The Verge was breathing now.
Not metaphorically — literally.
The ground pulsed with a slow, terrible rhythm, like a slumbering giant underfoot. Every time it exhaled, the air shimmered with frost. Every inhale drew birds from the sky, as if time was being pulled backward.
Selira and I stood on a blackened ridge, looking down into the ravine.
Below us lay the ruins.
Half-buried in obsidian and ash, carved with spiraling glyphs, the remnants of a temple older than the prophecy itself.
And right at its center, like a sealed wound in the world—
The Dead God's Door.
No hinges.
No seams.
Just a flat slab of silver-veined stone with a single bloody handprint scorched into the middle.
Selira whispered, "So… that's it?"
I nodded slowly. "That's it."
"I was hoping it would look less... cursed."
I almost laughed. "Yeah. Me too."
We climbed down slowly, the Bone Legion forming a perimeter around the ravine's edge.
Every step down the slope made my head heavier — like the air thickened with old memories.
Then, as I neared the door…
I felt it.
A voice.
Not heard.
Felt.
Right behind my eyes, soft as a mother's lullaby and sharp as a blade in the gut.
"Kael…"
I froze.
Selira turned. "What?"
"You didn't hear that?"
"Hear what?"
The voice came again — louder.
"Kael… blood of broken prophecy… you are early."
The system chimed.
⚠️ [Ancient Entity Detected]
Identity: [REDACTED]
Status: Dormant, Interfacing
Risk Tier: —
Warning: You are attempting to communicate with a pre-system being. Proceed with caution.
Selira grabbed my arm. "Tell me you're not going to open that."
"I have to."
"Why?!" she snapped. "Every book says you don't open the dead god's door!"
"I don't need a book," I said. "I need the truth."
I stepped forward and placed my palm against the bloody print.
The door didn't open.
It didn't swing.
It sank.
Into the stone.
Like it was never meant to open for anyone who hadn't died first.
My blood began to glow.
And then—
Everything shattered.
The world didn't fade.
It fractured.
Like a mirror hit by a whisper.
The moment my palm touched the bloody handprint, the Verge vanished — the wind, the fog, the earth beneath my feet — gone in a blink.
Then… nothing.
Then…
Everything.
I opened my eyes inside a cathedral made of bones.
A hundred thousand skulls lined the walls like bricks. Spines coiled around pillars like serpents. Floating above me, where a ceiling should be, was a writhing storm of eyes — blinking in patterns I couldn't understand.
At the center of the chamber stood a single throne, carved from crystal and anchored by chains of starlight.
And on that throne sat—
A corpse.
Dressed in robes of living shadow. Crowned with silence. Skin made of shifting glass.
The Dead God.
Not a title.
A fact.
He had no heartbeat. No breath. No motion.
And yet I felt him watching.
⚠️ [System Stability Compromised]
You have entered a Nullspace. System interference blocked.
Fate tracking: OFFLINE
Death penalties: NEGATED
Memory locks: WEAKENED
Proceed at your own risk.
The moment that last line appeared, the memories hit.
Visions not just from Lucien's past… but from mine.Kael's real past. The one even I had forgotten.
I saw myself… in a white room. Machines. Experiments. A voice saying: "He's stable. Inject the Echo." A shadow on a screen calling me: "Prototype 7."
I fell to my knees.
What the hell was that?!
"You're remembering," said a voice like iron rain.
The corpse on the throne hadn't moved.
But the voice poured into my head anyway.
"You are the crack in the prophecy," it said. "The error the system tried to bury."
I struggled to speak.
"W-Why… me?"
"Because you do not belong here," it replied. "And yet you remain."
Suddenly, the chains holding the throne tightened.
The skulls on the walls began to chant — not with mouths, but with echoes.
"WHO AM I?""WHO AM I?""WHO AM I?"
I gritted my teeth.
"Stop it!"
The God's corpse turned its head — just barely.
"Break the loop," it whispered. "Or become the next seal."
And then something ripped open behind me.
Not a door.
A wound.
Light poured through — red, gold, silver, and black.
I turned to see—
Theren.
Covered in ancient runes, eyes glowing with stolen knowledge, and a grin too wide for any human mouth.
"You got here first," he said. "Impressive."
"How?"
"Oh, I cheated," he said, stepping inside the Nullspace like he owned it. "Turns out you're not the only one the system betrayed."
He looked around, nodding slowly.
"This place is… nostalgic. Don't you think?"
He drew his sword.
"But only one of us gets to walk out with the key."
[Unsealed Combat Zone Initiated]
Duel Type: Memorylock
Winner gains access to Dead God's DomainLoser becomes anchor for the next cycle
Theren pointed his blade at me, smiling like death wore perfume.
"Well, Kael…""Let's see which of us deserves to exist."
I didn't wait.
The moment the system declared the duel, I moved.
Vowbreaker sang through the air — striking sparks as it clashed against Theren's blade, which looked thinner than mine but moved like lightning made solid.
The force of our first impact cracked the floor beneath us.
We didn't fight like nobles.
We fought like we knew each other's pain.
Like brothers trained on the same battlefield — only to take opposite paths.
"You always wanted the spotlight," I snarled, driving my weight into the next swing.
Theren grinned, deflecting it with a flick. "And you always wanted to hide."
Steel met steel again.
"But here you are," he hissed, "pretending you're the villain when all you ever wanted was to be the hero."
I grabbed his wrist mid-strike.
"Then why are you trying so hard to be me?"
His grin cracked — for just a second.
Long enough for me to land a savage knee to his ribs.
He stumbled, then vanished in a puff of red light.
He reappeared behind me.
Classic Seraphis tactic.
I spun and parried, but too late — his blade cut across my back.
Pain flared white-hot.
The system pulsed.
⚠️ [Wound Detected: Temporal Scar]
Status: Ongoing memory disruption possible.
"Little gift from the Shardwatcher," he whispered. "Cuts through time, not just flesh."
He lunged again.
This time, I caught him mid-swing and shouted:
[Skill Activated – Soul Anchor: Echo Reversal]
A pulse of silver erupted from Vowbreaker.
Time didn't stop — it just twisted.
Our positions reversed.
Suddenly he was the one mid-air, vulnerable, and I was grounded, blade aimed for his heart.
My blade pierced his shoulder, and the system screamed.
[Direct Hit]
Rival Phase Stability: 74% → 51%
Interference Level: RISING
He staggered back, coughing blood — but laughing again.
"You think this ends here?" he said, his voice shaking. "You think this is about you and me?"
He raised his hand.
And something answered.
The cathedral trembled.
The Dead God's corpse slowly stood.
Chains melted. The walls cracked.
Skulls burst into flame.
The sky above turned black — not from darkness, but from presence.
Like something enormous had just leaned down from beyond the veil.
Theren dropped to one knee.
He wasn't summoning it.
He was offering himself to it.
⚠️ [New Entity Awakening]
Codename: SHARDWATCHER
Class: Root-Level Pre-System
Risk: TERMINAL
Attention: You are no longer the primary player in this phase.
Theren turned his bloodied face toward me — eyes glowing gold.
"You wanted answers?" he said, smiling wide. "Then kneel, cousin…"
A second voice, inhuman and massive, echoed from the cathedral's heart.
"Or be unmade."