Chapter 28: The One Who Remains – The Creator of the Rift
Scene: Outside Time – The Throne of First Fracture
The sky above them bends into a spiral of stars and screams.
Ben and Naruto stand on a platform of suspended memories—moments frozen in crystal: the day Ben died, the day Naruto found him, the day everything unraveled.
A shape steps from the cosmic breach.
It doesn't walk. It emerges—like an idea made flesh.
A humanoid figure cloaked in veils of constellations and ancient equations. Chains coil around its arms, each one bearing names of universes long erased.
Its voice is not sound.
It's gravity. Pressure. Memory.
"You seek closure," it says, "but I am the opening wound."
Ben tightens his grip on the Rift Crown.
Naruto steps forward, Kokugen in hand.
"Who are you?" Ben demands.
The being replies:
"I am Azekor, the One Who Remains.
The first soul ever split by choice."
Flashback – The Birth of the Rift
Azekor raises his hand.
Reality twists.
Suddenly, they are inside the memory of the first collapse.
Azekor was once a mortal—like Ben.
A boy who loved too much, feared too deeply, and made the first wish:
"I want to exist… in every version of myself."
That wish was granted.
But the cost?
Fracture.
He split into infinite versions—each more broken than the last.
And from those fragments, the Rift was born.
"Every collapse, every multiverse war, every tear in the veil… it all began with me."
Naruto steps back, horrified.
"You… are the Rift."
Azekor nods.
"And now, Ben… so are you."
The Offer – Godhood or Annihilation
Azekor offers his hand.
"Join me. Together, we stabilize all timelines… by ending free will. Every version will be one. No more loss. No more chaos."
Ben falters.
"That's not stability. That's slavery."
Azekor's veil flutters.
"Then fight me. And in doing so… become me."
Scene: The Rift Spiral – Final Trial Begins
Azekor creates a battlefield within the spiral itself.
An arena made of memories:
The alley where Ben died.
The village where Naruto once screamed for acknowledgment.
A burning world that never existed—but could.
Azekor draws a blade forged from the first paradox.
"Let's see if your unity can withstand my singularity."
Ben turns to Naruto.
"You with me?"
Naruto grins.
"Always."
And they charge.
Battle – Hope vs Origin
The clash is titanic.
Azekor fights like inevitability—his strikes land in futures not yet written, cutting wounds before they happen.
Ben defends with paradox—weaving in and out of cause and effect, slicing gaps into the timeline to dodge.
Naruto creates clones using fragments of failed realities.
Together, they fight as past and future—
Against the first fracture.
Azekor's Power – The Collapse Begins
With a cry, Azekor shatters the battlefield.
"You are not the first to challenge me. You will not be the last."
He sends Ben falling through timelines—forcing him to relive every version where he became Azekor.
Ben screams as he's flooded with visions of himself turning into the Rift Lord.
But in the center of that darkness… he hears a voice.
Not Naruto's.
Not the girl's.
His own.
"You're not him. You're me. But I don't have to become you."
Ben clenches his fists.
The Rift Crown pulses.
And suddenly… he's back.
Final Moment – The Crown's Rebellion
Ben tears the Rift Crown from his head and crushes it.
The energy doesn't fade—it floods into him.
He becomes the Rift—not as a weapon.
But as a will.
He points at Azekor.
"This Rift doesn't belong to you anymore."
Cliffhanger – The Chains Break
The sky turns white.
Azekor steps back for the first time, uncertain.
"What have you done?"
Ben lifts his hand.
"I didn't break the cycle. I rewrote it."
And all around them, the multiverse begins to shift.
Chains break.
Souls reunite.
And far away… Obsidian falls to his knees, screaming.
[CHAPTER END | NEXT: Rise of the Riftbearer – Ben Ascends Beyond Fate]