Chapter 235: The Archivist’s Gambit

The air inside the Vault crackled as the First Archivist rose from the shattered cocoon, her eyes shimmering with ancient power. She was both ethereal and terrifying—a living archive of all memories, all knowledge, all forgotten truths.

Kael's heart pounded. "Who… what are you?"

The Archivist's smile deepened, as if she carried centuries of secrets behind it. "I am the Keeper of Time's Lost Stories. The weaver of memories forgotten and futures unwritten."

Lysara stepped forward cautiously. "Why did you awaken? What do you want?"

"For centuries, I was bound by rules not of my making. I was a prisoner of forgotten promises. But the threads of fate are unraveling. Now, I will restore balance—at any cost."

Corven's hand instinctively went to the dagger at his belt. "And if that cost is the world as we know it?"

Her eyes darkened. "The world as you know it has already passed. I offer rebirth through destruction."

Kael tightened his fists. "We won't let you destroy everything."

The Archivist's laughter echoed, a sound like shattering glass. "Fools who fight against the inevitable."

Suddenly, the chamber shifted. Walls dissolved into streams of shimmering code, floors became shifting sands of memories—some sweet, some horrific.

Kael felt his own memories being pulled at, twisted. Faces from his past flashed—friends, enemies, lost loves.

"We must hold her," Lysara said urgently. "If she corrupts the Archive's core, all of reality fractures."

Kael nodded. "Then we fight."

Before anyone could move, the Archivist raised her hands, sending a wave of raw memory energy crashing toward them. The battle for the very essence of time had begun.