The moment I became terrified of myself,everything inside me started collapsing.
Not physically.
Something far deeper than flesh or blood.
Something human.
The synchronization beneath my skin pulsed violently again,sending unbearable waves of pain tearing through every nerve in my body while silver fractures spread slowly across my arms,neck,and chest like glowing cracks destroying me from the inside.
Each pulse felt alive.
Like something ancient buried inside my soul had finally begun waking up.
But the pain barely mattered anymore.
Because one sentence kept echoing inside my head over and over again like a curse that refused to die.
You were chosen to open it.
Not close it.
Not seal it.
Not destroy it.
Open it.
The realization wrapped around my chest so tightly I could barely breathe.
My heartbeat became uneven while cold spread slowly through my entire body.The ruins around us continued trembling beneath the pressure leaking from the Final Door.Massive cracks tore through the black stone ground while broken pillars collapsed endlessly into the abyss surrounding the ruins.
The world itself looked unstable now.
Like reality had reached its breaking point.
And still…
That thing kept watching me.
Patiently.
Silently.
Like it already knew resistance was meaningless.
Faye stood directly in front of me now,almost shielding me from the entity despite the fear visible in her trembling body.Her silver eyes searched mine desperately,trying to pull me back before I disappeared completely into whatever darkness was consuming my mind.
"Kael,"she whispered softly,"look at me."
Her voice sounded fragile.
Not weak.
Fragile.
Like she was terrified I might stop recognizing her if she lost my attention for even a second.
I tried to focus on her face.
God,I tried.
But my thoughts felt shattered now.
Broken apart by visions,memories,and truths far too enormous for my mind to fully survive.
The synchronization pulsed again.
A violent tremor shook the ruins hard enough to nearly throw us off balance.
The Final Door groaned so loudly it sounded alive.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Then—
Another chain snapped.
The sound exploded across the horizon like reality screaming in agony.
The opening widened further.
More darkness poured through instantly.
Not ordinary darkness.
This darkness erased existence itself.
The broken stone beneath it disappeared soundlessly.Light vanished after touching it.Even the freezing air surrounding the ruins seemed consumed by the endless void leaking through the Door.
And this time…
The entity stepped closer.
Its upper body slowly emerged from the darkness,and the moment it did,the world around us distorted violently.Black fractures spread through space itself while reality bent unnaturally around its form.
Parts of the ruins simply vanished after touching the darkness surrounding it.
Not destroyed.
Not burned.
Erased completely.
Like they had never existed at all.
Faye instinctively stepped backward beside me,her breathing becoming sharper with panic.
"Oh my God…"
Even now,the entity remained calm.
Its movements looked almost graceful despite the horror surrounding it.Endless darkness flowed across its body like liquid shadow while those impossible eyes remained locked on me without blinking.
Watching.
Waiting.
Recognizing me.
And somehow…
That was the most terrifying part.
The synchronization inside me suddenly screamed violently.
RUN.
Pain exploded through my skull instantly.
I dropped to one knee while another vision slammed brutally into my consciousness before I could resist it.
This time,the memory felt different.
Older.
Heavier.
And infinitely sadder.
Suddenly,I stood inside an enormous chamber built entirely from black stone.The ceiling stretched endlessly upward into darkness while silver symbols glowed faintly across the ancient walls around me.
The air smelled like blood.
And death.
At the center of the chamber stood the First Keeper.
But he looked nothing like the powerful figure I imagined before.
He looked destroyed.
His silver fractures covered nearly his entire body now,glowing violently beneath pale broken skin.Blood dripped slowly from his fingertips onto the cracked floor while exhaustion hollowed out his face completely.
His eyes looked dead.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like he had already seen the end of existence and failed to stop it.
And in front of him—
The Final Gate.
Massive.
Ancient.
Terrifying beyond comprehension.
Thousands of chains wrapped around its colossal structure while black mist leaked endlessly through the cracks spreading slowly across its surface.The silver symbols carved into the Gate flickered weakly now like dying stars moments before extinction.
The seal was failing.
The First Keeper stared at the Gate with tears burning in his eyes.
Not ordinary tears.
The kind people cry when they realize hope no longer exists.
A voice suddenly echoed behind him.
"Keeper."
The First Keeper slowly turned around.
Several other keepers stood near the entrance of the chamber.Their faces looked terrified,but also exhausted.Like they had been fighting this war for longer than human minds were meant to endure.
One of them stepped forward carefully.
"The Gate is destabilizing faster,"he whispered weakly."Synchronization is failing."
Another keeper looked toward the colossal structure with visible horror trembling across his face.
"If the seal breaks completely…"
He couldn't even finish the sentence.
Because they all already knew what would happen.
The First Keeper slowly lowered his head.
"I know."
Silence filled the chamber.
Heavy.
Painful.
Hopeless.
Then one of the younger keepers finally asked the question none of them truly wanted answered.
"What's beyond the Gate?"
The moment those words were spoken,the atmosphere inside the chamber changed instantly.
Fear spread across every face.
Even the First Keeper looked shaken.
For several long seconds,he said nothing.
Then finally—
His voice cracked.
"Something that should never have existed."
Cold spread violently through my entire body.
The vision pulled me closer automatically.
The First Keeper slowly approached the Gate while the chains surrounding it rattled violently beneath invisible pressure.
"I thought the abyss was the beginning,"he whispered painfully."I thought synchronization could contain it."
His trembling hand touched one of the glowing chains.
"I was wrong."
Suddenly—
The Gate pulsed violently.
The chamber shook.
Several keepers stumbled backward in panic while enormous black fractures spread across the walls and ceiling.
And then—
Those eyes opened inside the darkness beyond the Gate.
Every keeper froze instantly.
One of them collapsed to his knees immediately,unable to even breathe beneath the pressure pouring from the opening.
The First Keeper himself staggered backward in horror.
Not because the entity attacked.
Because it looked at him.
The entity remained motionless behind the darkness.
Watching.
Silent.
Ancient beyond comprehension.
And then softly…
Almost gently…
It spoke.
"Synchronization was never meant to imprison me."
The First Keeper's breathing became uneven.
"Then…what was it created for?"
The entity answered immediately.
"To prepare the successor."
My heart nearly stopped.
The First Keeper looked shattered after hearing those words.
Like some terrible truth had finally destroyed whatever hope he still carried inside himself.
One of the keepers behind him whispered desperately:
"What does that mean?"
The entity's eyes slowly shifted toward them.
And for the first time—
I felt something inside its gaze.
Not hatred.
Not anger.
Pity.
"The final successor will finish what the first began."
The Gate trembled violently again.
Chains began snapping one after another.
The younger keeper suddenly shouted in panic:
"Seal it again!Now!"
But the First Keeper didn't move.
He simply stared at the entity behind the darkness while tears rolled slowly down his face.
Because deep down…
He already understood the truth.
This war was never meant to end.
It was only waiting.
Waiting for the right moment.
Waiting for the right successor.
Waiting for me.
The vision shattered violently.
I returned to reality gasping for air while pain ripped through every nerve inside my body.The ruins around us continued collapsing while darkness spread farther through the world beyond the Door.
Faye immediately grabbed my face.
"Kael!Talk to me!"
Her voice trembled now.
Not just from fear.
From desperation.
I looked at her silently,but honestly…
I barely recognized myself anymore.
Because after everything I had just seen…
I finally understood why the synchronization chose me.
Why the Door reacted to my presence.
Why the entity knew my name before we even met.
None of this was coincidence.
I was born for this.
And somehow…
That truth felt worse than death itself.
Behind us,the entity slowly stepped closer to the edge of the opening again.
The darkness surrounding its body spread farther across the ruins while reality distorted violently around every movement it made.
Then softly…
Almost gently…
It spoke my name again.
"Kael."
And this time…
I heard something terrifying hidden beneath its voice.
Relief.