1. Liora’s Communion**  

The air inside the Sovereign’s hive-mind was thick with the stench of decayed timelines. Liora stood in a cavern of pulsating flesh, veins of Chrono-energy threading through walls that whispered with the voices of the consumed. Before her, suspended in a cocoon of sinew, hung High Ascendant Veyra—her body fused with the Sovereign’s core, eyes milky and pleading.  

*“Prophet…”* Veyra’s voice crackled, her lips unmoving. *“It feeds on us… the Eater… it’s coming.”*  

Liora reached out, her mark blazing. The cocoon split, releasing a flood of visions: a maw of infinite teeth devouring stars, timelines snapping like threads. The *Chrono-Eater*—a entity older than time, starving and relentless.  

*“Why show me this?”* Liora demanded.  

Veyra’s consciousness shuddered. *“You are the key… the only one who can unite the Beasts… or doom us all.”*  

Outside the vision, Seraphina gripped Liora’s shoulder, shaking her awake. *“The Sovereign’s collapsing! We need to move!”*  

---

### **2. Kael’s Hunt**  

Kael traced Mirror-Kael’s rift through the ashen wasteland, his Chrono-Blade humming with Rylan’s borrowed lifeforce. Every step deepened the ache in his corrupted arm, the tumor throbbing in time with Rylan’s distant pulse.  

*Ghost-Kael materialized beside him, translucent and stern.*  

*“You’re slowing down. He’s using your anger against you.”*  

*“I don’t need a conscience,”* Kael snarled, slashing at a shadow.  

*“You need *her*,”* Ghost-Kael said, fading. *“Before the Eater takes her too.”*  

---

### **3. Rylan’s Defiance**  

Mirror-Kael’s lair reeked of burnt ozone. Rylan hung from chains of solidified time, his wrists raw.  

*“Your hero’s coming,”* Mirror-Kael sneered, pacing. *“He’ll choose vengeance. They always do.”*  

Rylan spat blood. *“You don’t know him.”*  

*“Don’t I?”* Mirror-Kael pressed a blade to Rylan’s chest, the metal aging and rusting in seconds. *“The anchor bond is a death sentence. Even if he saves you, the Eater’s hunger will *unmake* you both.”*  

Rylan closed his eyes, focusing on the thread connecting him to Kael. He sent a pulse through it—a single word: *“Liora.”*  

---

### **4. Seraphina’s Gambit**  

The defected soldiers gathered in the ruins of a chapel, their Church armor defaced with Eclipse Beast blood. Seraphina unrolled a map of the Eclipse Labyrinth, her voice steady.  

*“The Sovereign’s heart is here. We sever it, we free Veyra.”*  

A scarred soldier, Jarek, scoffed. *“And if the girl’s wrong? If the Sovereign’s just a puppet?”*  

*“Then we die fighting a lie,”* Seraphina said. *“Better than kneeling to one.”*  

Unseen, a traitor among them slipped a black feather into his pocket.  

---

### **5. The Choice**  

Kael found Mirror-Kael at the edge of a temporal rift, Rylan dangling above the void.  

*“Let him go,”* Kael growled, Chrono-Blade igniting.  

*“Or what?”* Mirror-Kael smirked. *“You’ll reverse time? Go ahead. He’ll still die *because* of you.”*  

Rylan’s voice cut through. *“Kael—the Eater! It’s coming for Liora!”*  

Kael hesitated—a split-second—and lunged *past* Mirror-Kael, severing Rylan’s chains.  

*“Wrong move,”* Mirror-Kael whispered, plunging his blade into Kael’s back.  

The Chrono-Void Core screamed.  

---

### **6. The Sacrifice**  

Liora pressed her palm to the Sovereign’s shuddering flesh. *“How do I stop the Eater?”*  

Veyra’s voice echoed: *“Become the bridge… merge with us.”*  

Seraphina grabbed her arm. *“No! There’s another way!”*  

But the Beasts were already circling, their mournful cries a chorus. *“Save us… save us…”*  

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**TO BE CONTINUED…**