The moment those words echoed through the ruins,my chest tightened so violently I could barely breathe.
You finally understand now.
The entity's voice wasn't cruel.
That was the worst part.
It sounded calm.Patient.Almost gentle.
Like it had been waiting for this moment longer than time itself.
The black mist continued spreading slowly across the ruins,swallowing broken pillars,collapsed stairways,and ancient stone beneath unnatural darkness.The sky above us no longer resembled a real sky anymore.Enormous black fractures stretched endlessly through the heavens while distant thunder echoed from somewhere beyond reality itself.
Every few seconds,the ground trembled beneath our feet.
Not small tremors.
Violent ones.
The kind that made entire sections of the ruins collapse into the abyss surrounding us.
And still…
That thing kept watching me.
Not Faye.
Not the world around us.
Me.
Faye slowly stepped in front of me despite the fear written all over her face.Her breathing remained uneven while strands of silver hair danced violently in the cold wind surrounding the Door.
"Don't listen to it,"she whispered quickly."Kael,you hear me?Don't let that thing inside your head."
Her voice trembled slightly.
But she still stood there protecting me.
Even now.
Even while reality itself was falling apart around us.
Something painful twisted inside my chest.
Because honestly…
I was starting to lose confidence in myself.
The synchronization beneath my skin pulsed violently again.
Silver light spread farther across my arms,slowly crawling beneath flesh like glowing cracks ready to split my body apart.The fractures along my neck burned hotter with every second while unbearable pressure crushed against my ribs hard enough to make breathing painful.
But what terrified me most wasn't the pain itself.
It was the feeling hidden beneath it.
Recognition.
Every time that entity looked at me,the synchronization reacted like it had finally found something it had been searching for since the beginning of existence itself.
And deep down…
I was beginning to understand why.
Another violent tremor shook the ruins.
A massive structure collapsed somewhere behind us with a deafening roar while the Door groaned louder than before.The chains wrapped around its surface rattled violently,silver symbols flickering chaotically like dying stars struggling against the darkness leaking through the opening.
Then suddenly—
Another chain snapped.
The sound exploded across the horizon like thunder.
The opening widened instantly.
Faye gasped softly beside me and instinctively stepped backward.
Because this time—
The entity's entire arm emerged from the darkness.
Reality distorted violently around it.
The air twisted unnaturally while black fractures spread through space itself wherever its hand moved.Entire pieces of the ruins vanished soundlessly after touching the darkness surrounding its body.
Not destroyed.
Not burned.
Erased completely.
Like they had never existed at all.
Fear crawled violently through my chest.
Because if that thing fully crossed the Door…
Nothing would survive.
Not humanity.
Not the world.
Not existence itself.
The synchronization screamed inside my mind again.
THE GATE MUST REMAIN CLOSED.
Pain exploded through my skull instantly.
I dropped to one knee while another vision slammed violently into my consciousness before I could resist it.
This time—
I saw myself.
My breathing stopped completely.
I stood inside an enormous black temple facing the Final Gate alone.Silver fractures covered my entire body while darkness moved violently around me like a living storm ready to consume everything.
The temple itself looked ancient beyond imagination.Massive pillars stretched endlessly into darkness while silver symbols covered every surface around me.The air felt heavy,almost dead,like this place existed outside reality itself.
And standing before me—
The entity.
Closer than ever before.
Its form remained unstable,almost impossible to fully understand.Sometimes it looked human.
Sometimes it looked like living darkness wearing human shape.
But its eyes never changed.
Cold.
Empty.
Infinite.
Then suddenly—
The version of me inside the vision spoke.
"What are you?"
My voice echoed weakly through the temple.
The entity tilted its head slowly.
And for the first time…
It smiled sadly.
Not cruelly.
Not maliciously.
Sadly.
"I am what remains when existence reaches its end."
My blood froze instantly.
The vision continued.
"You fear me because you call me emptiness,"the entity whispered softly."But I was born from something far worse."
The temple around us trembled violently.
Massive cracks spread across the floor while distant screams echoed somewhere beyond the darkness surrounding the Gate.
Then the entity looked directly at me.
Not the version inside the vision.
Me.
The real me.
And suddenly—
I realized this wasn't a memory.
It was showing me the future.
"You are the final successor,Kael,"it said quietly."The last Keeper."
The synchronization inside my body pulsed painfully.
"You were never chosen to destroy the Gate."
The darkness surrounding the entity spread slowly across the temple floor like living death.
"You were chosen to open it."
The vision shattered violently.
I returned to reality gasping for air while terror crushed against my chest so hard it almost stopped my heart.
Faye grabbed my shoulders immediately.
"Kael!What did you see?!"
I stared toward the Door silently.
Toward the entity slowly emerging from the darkness.
And honestly…
For the first time since all this began—
I was terrified of myself.