MR_Crystal

Unknown Time
A Crown of Ash. A Thief of Seconds. A Love That Shattered Time.
Betrayed by his brother and burned alive on his coronation day, Kael awakens with a curse masquerading as a gift: the power to steal time itself. Now a fugitive in his ruined kingdom, he can rewind wounds, shrink enemies to dust, and bend moments to his will—but every stolen second scars his body and devours his soul.

His vengeance is absolute. His enemies are legion. Yet the deeper Kael hunts, the more he unravels:

The brother who lit his pyre is blood-bound to a cult older than time.

The fiancée who betrayed him sacrificed her love to save a sister who was already dead.

And the mentor who raised him? A time-warped monster who calls Kael’s agony “a masterpiece.”

But when Kael discovers a girl with his lost lover’s face—a living weapon forged by his enemies—he faces an impossible choice: destroy her to erase his past… or let her live and risk a future where love becomes his final weakness.

In a world where every heartbeat is a currency and every lie is etched in flames, Kael must decide if he’ll crown himself king of the ashes—or burn time itself to save the one soul he couldn’t steal.

UNKNOWN TIME

The hybrid aged into Kael's mirror image—same storm-gray eyes, same scar slashing his brow—but its youth was unblemished, its smirk dripping with the arrogance Kael had buried years ago.

"Pathetic," it spat, circling him. "You let Gideon break you. Let Lira die. Let Lyra rot."

Kael's blade trembled. "I'm not you."

"You were me." The hybrid lunged.

Their swords clashed. With every strike, time shifted. Kael's wrinkles softened, his muscles tightening, while the hybrid's face sagged, its hair whitening.

Lyra staggered toward the time-crystal, her cobalt veins lashing like live wires. "Kael! The crystal—it's reacting to you!"

The hybrid laughed, now middle-aged and gaunt. "She's lying. She wants it for herself."

Lyra's hand hovered over the crystal. Its light seared her scars, Gideon's voice slithering into her mind: "Take it. Become what he fears."

The cathedral quaked. Hybrids screeched as fissures split the walls, revealing a void beyond—a portal swirling with memories of a sunlit kingdom, Kael's mother laughing in a garden.

"Distractions!" The hybrid tackled Kael, its blade biting his shoulder. "Focus on me!"

Kael headbutted it, their blood mingling. "You're nothing. A ghost."

The hybrid aged into a skeletal husk, still clinging. "So are you."

The crystal's energy engulfed her, mutating her scars into cobalt wings. Her eyes hollowed to voids as Gideon's power consumed her. Hybrids prostrated, chanting: "Mother. Goddess. Destroyer."

Kael stabbed the hybrid, reclaiming his youth—but the victory tasted like ash.

She turned, wings bristling. "Why? I'm finally free."

Chapter 23: The Mirror’s Edge