The chamber trembled violently, the ancient stones groaning as cracks spread like veins through the walls. The air buzzed with unstable energy—the last remnants of the Pyramid’s magic unraveling now that Lucius had been trapped in the endless loop of his own failures.

  Alastor stood in the center of the crumbling sanctum, breathing heavily, his heart still racing from the battle. Lucius’s screams echoed faintly through the collapsing timelines, growing more distant with each passing second as the loop sealed around him like a steel vice. It was over. Lucius, the god of death, was no more.

  But the victory felt hollow.

  Something wasn’t right.

  The Eye of Ra pulsed weakly in Alastor’s hand, its golden glow flickering like a dying flame. The chamber lurched beneath his feet, and the walls warped as the reality woven around the Pyramid began to unravel. Without the Council. Without Lucius. Without anyone left to maintain it. The loop was falling apart—but something still held it together, buried deep within the ruins.

  The Pyramid was dying, and it would take the loop—and everything connected to it—down with it.

  Alastor clenched his jaw and turned toward the exit, his boots pounding against the cracked stone as he sprinted toward freedom. The ground shifted and buckled beneath him, and fragments of ancient hieroglyphs fell from the walls, shattering on impact. Torches flickered and died.

  Behind him, the entire sanctum began to collapse—pillars crumbling, walls folding in on themselves as centuries of time unraveled all at once. The weight of the Pyramid’s magic imploded, sucking everything into a chaotic void.

  "Alastor, move!" Selene’s voice cut through the chaos. She appeared at the far end of the crumbling hall, waving him forward. Her blade was drawn, and dust coated her skin, but her eyes were sharp and focused.

  He sprinted toward her, narrowly avoiding a collapsing beam. The ground beneath them cracked and shifted, timelines folding like broken puzzle pieces, throwing everything into chaos. It was as if the very foundation of time was giving way beneath their feet.

  "Come on!" Selene shouted, turning and running ahead. The walls collapsed behind them as they darted through the narrow passageways that twisted between timelines—one moment ancient and weathered stone, the next sleek walls of an impossible future.

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  But something gnawed at the edge of Alastor’s mind—a warning, a sense of wrongness that grew louder with every step. The Codex whispered fragments of possibilities, unfinished paths, unanswered questions.

  And that’s when it hit him.

  The loop was still active.

  The Eye of Ra, even weakened, still pulsed with an undercurrent of power—raw, chaotic, incomplete. He could feel it in the cracks of reality—the loop hadn’t been fully severed. Lucius was defeated, but the curse that bound the loop together had not been broken.

  Alastor skidded to a halt, his pulse hammering in his ears. "It’s not over."

  Selene turned back, confusion flashing in her eyes. "What?" she shouted over the roar of falling stone.

  Alastor’s heart raced. He looked down at the Eye of Ra, its faint glow casting eerie shadows over his hands. The loop was still there—buried deeper than Lucius, deeper than the Pyramid itself. There was still one final piece to be found.

  The walls groaned again, the entire structure collapsing inward as the magic that had held the Pyramid together for centuries began to unravel completely. If they didn’t escape now, they’d be buried with it.

  "Alastor!" Selene called, urgency in her voice. "We have to move—now!"

  Alastor clenched his fists, forcing himself to turn away from the looming question, at least for now. The Pyramid was falling, and there would be no second chances if they didn’t get out.

  He sprinted after Selene, dodging falling debris and sliding across cracked stone floors as the last remnants of the Pyramid’s structure collapsed behind him. Time itself flickered around them, fragments of past and future timelines dissolving into dust, twisting in on themselves as the exit came into view.

  With one final burst of speed, Alastor and Selene hurled themselves through the crumbling doorway, just as the Pyramid collapsed completely behind them—swallowed by a cloud of dust, ash, and golden light.

  They tumbled out onto the sands of the desert, rolling to a stop beneath the burning sun. Behind them, the ruins of the Pyramid sank beneath the dunes, lost forever to time. The ground rumbled once, then went still.

  Alastor lay on his back, staring up at the sky, his chest heaving. The Eye of Ra pulsed weakly in his hand, the weight of it cold against his skin.

  Selene sat up beside him, brushing sand from her clothes. "That was close," she muttered, her voice breathless but relieved.

  Alastor didn’t answer. His mind raced, the pieces of the puzzle shifting into place. Lucius was gone, but the loop hadn’t ended. There was still something binding it—something hidden, buried deeper than even the Pyramid’s ancient magic.

  He looked back at the ruins, now nothing more than a crumbling skeleton buried beneath the sands.

  "It’s not over," Alastor whispered, his voice barely audible. The Eye flickered in his hand, a faint reminder of unfinished business.

  Selene frowned, watching him carefully. "What do you mean?"

  Alastor’s gaze remained fixed on the ruins, his expression hardening with grim determination. "Not yet."