Kael couldn't move.
The image of the other Kael remained burned into his mind.
You finally came back.
Those words echoed again and again.
"Kael!"
Lyra's voice pulled him back.
He looked around.
The battlefield had changed.
The Architects had stopped fighting.
The Devourers had stopped attacking.
Even Veyrath stood motionless.
Everyone was watching him.
Kael looked at Aetherion.
"You knew."
Aetherion remained silent.
"You knew I had another life."
"I knew there were memories inside the Core."
"That's not what I asked."
Kael's voice became colder.
"Who was I?"
Aetherion finally answered.
"Someone the universe tried to erase."
A strange silence followed.
Nox's voice suddenly appeared across the battlefield.
"Aetherion."
Aetherion's expression hardened.
"You promised you would never tell him."
Kael looked toward the crimson sky.
"You two know each other."
Nox answered.
"We knew you."
Kael's heart skipped.
"Me?"
"Before you became Kael."
The Last Core pulsed.
A fragment of white light floated from Kael's chest.
Inside it appeared another memory.
A massive throne room.
Seven Thrones stood in a circle.
The Architects were present.
Nox stood among them.
And at the center...
A young man stood before the Last Core.
It was Kael.
But he wasn't seventeen.
He looked older.
Stronger.
His eyes carried a sadness Kael had never experienced.
One of the Architects spoke.
"The experiment has failed."
The older Kael looked toward them.
"I won't let you destroy them."
Another Architect raised its hand.
"You were created to open the Door."
The older Kael shook his head.
"I was created to protect them."
The vision suddenly became chaotic.
Seven Thrones unleashed their power.
Nox attacked.
Aetherion appeared beside the older Kael.
Then everything went white.
The memory ended.
Kael stared at the empty space before him.
"What happened?"
Aetherion answered quietly.
"You fought the Architects."
"And lost."
Kael looked at his hands.
"What did I do?"
"You made a choice."
"What choice?"
Aetherion hesitated.
"You erased yourself."
Kael's eyes widened.
"You erased your own memories, your power, and your existence from the records of the universe."
"Why?"
Aetherion looked toward the crack in reality.
"Because you discovered what was behind the Door."
Kael swallowed.
"And what was it?"
Before Aetherion could answer—
The enormous eye beyond reality moved.
The crack widened.
A voice entered every mind.
"Enough remembering."
The battlefield shook violently.
The Last Core began cracking again.
Kael screamed as energy erupted from his body.
Aetherion shouted.
"Kael! Don't let it open!"
Kael looked at the crack.
Then at the mysterious world beyond it.
The other version of himself was still standing there.
Still waiting.
Still smiling.
Kael slowly raised his hand.
"If that is really me..."
His eyes hardened.
"...then I'm going to find out why I erased myself."
The Last Core suddenly stopped cracking.
The entire universe fell silent.
Then—
A second voice came from beyond the Door.
Not the creature.
Not the other Kael.
Something else.
Something familiar.
"Because you were afraid of what you would become."
Kael's blood ran cold.
The voice belonged to him.