The silver light pouring from the Rift wasn't warm.
It wasn't cold either.
It felt… aware.
Every person inside Eclipsera froze as if the universe had pressed a finger against their necks.
Tojo whispered, "Bro… that light's alive."
Ozaru swallowed. "Feels like it's looking at us."
The Rift in space twisted, stretching wider like a wound being forced open by something pushing from the other side. Not a creature. Not a ship. More like a presence bending reality the way a hand bends soft metal.
CDC soldiers ran across platforms, sealing blast doors, powering beam cannons, shouting coordinates. Nina's squad rushed toward their formation pads, every one of them trembling—even the veterans.
Rika muttered, "Why does it feel like my spine is turning to dust?"
Alkhaz didn't answer. His aura flickered violently around him, golden arcs glitching like a hologram under stress.
Ozaru stepped closer. "Sensei—"
"Stay back," Alkhaz said sharply.
"Bro, what's that thing?" Tojo asked.
Alkhaz's voice dropped. "Not a 'thing'. A signal."
"A signal?" Ozaru repeated. "From who?"
Alkhaz's jaw clenched. "A caller. Someone—or something—testing our reality for weaknesses."
Tojo frowned. "Like Nexarius?"
Alkhaz didn't deny it. That was enough.
The Rift roared suddenly, a soundless quake that echoed inside everyone's bones. The silver hue deepened into violent white as tendrils of null-energy lashed outward, touching Eclipsera's hull.
Alarms shrieked.
"SHIELD FAILURE: OUTER RING 3!"
"NULL-EFFECT BREACH DETECTED!"
Ozaru looked at Tojo. "Bro… if that touches Lock Dome, we evaporate."
Tojo's fists clenched. "And Ken's out there. Somewhere behind that."
Before Alkhaz could issue another order, every comm screen in the room flickered.
Static.
Then—
A broken voice cut through.
"—khaz… li… en't alone—"
Tojo's heart jumped. "KEN!"
The audio distorted again.
"—not a… Rift… it's a summoning point—someone's dragging—"
The signal died.
Silence.
Then the Rift pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then ripped downward like a curtain being torn open.
From within the tear, a silhouette stepped through.
A humanoid shape.
Tall.
Thin.
Limbs too long.
Face blurred by the glare.
And around its body—Genesis-like aura, but wrong.
Unnatural.
Predatory.
Like someone had taken the laws of the universe and turned them inside out.
Tojo whispered, "Bro… that's not Ken."
Ozaru took a shaky step back. "That's not even a person."
Nina's crimson aura rose around her, instinctive and fierce. "Whatever it is—if it came from the Rift, we kill it before it spreads."
Alkhaz raised an arm. "No one moves."
The figure drifted forward, feet not touching the ground, body glitching slightly as if reality couldn't decide where to place it.
It tilted its head.
Studying Alkhaz.
Then the students.
Then the station.
When it spoke, its voice echoed in multiple tones.
"—LOST… FRAGMENT… OF BALANCE—"
Alkhaz's eyes widened a fraction. "No… It can't be…"
Ozaru hissed, "Dude, even he's scared. That's a bad sign."
Tojo stepped forward despite the fear boiling inside him. "Hey! Who are you?! Where's Ken?"
The figure turned toward him.
For a heartbeat, Tojo felt like his mind tore open. Memories flickered. Childhood. Meteor. Stone. Blood. Screams. Futures that hadn't happened yet. Futures that should never happen.
He fell to one knee, gasping.
Ozaru grabbed him. "TOJO!"
Nina surged forward, aura exploding. "Back off!"
But before she could reach the creature—
Alkhaz appeared in front of her in a burst of golden static.
"Nina, STOP."
The creature extended a finger.
A thin line of silver energy cut across space like a hairline crack.
Alkhaz blocked it with his bare hand.
The entire space around them shattered like glass.
Every soldier fell.
Every alarm glitched.
The dome lights flickered into darkness.
Tojo choked. "Sensei—what the hell was that?"
Alkhaz didn't answer immediately.
Because the creature was smiling now.
A hollow, stretched smile.
"—YOU HOLD THE SEEDS… OF THE ABSOLUTES—" it whispered. "—CREATION… DESTRUCTION… CRIMSON VARIANCE… AND THE LOST EQUILIBRIUM—"
Ozaru's grip tightened. "How does it know our stones?"
Nina's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
The creature drifted forward.
"—A MESSENGER—" it said. "—FROM THE ONE WHO WILL REWRITE THIS COSMOS—"
Tojo's blood went cold. "Nexarius."
The creature didn't deny it.
Instead, it looked directly at Ozaru.
"—YOUR GRAND-FATHER HID YOU WELL… CHILD OF THE OLD LINE—"
Ozaru froze. His heartbeat stopped for a moment.
"You… know him?"
"—WE BOTH SERVED THE SAME KING ONCE—"
It tilted its head. "—BUT YOU WERE JUST AN INFANT WHEN HE ABANDONED THE THRONE—"
Ozaru felt sick.
His chest tightening.
Tojo stood, fists sparking crimson. "Enough riddles! Where's Ken?!"
The creature pointed toward the Rift.
"—IN BETWEEN—" it said. "—IF YOU WANT HIM… COME CLAIM HIM—"
Tojo stepped, aura blazing. "Say less—"
But the creature raised a hand and the entire station tilted violently as gravity inverted. Everyone grabbed onto something to avoid being thrown upward.
"BRO WHAT KIND OF HACK IS THIS?!" Ozaru yelled.
"Null-gravity inversion," Nina hissed. "No normal Genesis user can do that!"
Alkhaz finally stepped forward.
Calm.
Silent.
Deadly.
"Kids," he said quietly. "Leave the room."
Tojo blinked. "Sensei—?"
"Now."
The creature laughed.
"—YOU CANNOT BAR THEIR FATE, GOLDEN-BORN—"
Alkhaz's hair lit like fire.
"I said leave."
Before Tojo or the others could move—
Alkhaz vanished.
And reappeared behind the creature.
His kick connected with the force of a dying star.
The creature flew across the dome, smashing through three layers of reinforced plating before phasing back into existence.
Tojo's jaw dropped. "Bro—he moved faster than light."
Nina's eyes widened. "No… faster than that."
Ozaru whispered, "Is this… his true level?"
The creature floated back up, unfazed.
Its body cracked like porcelain—revealing endless void beneath its skin.
"—INTERESTING—" it said. "—YOU HAVE GROWN, ALKHAZ—"
Alkhaz cracked his knuckles. "And you're still a parasite."
Tojo grabbed Ozaru's arm. "We're staying. Ken's our friend. This is our fight too."
Ozaru nodded.
Nina sighed. "You two are idiots. Count me in."
Alkhaz didn't turn around.
But his voice was steel.
"If you stay… then understand something."
The golden aura around him intensified until the metal under their feet shook.
"This will be the first taste of the war Nexarius has prepared for us."
The creature raised its arms.
The Rift behind it pulsed again—larger, hungrier.
"—THE REBIRTH OF THE MULTIVERSE BEGINS—"
Tojo's crimson aura exploded.
"Then let it begin with us."
Ozaru's Creation aura spiraled, shaping patterns of blazing geometric light.
Nina ignited, her crimson bursts whirling like twin comets.
And Alkhaz stood in front—
golden, furious, unstoppable.
The creature screamed—
and the Rift vomited more silver light.
The war didn't start someday.
It started now.
On Eclipsera-5.
With four figures standing against the void itself.