On instinct, Hiral’s time runes spooled up, pausing the second he was in to give him a moment to process everything in front of him. He wasn’t wrong about what he was looking at. At his back, the other Edicts agreed, a sense of shock and disbelief radiating out from them. This really was the first of… their kind.

  People who had so truly represented and integrated with the concept of an Edict, they’d become an avatar of that Edict themselves. Except, for this Edict—or Avatar—of Time, it’d been imprisoned for an eternity. Instead of getting trapped in the cycles of Genesis, it was responsible for the cycles. It was the power that’d ripped the world out of its place in time, and locked it in loops, over and over.

  In a way, it explained so much. Little things and big things both. When he’d gotten his Runes of Time Dilation and Time Contraction—and many times since then—he’d always felt like there was a bigger concept to them. A true time rune. He’d also felt it was somehow out of reach. He’d attributed it to being too complicated or powerful for him to master, but he’d partnered with things like the Runes of Energy and Separation, both high-concept runes.

  Since then, he’d realized the only runes he could “get” were those that were like him. Other avatars from previous cycles. The Edicts they represented. Since he’d gotten his PIM, and a way to directly bond with the runic rules of the universe in a way no other had, they’d sought him out. Whether the PIMP realized it or not, it’d helped deliver these runes to Hiral through the loot it had provided… in the beginning. Other instances, such as the Runes of Sound and Vibration made themselves known to Hiral when the time was right.

  All that was to say the reason he could feel the Rune of Time existed, but couldn’t connect with it, was because it was here, trapped. And, he should’ve realized that. Hells, the caretaker had even told him, and his mind replayed the snipped of the conversation he’d had.

  “How did they do it?” Hiral asked the caretaker instead of answering Seeyela. “How did they put another version of Genesis in a dungeon? How can we get it out?”

  “They had time,” the caretaker said, like that answered everything. “And the Black Gates. They had some of those too. Used them as anchors to hold it in place.”

  Not “they had the time”, like he’d understood it. No, it should’ve been “they had Time”, with a capital-T.

  The Raze captured the essence of time, somehow, and used it to rewrite the rules of Genesis’s time. At the same time, that was how they brought Terminus to the last second of the universe, but never let it tick into nothingness. Maybe there was a balance there, like everything else around Gensis, or maybe it was just the raw power of the Edict of Time.

  The captured Avatar also explained the state the Eidolons were in before Nivian granted them the rebirth, along with the reset ability of the Raze and Endless. It changed how time interacted with them. For the Endless and Raze—and to an extent, things around them—they could revert time. Rewinding them back to a specific place in their own personal timelines. For the Eidolons, it was nothing so clean. In a way, they had both their futures and pasts stolen from them.

  Their bodies couldn’t naturally change. Part of Hiral had wondered why the pre-Eidolons had never used magic to heal themselves. But, what if they had, but after using the magic, the energy expended never regenerated? What if they exhausted themselves, and were left with nothing for future injuries or situations? Something to ask Nulokin about.

  Definitely a question for later.

  Finally, looking at the Avatar of Time, and the connections running to and from it, Hiral understood why the crocobastard-Mid-Boss-thing got stronger when he pulled it into the Abode of Asinef. There was a give-and-take relationship between the Avatar and those it connected with. It was like the toll he’d set up in the portal sending people back to Genesis. Everybody benefitting from the reset-ability was supplying constant power to the Avatar in payment.

  The Raze and Endless were basically shackling themselves for this one ability. Admittedly, it was a powerful ability that made them basically unkillable. And, really, the Raze had made up for any weakness by utilizing the Heart of the City.

  But, the Heart wasn’t the key to freeing Genesis. Not like they’d thought it was. This is. Just… how was he going to do that?

  The answer was—of course—rule six.

  Though his time runes felt a sort of kinship to the entity in front of them—especially during the pause—they allowed seconds to pass normally as Hiral flexed his power. Around him, the ground rumbled from another series of violent explosions above, while the Edicts normally floating at his back spread to encircle the spike of crystal growing from the floor. He had an entire team acting as part of this rescue operation.

  “Whatever you’re doing down there,” Seena suddenly said over the party chat. “You’d better do it fast. The Raze are changings things up. They’re trying to get down to you.”

  “We’ll hold them as long as we can,” Nivian added.

  “Endless are trying too,” Ilrolik said.

  “We’ll hold them as long as we can,” Nivian repeated, as if he wasn’t just telling Hiral, but also reminding the others up there.

  “I won’t be long,” Hiral promised, already directing the power of his Edicts on the crystal. Separation, Piercing, and Breaking led the pack, attacking the imprisoning tomb with a power that shook the cavern even more than the battle above could. As soon as a reverberation began within the connecting crystal streams that’d grown in place, he added Sound and Vibration, magnifying the effect. Within seconds, chips fell from every part of the room—stone and crystal alike—and Hiral reached up with his free hands.

  With a clench of his fingers, the front of the crystal tomb shattered into a thousand tiny cubes that waterfalled to the ground between the two men. Strangely, despite the utter Separation Hiral had envisioned, there were still what looked like streamers of a malleable crystal connecting the other man’s skin to the coffin around him.

  “Can you hear me?” Hiral said, Left at his side. “We’re getting you out of there.”

  At the words, the Avatar of Time’s eyes flickered open, glowing Runes of Time in place of irises beyond his eyelids. Power, eternity, and a spark of hope shining within.

  “You…” a raspy voice scratched out of the man’s mouth, before the words were cut off by crystal. Between blinks, the entire crystal coffin had reformed. Back in perfect shape, exactly like it had looked when Hiral found it, there wasn’t any evidence Hiral had done anything. Even the thousands of crystal cubes were gone.

  “That’s going to be annoying,” Left said, his words punctuated by a massive crash above their heads. Through the hole Hiral had bored with his runic drill, cut stone began to fall. “The Raze will get through the roof of the tunnels soon. Once they break that, there won’t be much to stop them from reaching us here.

  “I’ll head up to see if I can’t delay them a bit longer.”

  “Thanks,” Hiral said, though he was hardly paying attention to the words. The reset of the crystal had been so absolute, even his Eternal Domain had done nothing to resist or slow it. So, I try again.

  Which is exactly what he did, the crystal pouring out of the front of the tomb a second time, cubes rattling on the stone floor.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “… can’t…” the Avatar of Time said before the crystal was immediately back in place a second time.

  A growl escaped Hiral’s throat before he could stop it. Unlike against the Raze and Endless, there wasn’t a thread he could see. Nothing he could slow or stop. The Avatar of Time was trapped by its own power. But, could one Edict resist twenty-four other Edicts focused on freeing it?

  Across Hiral’s chest, the Rune of Eclipse glowed, its power under his control in S-Rank. It would tip the odds. Make the impossible, possible. His pseudo-aspect pulsed with power, and he once again directed his Edicts to free the man in front of him.

  For the third time, the crystal tumbled free from the tomb.

  “… free…” the Avatar of Time said as Hiral reached in with Attraction, Rejection, and Connection to tear him free. Crystal streamers broke under surgical uses of Separation, while focused Impact shattered the bonds still holding the man’s arms upright. More shards of crystal rained onto the floor, while the man…

  Stayed firmly trapped within solid crystal, the reset having snuck in like a thief in the night to undo everything Hiral had set in motion. He hadn’t even blinked that time.

  This is worse than I thought.

  Hiral often compared how fast he moved to doing things between seconds. With the prison for the Avatar of Time, that was literally true. Even with his absurd Atn and attention purely focused on the task, he couldn’t see—or even remember—the transition from broken to not-broken.

  Not that he’d give up so easily, throwing his Edicts and power against the entire crystal prison this time. If he couldn’t cut the other man out, he’d simply remove every ounce of crystal all at once. And, while it was harder, thousands of crystal cubes fell to the floor a second later in a circle around the upright Avatar.

  The upright Avatar still held up like a puppet by the two pillars of crystal on either side of him, those same semi-liquid streamers stuck to his skin. More exposed like this, Hiral got a good look at the man’s outfit, if it could even be called that. Tatters of a once-black robe hung from his body, open wounds and bruises marring his flesh. The fingers on his left hand looked utterly broken—pointing off at wild angles—while his right leg from the knee down was a jagged mess.

  “… me.” the man said, only to again be completely encased in crystal.

  “You can’t free me,” Hiral said, quietly repeating the words the Avatar had told him. “We’ll see about that.”

  Another flex of his power ripped the crystal aside. It was back in place before he even had a chance to blink. So he did it again. And again. And again.

  “Must…” the man said.

  Hiral tore the crystal aside, throwing enough Breaking into the mix to make one of Seeyela’s acids proud. It didn’t help, the crystal back in place before the dust began to settle.

  “… kill…” the man said.

  Hiral reached his own hands in—not relying on the Edicts this time—to haul the man out of the crystal, only to find himself standing back where he’d started. And, the man, of course, once again encased in his tomb.

  “… me,” the Avatar finished his next sentence as Hiral threw finesse out the window, simply blasting the crystal off the man with a tidal wave of energy. This time, crystal crashed against the far wall with enough force to embed in the stone.

  It didn’t make a difference. The tomb stood pristine and untouched before Hiral could take a step in the Avatar of Time’s direction. Even with his Rune of Eclipse, it wasn’t enough to supersede the Edict of Time.

  But, of course it wasn’t. Eclipse could tip the odds in his favor, but it didn’t let him completely change what another Edict could or would do. He couldn’t use it to make Gravity mimic Energy, for example.

  … did he need to supersede though? What if, instead, he just tried to wedge the Edict of Time open? Just long enough to slip his own runes inside and hold it long enough for him to get the man out.

  That could…

  “Hiral!” Seena said. “They’re about to break through. With the resets, we can’t stop them. Do whatever it is now, unless you want us fighting on your head.”

  The crash directly above him proved just how true Seena’s words were, so Hiral didn’t bother responding, and instead threw his effort into one final push. This had to work.

  Blasting the crystal aside for the umpteenth time, Hiral poured energy into his Runes of Eclipse, Time Dilation, and Time Contraction, then along with Separation, placed them all in that space he’d just opened with his power. Connection built a bridge between him and the Avatar, and just like that, the rumbling all around him stopped.

  “You must kill me…” the man said in that pause, the two of them staring directly at each other.

  On one side, Hiral floated in his pseudo-aspect, white energy flaking off his body, black lightning arcing along his limbs, with a crown of sunlit glory on his head—the epitome of power. Opposite him, ragged, bleeding, and broken, the haggard Avatar of Time stayed upright through only the crystal bindings that held him fast. In him, there was no power, only suffering.

  He’d been trapped like that even longer than the Eidolons had, and Hiral could see it in his eyes. Feel it in the faint energy circling him. Hear it on a broken, offkey Chord. The man wasn’t telling Hiral to kill him because it was what needed to be done to save Genesis. He may not even have realized how his power was being used. He just wanted it to end. The pain. The torture. The eternal moment he could never escape.

  In that moment of eye contact, Hiral saw he could never save the Avatar of Time. After twenty-four cycles—tens or hundreds of thousands of years—there was nothing left to save. It took everything the man had just to say those few words. Like they were all he had repeated over, and over, and over again.

  And, maybe he had, if he was anything like the Black Gates. In all times at once, seeing his own future as he experienced the constant torment.

  After all that, the only thing Hiral could offer him was an end.

  Reality came rushing back in as the time runes and Edict lost their grip on the pause, the crystal once again forming around the Avatar. Above, the ceiling finally shattered, a huge, crystal fist punching through, before a second reached into the join in. Claws twisting and grabbing at the stone, those two, powerful limbs worked on ripping the ground up enough the Raze could come in. Through the small space between the hands, an Endless slipped through, only for a speeding pair of blue wings carrying a certain double to hit it from the side. More crashes signalled where Left had delayed the Endless by grinding it along the ground—likely face-first—but more would come.

  At Hiral’s back, the Edict Avatars agreed with Hiral’s assessment of the situation. As much as they wished their brother could join them, his full transformation had been prevented. He was an Avatar, but not like the others. He was trapped in a human body, with all the frailties and pains that came with it. And, thanks to his own power, that would never change. He was trapped in that moment, locked in an endless cycle, just like Genesis was.

  Somehow, the Raze had turned the Avatar of Time’s own power in on himself, while at the same hijacking it for their own purposes.

  Another crime to add to the list.

  “Hiral!” Seena reminded him, another breach in the ceiling above, where a second Raze forced its way through. As soon as it came, the whole ceiling seemed to collapse, crystal giants and his raid party falling through mid-fight. At most, Hiral only had seconds before the battle would be joined all around him.

  He only needed one.

  Power exploded off him as Separation shredded the crystal tomb, exposing the Avatar of Time for all to see. Huge, crystal arms stretched from the Raze—like they could somehow reach Hiral to stop him—while his allies glanced in his direction.

  Before, the reset effect had been enough to stop Hiral from rescuing the man inside the crystal. But, Hiral wasn’t trying to rescue anymore. He wasn’t trying to play within the rules of Time, by extending the Avatar’s life. No, now, he was leaning heavily on another rune. The first one he’d ever gotten. The one that’d started it all.

  And the one that would end it here.

  Forged as part of a six-foot-long blade of infinite black, edged in holy-white energy, the Seeker’s Unmaking thrust through the Avatar’s heart focused entirely on one brief concept. Separation.

  Now, as Hiral held the eyes of the Avatar, the crystal didn’t immediately return, because Hiral had Separated his life from his power. Because he’d severed the chain that’d shackled him—and Genesis—to this world. The Avatar’s power and life had been inextricably linked, locked together forever. As long as they remained connected, they would remain eternal. The power of time would make it so the Avatar could not die, while his life ensured the power continued.

  Unless, something just as powerful as what they represented got inserted between them. Which is exactly what Hiral did, adding Gravity on instinct to the mix. Powered by the purity of the Edict itself in its desire to free the man from his prison, along with Hiral’s own S-Rank power, something new happened between seconds.

  A singularity formed.

  Time and space lost all meaning.

  The holds of the Edicts and the Raze on the Avatar faltered.

  The man’s eyes widened in understanding, while a smile crossed his lips.

  The Raze shouted in impotent fury, desperate to stop what they knew came next.

  Not that it mattered; it was already done.

  Hiral had killed Time.

  Wanna Support Rune Seeker? Check out the Ebook and Audio Here! Thanks for your support:

  Amazon:

  Audible:

  Rune Seeker, Vol. 1 by J.M. Clarke, C.J. Thompson, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble?

  Rune Seeker (book 1) Book By Jm Clarke,cj Thompson, (Hardcover) | Indigo

  If you wanna chat about the book? Come to discord!

  If you're already on that discord? Go to "Get Roles" and you can get Rune Seeker updates, if you want :)

  Note my patreon does not have Rune Seeker chapters.