The storm had passed, but Ren couldn't shake the echo of Arin's kiss.
It lingered on his skin like a phantom voltage — not just heat, but memory.
He'd kissed Lyra in fire.
He'd kissed Arin in lightning.
But both moments left something unfinished. Something unresolved.
And the more it stirred within him, the more unstable his flame core became.
Nyelle stood across the glade, silent as ever, staring at him like a puzzle she had already solved but refused to speak aloud.
She hadn't spoken much since the battle.
Not about the beast. Not about the kisses.
Just silence. Watching. Calculating.
Ren walked toward her, slow but deliberate.
"You've been quiet."
Nyelle didn't blink. "You've been… loud."
He tilted his head. "Meaning?"
"You kissed two women. In the span of two days."
He stopped. "Is that a problem?"
Her lips curved faintly. "Not for me. But for the gods? It's… statistically inconvenient."
He frowned. "You always speak like you're reading from a future that hasn't happened yet."
Nyelle's eyes finally narrowed.
"That's because I am."
He blinked. "Excuse me?"
She stepped closer.
"Chrono girls aren't chosen. We're built. Alchemically enhanced to read fractures in time. I don't dream like you do. I remember futures that didn't come true."
He stared at her, stunned.
Nyelle reached up and pulled something from under her collar — a silver pendant glowing faintly with glyphs.
It matched the exact rune he saw in the Archive of Souls.
"Seris wore this," he whispered.
Nyelle nodded. "Because she gave it to me."
System Notification: Temporal Sync Detected.Nyelle Affinity Status – Elevated to "Woven Thread" Tier.Hidden Bond: Seris Echo Link – 24% Established.
"Wait," Ren said, heart racing. "You knew Seris?"
"She was my sister."
The wind stopped.
For the first time, Nyelle's voice cracked. "Before the Auction, before the gods turned us into pawns… she was my only family. And you—"
She turned sharply.
"You were supposed to save her. But you didn't."
Ren stepped forward, guilt rising in his throat. "I didn't know."
"I did." She looked back, and there were tears in her eyes. "And I still chose to follow you."
They stood there in silence. Until Ren said, quietly:
"Why?"
She looked up at him. "Because I saw what comes next. And I'd rather stand beside you than watch you break alone."
He reached for her hand.
She let him.
For a brief moment, there was no divine war, no prophecy, no gods watching. Just two people tied by tragedy and possibility.
System Notice: Temporal Pact Thread Formed – Nyelle Bond [29% → 41%]Trait Unlocked: Time-Tethered Insight – Occasionally predicts enemy attacks 0.5 seconds early.
Later that night, as the stars returned and the others rested, Ren walked alone near the edge of the Astral Garden ruins.
He needed space to breathe. To think.
Too many threads, too many emotions. Lyra's fire. Arin's storm. Nyelle's broken future.
Each of them deserved more than a piece of him.
And yet… the Auction had started him down a path where love wasn't a luxury — it was a weapon.
Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet shifted.
A glyph — hidden beneath the moss — pulsed red.
Ren jumped back just in time as the ground exploded upward, and a figure rose from the light — cloaked in white, masked, with a god-symbol seared into their chest.
System Alert: Divine Interference DetectedOpponent Class: "Watcher Proxy" – God-Level ConstructObjective: Bond Severance
The proxy moved fast, launching a spear of light toward Ren's chest.
He dodged, barely — but the shockwave threw him off balance.
System Warning: Flame Core UnstableRecommendation: Access Emotion Link or Risk Core Overload
Ren grit his teeth.
"No. Not like this."
He reached inside himself — not for power, but for connection.
And one responded.
Not Lyra.
Not Arin.
Nyelle.
From across the grove, a ripple of time broke — and she appeared, teleporting mid-flash, her hands glowing with reverse-time glyphs.
She raised her hand, caught the second spear mid-air, and twisted it backward.
Time warped. The projectile reversed and stabbed into the proxy's shoulder.
The Watcher screamed — in a voice that sounded mechanical and divine all at once.
Ren surged forward, sword burning white-hot, and drove it through the Watcher's mask.
It shattered in a blast of light.
And then the grove went quiet again.
Nyelle stood, panting, blood on her cheek.
Ren turned to her, jaw clenched. "Why did it come for me?"
She looked at the broken glyph below them.
"Because they know your heart is divided."
He stepped closer.
"And you?"
She looked at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, pressed her palm to his chest — just above the flame mark.
"I don't need all of you," she whispered. "I just need the part that chooses me."
And then… she kissed him.
Soft. Precise. Like time itself had stopped just for that moment.
System Triggered: Chrono Kiss Milestone AchievedBond Strength: Nyelle [41% → 58%]Emotion Index Updated: Romantic Depth Achieved with 3 Pactbearers.
When they broke apart, Ren exhaled. "That was…"
"Necessary," she said, her eyes unreadable. "Time has chosen its threads. Now you must choose yours."