### **1. The Anchor’s Burden**  

Kael’s breath came in ragged bursts as he slumped against a crumbling pillar, his corrupted arm now a lattice of black veins crawling toward his heart. Rylan crouched beside him, their shared lifeforce flickering like a guttering candle.  

*“You’re burning through me,”* Rylan hissed, sweat dripping onto the Chrono-Blade between them. *“If you reverse time again, we both die.”*  

Kael laughed bitterly, blood staining his teeth. *“You wanted to be a hero. Heroes bleed.”*  

A pulse echoed through their bond—**Liora’s terror**, sharp and urgent. Kael lurched to his feet, but Rylan seized his wrist.  

*“She needs you *alive*,”* Rylan said. *“If you charge in now, the Eater wins.”*  

For once, Kael hesitated.  

---

### **2. The Traitor’s Gambit**  

Seraphina’s rebels descended into the Eclipse Labyrinth, its walls throbbing with the Sovereign’s dying heartbeat. Jarek lingered at the rear, his fingers brushing the black feather in his pocket.  

*“Trap ahead,”* he called, pointing to a fissure. *“We need to divert.”*  

Seraphina nodded, but as the group shifted, Jarek palmed a Solar grenade—a Church relic—and rolled it into their midst.  

The blast tore through three rebels, their screams swallowed by the labyrinth’s roar. Seraphina tackled Jarek, her dagger at his throat.  

*“Why?!”* she demanded.  

*“The Eater promised survival,”* Jarek spat. *“You’re all already dead.”*  

Before she could strike, the ground split, swallowing him into the Sovereign’s pulsating depths.  

*“Move!”* Seraphina barked. *“The heart’s close!”*  

---

### **3. Liora’s Descent**  

The Sovereign’s chamber trembled as Liora pressed her palms to its core, Veyra’s voice now a chorus of thousands.  

*“Merge… or watch them all die…”*  

Seraphina burst in, her bowstring snapped, armor scorched. *“Don’t! There’s another way—!”*  

A roar shook the chamber. The Eater’s herald emerged—a grotesque fusion of Garron’s sneer and Eclipse Beast carapace, its maw dripping temporal acid.  

*“Feast… begins…”* it gurgled, lunging.  

Liora’s mark blazed. *“NO.”*  

The herald froze mid-leap, its body unraveling into ash. But the victory was hollow—the effort tore a scream from Liora, her veins glowing with Sovereign energy.  

*“Too late,”* Veyra whispered. *“You’re ours now.”*  

---

### **4. The Eater’s Whisper**  

Kael and Rylan staggered into the chamber as Liora’s body levitated, her skin cracking with radiant light.  

*“Stop her!”* Seraphina yelled.  

Kael surged forward, but the Chrono-Eater’s presence *flexed*—a pressure so vast, it crushed time itself.  

**A voice**, neither sound nor thought, echoed:  

*“Mine.”*  

Liora’s eyes snapped open, glowing with eclipse fire. *“Kael… run…”*  

The Sovereign’s flesh surged around her, binding her to its core.  

---

### **5. The Shattering**  

Rylan’s scream tore the air as Kael’s Core finally fractured.  

Black energy erupted, shredding the chamber. Seraphina dragged Rylan back as Kael collapsed, his body disintegrating.  

*“Anchor… broken…”* Rylan choked.  

But Kael wasn’t gone—**he was scattered**, his consciousness splintered across timelines.  

In the void, Ghost-Kael waited. *“Now you see. Now you fight.”*  

---

### **6. The Feast Begins**  

The Chrono-Eater descended, its form a writhing absence of light. The Sovereign’s merged form—Liora and Veyra—raised a blade of pure entropy.  

*“We will not be consumed,”* they intoned.  

The Eater laughed, and the first timeline shattered.  

---

**TO BE CONTINUED…**