The Origin Gate ignited like a dying star.
Rings of impossible geometry locked into place around its core,each one humming with a different version of reality. The Chrono Sunder was no longer charging.
It was awake.
Kashyap felt it seize him—not physically, but conceptually.
Every version of him across the multiverse snapped into alignment.
Soldier.
Runaway.
Destroyer.
Savior.
All of them were suddenlyhim.
Mandakini screamed his name.
"Kashyap—don't let it define you!"
The Gate spoke without sound.
DECIDE.
Time fractured.
He saw futures unraveling:
—Worlds frozen mid-breath
—Civilizations splitting into incompatible histories
—Mandakini existing as a thousand partial echoes, none whole
The Council had been right about one thing.
If Kashyap acted alone,reality would shatter.
He looked at Mandakini.
She was glowing now—not with Origin light,but something deeper.
Human.Chosen. Alive.
"You merged with her," he said.
"You carry the Gate inside you."
She nodded, tears lifting into starlight.
"And you carry the consequence."
The Chrono Sunder began to fire.
A blade of white causality sliced outward—
And Kashyap stepped into it.
Agastya's voice echoed from nowhere.
"STOP—YOU'LL UNMAKE YOURSELF!"
Kashyap didn't hesitate.
"I'm not choosing a future,"he said calmly.
"I'm choosingus."
He reached for Mandakini.
Not as a trigger.
As a partner.
Their hands met.
The multiverse screamed.
The Sunder faltered.
The Gate resisted—violently.
Mandakini gasped as timelines tried to tear her apart, forcing her into pure Constant form.
"No,"she whispered.
"I won't become a thing."
She focused—on memory.
On fear.
On warmth.
On Kashyap's stubborn,imperfect presence.
She anchored herself to now.
Kashyap felt the pull intensify.
If he held on,he would be erased from every timeline but one.
If he let go,the Sunder would finish its work.
He smiled faintly.
"So this is the price."
Mandakini realized it instantly.
"No.There has to be another way."
He shook his head.
"There isn't.But this way… you live."
He pressed his forehead to hers.
"Remember me as a choice."
Then he released the resonance.
The Chrono Sunder collapsed inward—
Not exploding.
Folding.
Timelines fused violently, snapping into a single reinforced continuity.
The Gate shattered.
The Axis imploded.
And Kashyap vanished.
Silence.
Then—
Mandakini awoke on cold stone.
The Origin Gate was gone.
The sky was unfamiliar—but intact.
Viraj knelt beside her, shaken.
"It worked,"he whispered.
"The timelines stabilized."
Agastya stood nearby, staff dim.
"But he's gone."
Mandakini sat up slowly.
She felt it immediately.
A space inside her.
Not empty.
Waiting.
She closed her eyes.
Somewhere—beyond history, beyond record—
A man who refused inevitability still existed.
And the multiverse, wounded but alive, would never forget the one moment when choice overcame destiny.