Cain's world shattered.
The ground beneath him vanished, pulled away like a thin veil revealing the abyss beneath. The golden wasteland, the sky that had burned with his own power, the ruins of a battlefield he had once called home—all of it collapsed into nothingness.
And Cain fell.
Not physically. Not the way he had fallen before.
This was different.
This was deeper.
The entity above him—the thing that had once been a part of him, the thing he had unknowingly sealed away—watched without moving. Its golden eyes gleamed like twin suns, its expression unreadable.
"You were never meant to return to this place."
Cain's breath hitched. The air around him was thick, suffocating, pressing against his skin as if the weight of the very world had turned against him. His Titan Core burned erratically, its flames flickering wildly, caught between obedience and rebellion.
He clenched his fists, golden embers crackling around his fingers. "If I locked you away, then I had a damn good reason."
The entity took a slow step forward. The motion alone crushed the space between them, sending a wave of force that threatened to erase everything. Cain braced himself, his flames roaring to life in response, but it wasn't enough. The sheer pressure made his knees buckle.
"And yet, you are here."
Cain gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand. "Because I have to be."
The entity tilted its head slightly, its golden fire shifting, writhing like something alive.
"Do you?"
Cain didn't answer. He couldn't.
Because even now, a part of him was uncertain.
The past was a wound that had just been torn open. The memory of what he had done—of what he had been—was still fresh, raw, painful.
Had he truly sealed away his own power?
Had he truly been afraid of himself?
And if so… was breaking the chains a mistake?
Cain's Titan Core pulsed violently. The flames around him shrank, responding to the hesitation in his mind. His body still burned with power, still held strength far beyond what he had once known, but the flames felt different now.
Hollow.
As if they were waiting for him to make a decision.
The entity moved.
Cain barely had time to react before it was upon him, a golden fist colliding with his ribs, sending him flying backward. He gasped, the force of the impact erasing the air from his lungs, his body skidding across the collapsing space beneath them.
The void around them rippled, reality itself tearing apart.
Cain rolled, forcing himself to stop his momentum, his hands slamming into the ground as golden embers burst from his fingertips. His Titan Core flared, power rushing through him as he twisted sharply, golden fire exploding outward—
But the entity was already there.
It grabbed his wrist mid-strike, stopping him completely.
Cain's eyes widened. He struggled, tried to wrench himself free, but the grip was unbreakable. It wasn't just physical strength—it was absolute dominance.
The entity's golden gaze burned into him.
"This is what you have forgotten."
Cain felt it instantly.
His Titan Core snapped violently, his golden flames twisting unnaturally. The energy within him rebelled, turning against him, no longer entirely his own. A deep, suffocating force wrapped around his core, gripping it with something far worse than pain.
Understanding.
Cain's breath came fast and ragged. "What… are you doing?"
The entity didn't answer.
Because the truth was already sinking in.
Cain wasn't just fighting something outside himself.
This entity, this being of golden fire and endless power, this version of himself that had been sealed away—
It was still connected to him.
Still bound to his very core.
It wasn't just his past.
It was his future.
Cain gasped, golden flames flaring wildly as his Titan Core began to split. The connection between them was no longer a whisper at the edge of his mind—it was a tether, an unbreakable chain that had been there all along.
The entity leaned in slightly, its voice low, steady.
"You cannot kill me."
Cain's chest tightened.
"Because you would only be killing yourself."
Cain's mind snapped.
His Titan Core erupted violently, power surging outward in a raw, untamed explosion of golden fire. He wrenched himself free with everything he had, the sheer force tearing the very ground apart, sending shockwaves that split the collapsing void in half.
The entity stepped back, watching as Cain staggered, panting, hands trembling.
The space around them was crumbling faster now.
The battlefield was gone. The throne was gone. The world was ending.
And in the distance, past the broken sky, something else was stirring.
Cain's Titan Core pulsed weakly, flames still unstable. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to push aside the shaking in his limbs.
Because no matter what this thing was—no matter what it meant—
He wasn't giving up.
Cain's golden eyes burned as he lifted his gaze, meeting his other self's stare head-on. "Then I guess we'll find another way."
The entity smiled.
"Let's see if you're strong enough."
The void collapsed completely.
Cain felt the world rip itself apart.
And then—
Everything went white.