The underground city remained frozen after the smiling figure's confession.
"I found it... already open."
Those words echoed through the prison far longer than any bell. Even the silver chains wrapped around the widening crack seemed to hesitate, their ancient runes flickering uncertainly as though the prison itself struggled to accept what it had just heard. Below, rivers of crystal light continued flowing through the vast metropolis, reflecting against elegant towers and broken bridges that stretched across the abyss like fractured veins. Yet the city no longer felt merely wounded.
It felt betrayed.
Kael slowly looked toward the smiling figure.
Until now, every recovered memory had pointed toward the fourth brother as the one responsible for the world's destruction. Every story had led to the same conclusion—that he had opened the Door in a desperate attempt to save everyone. The memories, the guilt carried by the First Son, the regret hidden within the Sleeper's silence... everything seemed to support that belief.
Now, with a single sentence, the foundation of that history had cracked.
The First Son broke the silence.
"No."
His voice remained calm, but the single word carried enough weight to shake the observation platform.
"You told us you opened it."
The smiling figure slowly nodded.
"I did."
The answer only deepened the confusion.
Kael frowned.
"You just said you found it open."
"I did."
The smiling figure's expression remained gentle.
"And then..."
Its gaze drifted toward the endless darkness beyond the crack.
"...I opened it wider."
The underground city fell silent again.
The distinction settled heavily over everyone present.
The fourth brother hadn't created the catastrophe.
He had made it worse.
The First Son closed his eyes for a long moment before letting out a slow breath.
"So that was your lie."
The smiling figure smiled sadly.
"My first one."
The stranger looked down at the ancient book resting beneath his arm. His fingers tightened around the worn leather cover while countless emotions crossed his face one after another.
"You carried that alone..."
The smiling figure laughed quietly.
"I thought it would be easier if everyone hated me."
Nobody answered.
Because the logic made terrible sense.
If history believed one man had destroyed the world...
Then nobody would spend eternity searching for a greater horror.
Kael slowly turned toward the enormous black eyes watching from beyond the crack.
They remained completely motionless.
Patient.
Unchanging.
The feeling they produced hadn't weakened.
If anything, it had grown heavier.
Simply looking toward them filled his chest with an instinctive desire to flee.
The Sleeper finally spoke.
"The first lie became the first history."
Its quiet voice echoed gently throughout the prison.
"Every generation inherited it."
Silver light spread beneath the Sleeper's feet as it walked across the observation platform. Wherever the ancient being stepped, broken stone repaired itself and faded carvings regained their original brilliance. Delicate vines of silver crystal emerged between the cracks before blooming into flowers that resembled tiny bells. The transformation wasn't dramatic.
It was beautiful.
The prison wasn't simply repairing itself.
It was remembering what it had once been.
The Sleeper stopped beside Kael.
"It was necessary."
Kael looked toward the ancient being.
"Necessary?"
The Sleeper nodded.
"If the truth had survived..."
Its golden eyes lifted toward the endless darkness beyond the Door.
"...someone would have tried to find it."
Aren slowly folded his arms.
"I'm starting to think ancient people solved every problem by hiding the truth."
The First Son looked at him.
"We did."
The answer came so quickly that Aren blinked twice.
"You really did?"
"We weren't proud of it."
The ancient warrior looked toward the city below.
"But every truth carries a cost."
The conversation was interrupted by another low vibration rolling through the cavern.
This time the sound didn't come from the prison.
It came from beyond reality.
The two black eyes remained fixed upon the underground city while the darkness surrounding them slowly began to move. Vast currents rippled through the void like invisible tides, carrying fragments of broken worlds past the crack. Mountains drifted by upside down. Shattered moons rotated silently through endless darkness. Entire oceans floated as glittering spheres before dissolving into silver mist.
The scale defied imagination.
Kael had never considered that worlds could become debris.
Yet beyond the Door...
They floated like fallen leaves carried by a river.
The smiling figure watched them with quiet sorrow.
"They've been drifting for a very long time."
Kael couldn't take his eyes off the shattered worlds.
"How many?"
The smiling figure remained silent for several moments.
Then answered honestly.
"I stopped counting."
The words struck harder than expected.
Not hundreds.
Not thousands.
So many that counting had become meaningless.
The black mark beneath Kael's skin suddenly pulsed with unusual warmth.
Unlike previous awakenings, this memory arrived slowly, almost reluctantly, as though the past itself feared being remembered.
He stood inside an enormous observatory unlike anything he had seen before. The circular chamber possessed no roof, allowing the night sky to stretch endlessly overhead. Massive rings of silver metal revolved around the platform's center while countless crystals floated between them, each projecting moving images of distant stars.
The fourth brother stood alone.
His usual smile was nowhere to be seen.
Dark circles rested beneath his eyes.
Stacks of scrolls surrounded him.
Half-finished calculations covered the marble floor.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
Kael's ancient self quietly approached.
"You haven't slept."
The fourth brother didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he pointed toward the floating image of a distant constellation.
One star disappeared.
Then another.
Then five more.
"They're dying."
His voice sounded almost hollow.
"Our neighbors."
The memory-version of Kael frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
The fourth brother turned toward him.
There were tears in his eyes.
"I thought the stars were stars."
His voice trembled.
"They're worlds."
Silence followed.
The observatory continued rotating beneath the night sky.
The fourth brother looked upward again.
"They've been disappearing for centuries."
Another star vanished.
Then another.
"We were simply too busy looking at ourselves to notice."
The memory dissolved.
Reality returned.
Kael staggered slightly.
His breathing had become uneven.
He finally understood why the fourth brother had searched for the Door.
Not out of curiosity.
Not out of ambition.
He had believed another civilization needed help.
He had believed someone beyond the Door was calling for salvation.
Instead...
He had answered the wrong voice.
Far beyond the crack, the two black eyes blinked once.
The prison shook violently.
Ancient bells rang throughout the underground city with desperate urgency.
The smiling figure slowly closed its eyes.
Then it whispered a sentence that made every ancient being present stiffen.
"It knows..."
The First Son immediately looked toward him.
"What?"
The smiling figure slowly opened its eyes again.
"It knows..."
A faint crack spread across the silver floor beneath everyone's feet.
"...that he is remembering."
Its gaze settled on Kael.
"And now..."
The smile disappeared completely.
"...it will start remembering him too."