Chapter 68 – Beneath the Shattered Sky

The ruined world groaned under the weight of silence. Cracks split the blood-red sky as though the heavens themselves were protesting what had become of them. Ruins of once-proud cities lay buried beneath ash and abyssal growth, consumed by Nyx’s darkness.

Ren stood atop a jagged cliff, his cloak fluttering in the cold, sour wind. Behind him, the cloaked figure—Eira, the last Temporal Warden—watched with quiet intensity.

"You’re still not ready," she said, her voice carried by the wind. "But soon… the fragments of your former strength will return. And something greater will awaken with it."

Ren’s gaze didn't move. His golden eyes scanned the scarred land. "This world... I failed it."

"No," Eira said firmly. "You were never meant to carry the burden alone. But now, you're no longer just a hunter or a monarch. You’re becoming something else."

Suddenly, the ground rumbled. In the distance, a massive spire of abyssal energy burst from the earth, howling into the sky like a scream of the world itself.

Ren narrowed his eyes. "That’s not a Gate."

"No," Eira said, eyes widening. "That’s a Tear—a rupture in the fabric of time. Nyx is tampering with the past."

Ren turned sharply. "He's what?"

Eira's expression was grave. "He's not just sitting on the throne. He's rewriting history to ensure you never existed in the first place."

The realization hit Ren like a thunderclap. If Nyx succeeded, everyone Ren had fought for—Oris, Aria, the hunters, even the memories—would vanish. Time itself would devour his legacy.

"I’m not letting that happen," Ren growled.

Just then, the System flared in his vision:

[Temporal Rift Detected]
[Do you wish to pursue the Tear?]
[Warning: Power levels insufficient. Irreversible consequences possible.]

Ren clenched his fists. "Bring it on."

Eira stepped beside him. "You’ll need allies. You’re not the only one time forgot."

She raised her hand, and the mist of the broken future parted—revealing others. Figures emerging from shadows, from exile, from the fractured edge of space and time.

A warrior wrapped in silver flames.
A girl with eyes like starlight and a blade that whispered fate.
A beast once lost to madness, now reborn.

Ren took a step forward. “Then let’s rewrite our own future.”