Chapter 62: The Arrival of the Broken One

The entire chamber shook violently as cracks of light split across the voided sky.
Reality itself seemed to tremble under the weight of countless timelines converging at once.
Every version of Kanata, Caine, and their allies stood in disbelief, unable to comprehend the chaos before them.

“What’s happening…? Why are there more of us appearing?”
Kanata from the present clenched his cyborg fist, staring into the trembling air.
“This can’t be normal… It’s like every alternate version of us is being pulled here!”

Kanata A.R. raised his gun, his voice calm but filled with tension.
“I didn’t come here to kill any of you… not even myself. I came to kill him.”
He pointed toward Klaus, who was slowly rising again, his eyes glowing crimson with hatred.
“He’s the reason we’re all here! He summoned us—to erase every remaining reality!”

Celestine A.R. nodded grimly, her staff trembling in her hand.
“He told me the same thing… He wants to destroy all universes except his own!”

Kanata A.R. froze for a moment, his heart sinking.
Even he hadn’t realized that Klaus’s ambition reached that far.

Caine A.R. approached his counterpart, who sat bleeding against the cold floor.
He reached out a hand.
“Stand up… I’m not here to lecture you.”

Caine glared at him with resentment.
“What, you’re going to preach about redemption again?”

“No. I came to tell you this: the path you’ve chosen always ends in ruin. I won’t let you make the same mistakes I did.”

Caine scoffed bitterly.
“Hah… Spare me. I’m done playing the saint. The world’s full of hypocrites anyway.”

“Then at least don’t walk the same path of darkness again. The cost is far greater than you think.”

For a brief second, silence filled the room—an uneasy, fragile peace.

The two silver-haired elves slowly approached Elyana, their golden eyes filled with disbelief.

“Why do you have the blood of our ancestors?” one of them asked softly.

Elyana looked down, her expression distant and lost.
“I… don’t know. The last thing I remember was waking up frozen in the northern glacier. Kanata found me… and saved me.”

Both elves exchanged stunned glances. The weight of her words struck them harder than any blade.

Suddenly, the ground split open—Klaus roared, his power bursting like a divine earthquake.
The entire island trembled.
At the surface, Reiga’s team received a warning through their comm-crystals.

“Emergency alert—massive seismic activity detected! Tsunami formation possible!”

Reiga’s eyes widened.
“Kanata-kun… what in the world are you doing down there!?”

Back in the ruins, Klaus raised both hands and bellowed,
“You insects think you can stop me?! I am the one who commands the FOUNTAIN OF ETERNITY!”

He tried to lift the fountain from its pedestal, but Asuna appeared before him, her sword blazing with radiant energy.
“Not while I still draw breath!”

Klaus and Asuna clashed in a storm of divine light and darkness.
Every A.R., every version of Kanata, joined the fight—each putting aside their pride and hatred for the same purpose: survival.

The battle raged on until Kanata’s fist slammed into Klaus’s chest, sending him crashing into the fountain’s base.
A small book slipped from Klaus’s cloak—its pages glowing faintly.

“That book…” Kanata (Future) whispered.
“That’s the Destiny of Fate! It’s the reason we were all dragged here! If it stays open, reality itself will collapse!”

Klaus coughed blood, laughing madly.
“You don’t understand, boy… You’re the center of it all. You created the first divergence! Every reality… every version of you… exists because of your sin!”

Kanata’s eyes widened.
“What are you talking about?!”

“You shattered the first law of the world—by surviving your death.”

Kanata’s hand trembled, but he steadied himself, clenching his mechanical fist.
“If this darkness has to end… then let me bear it.”

He punched Klaus again, sending a shockwave through the ruins.
The ground split, and the Fountain of Eternity cracked under the strain.

The entire island began to quake.
Above, the sky tore apart—lines of light and shadow slicing across the heavens.
Reiga and Kobayashi stared up from the coast, their faces pale.

“The sky… it’s breaking apart!”
“Tsunami approaching! Massive wave inbound!”

Asuna turned toward Kanata, shouting over the rumbling chaos.
“Without the Fountain, the world’s balance is collapsing! You must do something!”

Kanata looked up, his eyes burning with determination.
“There’s only one way…”

He raised his right arm toward the shattered fountain.
“<Time Reverse>!”

The cyborg arm blazed with blue and silver light, and the flow of time itself bent backward.
Water reversed its fall, the cracks sealed themselves, and the fountain was restored.
The earthquakes stopped. The sea grew still once more.

But Kanata A.R. knew the cost.
“Every choice has a price. I’m ready to pay mine.”

He aimed his pistol at Klaus—
BANG!
—but the shot went wide. Kanata (Future) had knocked his arm aside.
“No more deaths. Not again.”

Above them, the sky began to fracture once more.
The pieces of reality trembled violently, light pouring through every crack.

Far away, in Tokyo—A.R. Nagisa, Haqua, and Naomi stared in horror as the rift expanded across the horizon.

“This… this is just like what happened in my world,” Nagisa whispered.
“And soon, he’ll appear.”

“Who are you talking about?” Naomi asked, her voice trembling.

Nagisa turned to her, eyes filled with dread.
“The Broken Kanata. The true guardian of time. He’s the one who created all worlds… and the Fountain of Eternity itself.”

Haqua stepped back, stunned.
“You mean he’s—”

“Yes. The original. The source. And when he comes, everything will change.”

Suddenly, golden lightning tore through the sky, illuminating the city.
The air itself screamed with divine resonance.

Asuna’s voice shook with fear back on the island.
“No… no, it can’t be! He’s coming! He’s coming!”

Even Schwartz and Erika, newly arrived in Tokyo, froze where they stood.
They could feel it—a presence beyond gods, beyond mortals.

Nagisa A.R. trembled, clutching her heart.
“It’s not just him. The cunning dragon—Leviathan—will return as well. In my world, they appeared together… and that’s when everyone died.”

Lightning rained upon the island.
Kanata and the others climbed from the dungeon to the surface, only to stop dead in their tracks.

From the broken sky descended a figure—tall, divine, terrifying.
White-silver hair flowed like mist. His right eye glowed crimson, his left shone gold.
He wore an immaculate black coat, radiating both death and divinity.

The air stilled. The world itself seemed to bow before him.

“So…” the man spoke, his voice calm yet echoing through every heart.
“Which one of you… is my opponent?”

Everyone froze.

Kanata whispered, barely audible,
“That’s… me.”