89.1% resonance.
Eleven percent left before the 13th Universe begins to tear its way out of Liora's blood.
They both felt it now, like a second heartbeat behind the ribs, ancient, massive, impatient.
Kael stood on the wreckage of the orbital station, boots floating above vacuum, twelve wings keeping the air around them breathable.
Liora hovered beside him, silver hair drifting in zero gravity, void spear resting across her shoulders.
Below, Eos-7 burned in patches, but the panic had gone quiet.
People were learning a new truth: the age of heroes was over.
Kael spoke first.
"We need the remaining fragments before the Devourers do."
Liora nodded once.
"Three known pieces left on this planet.
One in the Planetary Vault.
One in the hands of the Church of the Saintess.
One buried under the Dead Sea Rift."
She turned to him, eyes glowing brighter.
"Which first?"
Kael's smile was slow and cruel.
"All three. Tonight."
He opened his palm.
The VOID CROWN SYSTEM answered instantly.
<< Deploying twelve shadow clones + full orbital strike package >>
<< Estimated completion time: 4 hours 11 minutes >>
Liora watched the black crown above the planet split into twelve perfect copies of Kael, each with wings and crimson-gold eyes.
She raised an eyebrow.
"You got stronger while I was sleeping."
"You have no idea," he said.
He offered his hand.
She took it.
They vanished.
### 00:47 – Planetary Vault, Capital City
Two shadow-Kaels walked through walls of adamantine and void shields like they were fog.
Guards fired SSS-rank weapons.
The bullets forgot how to exist before they left the barrel.
Vault door: 300 metres of compressed neutron star metal.
One shadow placed a hand on it.
The metal turned to liquid night and flowed away.
Inside: the second fragment, a crystal the size of a heart, pulsing purple-black.
The real Kael and Liora stepped out of a rift, took it, kissed once over the glowing prize.
Resonance: 92.4%
### 01:53 – Cathedral of the Saintess, Holy District
The Church's blindfolded Saintess sat on a throne of light, prophesying the arrival of heroes.
Four shadow-Kaels walked up the aisle while the congregation screamed.
The Saintess smiled beneath her blindfold.
"I have waited for you, Empress."
Liora froze.
The Saintess lifted her veil.
The face underneath was Liora's own, older, scarred, eyes burned out.
A piece of her soul torn away ten billion years ago and twisted into a puppet.
The Saintess opened her arms.
"Come home, my Empress.
Give me your body and end the pain."
Liora's spear appeared, trembling.
Kael stepped in front of her.
"No."
He placed one hand on the Saintess's forehead.
Void Whisper Pistol to her temple.
One silent shot.
The puppet body dissolved into light.
A third fragment floated out of the ashes, smaller, but purer.
Liora caught it with shaking fingers.
Resonance: 96.1%
Tears cut clean lines through the blood on her cheeks.
Kael wiped them away.
"Never again," he said.
### 03:27 – Dead Sea Rift
The final fragment lay fifty kilometres beneath a sea of liquid radiation.
Kael and Liora dove together.
No suits.
No fear.
His wings shielded them from the poison.
Her void ate the pressure.
At the bottom, a black sarcophagus older than the planet.
Inside: a single tear-shaped crystal and a message carved in a language that hurt to read.
For the Empress, when she finally remembers.
Liora touched it.
The last seal shattered.
<< Resonance: 100% >>
<< Primary cage unlocked >>
The entire planet shook.
Far above, the night sky cracked like glass.
Something enormous began to push through from the other side.
Liora looked at Kael, eyes wide, terrified, overjoyed.
"It's coming," she whispered.
Kael pulled her close.
"Then we greet it together."
He kissed her once, hard.
The 13th Universe began to bleed into reality.
And for the first time in ten billion years, the Eternal Night Sovereign and the Void Empress stood side by side, whole, unafraid, and ready to finish what they started.
The hidden counter ticked.
9,999,991
Somewhere beyond the stars, the Narrative Devourers screamed in terror.
The cage was broken.
The real story had only just begun.
To be continued…