The world reset.
The gates.The crown.The cheers.
But something was wrong.
This time… the sky wasn't blue.
---
A faint line stretched across it, jagged and white,like a vein running through glass.
I tilted my head back, and more cracks spread outward.Thin at first, then thicker, webbing across the heavens.
The sky wasn't the sky at all.It was a shell.
And it was breaking.
---
The crowd didn't notice.Their hands clapped, their mouths shouted, their smiles held.
But their voices sounded off.
Too loud.Too distorted.Like echoes bouncing in an empty room.
---
The baker's eyes rolled back for half a second before snapping into place again.The soldier's head jerked, his line stuttering in the middle.The priestess's lips quivered, whispering something beneath her script.
And the mage…
He was staring at me.Not smiling.Not speaking.Just staring.
---
"Hero!" the knight bellowed, breaking the moment."Your destiny awaits!"
His voice cracked like thunder, but not with strength.It cracked like glass.
And the sound echoed into the sky above,splitting another fracture through the shell.
---
The cheering faltered.
For the first time, the crowd hesitated.
Their smiles twitched,their eyes darted,and then—
They all froze.
Every single one.Motionless.Mouths wide open mid-cheer.
---
The silence pressed against my ears.
Then the sky screamed.
A shriek of tearing glass, deafening and endless,as a piece of the heavens fell away.
Behind it was no sun.No stars.No sky.
Only darkness.
---
The crowd twitched in unison.
Their mouths opened wider,wider than a human jaw should.
And their voices spilled out all at once,a chorus of broken whispers layered together:
"Don't… break… it…"
---
I staggered back, clutching my sword.
The priestess's face twitched,her tears cutting through her smile.Her whisper brushed against me like a prayer.
"Please… stop…"
---
Then—snap.
The sky mended.The crowd roared.The world reset mid-breath.
As if nothing had happened.
---
But I knew.
I had seen it.
The sky wasn't the limit.It was a wall.
And something beyond that wall did not want me to break through.