Kael slowly turned around.
Something was standing behind him.
He couldn't see its face.
Only two enormous eyes.
They were not white.
They were not black.
They contained every color Kael had ever seen.
Creation.
Destruction.
Transformation.
And something beyond them.
Kael took a step backward.
"Who are you?"
The figure didn't answer.
Eryx moved beside Kael.
"Is that the thing the creature was talking about?"
The third piece of Eryx stared at it.
"I know that feeling."
Kael looked at him.
"You do?"
The child nodded.
"It was there before we were separated."
Kael's eyes widened.
Before they were separated?
Before the laboratory?
Before the Origin?
The mysterious figure finally moved.
One step.
The space around it disappeared.
Not destroyed.
Not transformed.
Simply removed.
Kael immediately understood.
It possessed the same strange power he had discovered during the Final Evaluation.
The fourth force.
The force beyond creation, destruction, and transformation.
Kael raised his hand.
The fourth force appeared around his fingers.
The figure stopped.
For the first time, it reacted.
It stepped backward.
Kael stared.
"You're afraid of me."
The figure tilted its head.
Then it spoke.
Its voice sounded like Kael's.
But older.
Much older.
"Not afraid."
Kael's heart began beating faster.
"Remembering."
A sudden pain exploded inside Kael's head.
He dropped to one knee.
Images flooded his mind.
There was no universe.
No stars.
No darkness.
No time.
Nothing.
And Kael was there.
Alone.
He was standing beside something enormous.
A presence without a shape.
Kael heard himself speaking.
"I don't want to be alone anymore."
The presence answered.
"Then create."
Kael raised his hand.
A single point of light appeared.
The first star.
Kael watched it grow.
Then another appeared.
Then another.
Soon there were billions.
A universe was born.
Kael watched in silence.
Then he saw something else.
Aetherion.
The Origin.
The Firstborn.
The first version of Eryx.
All of them came after.
Kael's eyes widened.
"No…"
The memory continued.
Kael saw himself splitting his own existence.
One half became creation.
One half became destruction.
And the remaining part became transformation.
Then he created Eryx.
But something went wrong.
The three forces began fighting against each other.
The universe started collapsing.
Kael tried to fix it.
He failed.
So he created the Origin.
Kael watched the enormous being awaken.
It immediately began creating worlds.
But it couldn't understand one thing.
Choice.
The memory shifted.
Kael saw himself standing before the Origin.
"You can create anything."
The Origin looked at him.
"Then why can't I choose?"
Kael didn't answer.
Because he already knew.
The Origin had inherited his power.
But not his freedom.
Kael then split himself again.
One piece became Eryx.
Another became the third piece.
And the final piece—
Kael's eyes widened.
"The Star Eater…"
The memory showed it.
Kael had deliberately placed part of himself inside the Last Core.
He had forgotten.
Not because someone erased his memories.
Because he had erased them himself.
He had wanted his future self to discover the truth naturally.
The memory ended.
Kael returned to reality.
He was breathing heavily.
Eryx grabbed his shoulder.
"What did you see?"
Kael looked at him.
"I remember."
"Remember what?"
Kael looked toward the figure.
"I was here before everything."
Silence.
The creature that had been attacking them suddenly lowered its hand.
The thousands of voices inside it became quiet.
The mysterious figure walked toward Kael.
Kael didn't move.
It stopped directly in front of him.
Then it reached out.
Its hand touched Kael's chest.
The Last Core opened.
And Kael felt something enter him.
Not energy.
Not power.
A memory.
A single sentence.
"You created the first universe because you were afraid of being alone."
Kael's eyes widened.
The figure continued.
"And you created Eryx because you wanted someone who would stay."
Kael looked at Eryx.
His brother stared back.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Kael smiled.
A small smile.
"Then I guess I finally understand."
Eryx frowned.
"Understand what?"
"Why I've been fighting so hard."
Kael looked around.
At the endless darkness.
At the broken experiment.
At the creatures created to control him.
At the remnants of the universes.
"I wasn't trying to become stronger."
Eryx stared.
"I was trying to go home."
The third piece slowly walked toward them.
"Then let's go home."
Kael looked at him.
For the first time, he didn't see a separate piece.
He saw his brother.
All of him.
The three pieces began glowing.
White.
Black.
Silver.
Then the fourth force appeared.
The four energies connected.
The darkness shook.
The mysterious figure stepped backward.
The creature screamed.
The entire space began collapsing.
Kael looked around.
"What is happening?"
Aetherion finally spoke.
"The experiment is ending."
Kael frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The space outside creation cannot contain you anymore."
Kael looked at his hands.
The fourth force was spreading through his body.
"Then where do we go?"
Aetherion paused.
"Somewhere you have never been."
Suddenly, a doorway appeared.
There was no light behind it.
No darkness.
Only an empty horizon.
Kael stepped toward it.
Eryx followed.
The third piece followed them.
But before Kael entered, the mysterious figure spoke.
"Kael."
He stopped.
"What?"
The figure looked at him.
"When you reach the end…"
Its eyes began glowing.
"…you will meet the first version of yourself."
Kael stared.
"The first version?"
The figure nodded.
"And he doesn't want you to exist."
Kael's expression hardened.
"Why?"
The figure smiled.
"Because he remembers what you did to him."
The doorway suddenly pulled Kael forward.
Eryx grabbed him.
The third piece grabbed Eryx.
All three disappeared into the doorway.
The darkness closed behind them.
For a moment, everything was silent.
Then the mysterious figure looked toward the creature.
"It's happening."
The creature asked:
"What is?"
The figure looked toward the place where Kael disappeared.
"The return."
Far beyond the doorway…
Kael opened his eyes.
He was standing on a planet.
A familiar planet.
A planet he had never visited.
Yet somehow…
he remembered it.
He looked toward the horizon.
A young boy was standing there.
The boy turned around.
Kael froze.
The boy had his face.
His eyes.
His voice.
But unlike Kael…
this version looked completely human.
The boy smiled.
"You finally came back."
Kael couldn't speak.
The boy raised his hand.
And behind him…
the first universe began forming.
TO BE CONTINUED...