand, the Nullblade in the other.
"No," he said. "It's not a guardian. It's a warning."
The creature stopped midair, twitching unnaturally. Its mouth opened, and in a garbled, static-laced voice, it spoke:
"Ash-Born. Return to the core. The forgotten throne awaits."
And then it lunged.