Kael walked home that day surrounded by questions.
Why did Lyra exist outside the timeline?
Why couldn't the system read her?
And why did she somehow remember him?
He passed an alley.
The world turned black.
Time froze.
A tall figure materialized before him—white hair, crimson eyes, elegant dark clothing. His presence felt like crushing gravity.
Kael's blood chilled.
Erevan.
The regressor who lived over six hundred lifetimes.
"So," Erevan said mildly, observing Kael, "You stole the system."
Kael's jaw tightened. "I didn't steal anything."
Erevan smiled faintly. "It chose you. Unfortunate."
A suffocating aura pressed against Kael. His limbs trembled under pure killing intent.
"Let me be clear," Erevan continued. "This is the Final Timeline. The last chance to create permanence."
"Perma… nence?"
"A world without resets," Erevan said. "A world shaped entirely by the last surviving regressor."
Kael's heartbeat quickened.
He already knew—but hearing Erevan say it confirmed the stakes.
Erevan leaned closer, voice a whisper of velvet and malice.
"You are an obstacle. Remove yourself from my path, and I may grant you a peaceful end. Resist…"
His eyes glowed crimson.
"...and I will erase every version of you that ever existed."
Time restarted.
Erevan vanished.
Kael stood alone in the alley, heart pounding.
This wasn't just survival.
This was war against every regressor in existence.
And Erevan had marked him for death.