The observatory remained silent long after Elyra finished speaking.
The enormous celestial mechanisms overhead continued rotating slowly beneath the open night sky while golden symbols pulsed softly across the chamber walls. Vijaya's fragment still floated above the pedestal at the center of the room, radiating waves of faint sunlight-like energy throughout the temple.
But none of it mattered to Arin anymore.
Because his mind was still trapped inside the truth Elyra had revealed.
Different timelines.
Different worlds.
Different versions of himself dying endlessly beneath the System.
And among all of them—
only two had survived long enough to truly fight back.
The first Karna.
And him.
The realization should have terrified him more.
Instead, another thought slowly surfaced through the chaos inside his mind.
A memory.
No—
a realization hidden inside memory.
Arin's eyes narrowed slightly afterward while fragments from his life as Aditya began reconnecting themselves differently now.
The battles.
The organization retreating repeatedly.
The entities failing to kill him directly.
And most importantly—
the fear they carried toward his power.
Not Vijaya.
Not Karna's strength.
Something else entirely.
Slowly, Arin looked back toward Elyra.
"…throughout my life as Aditya…"
His voice echoed quietly through the observatory.
"…I fought the System."
Everyone looked toward him immediately.
"And it retreated."
Fragments surfaced more clearly now.
The organization sending stronger and stronger beings after him only for them to disappear afterward. Entire facilities abandoned overnight after Aditya destroyed their operations repeatedly. The entities always watching from a distance but rarely confronting him directly until the very end.
Arin continued quietly.
"It feared something."
Another pause.
"Not Vijaya."
His gaze darkened slightly afterward.
"My powers."
Liora immediately understood what he meant.
The strange abilities Arin used instinctively throughout this life never truly matched Karna's abilities. Even when fragments of his past returned, the powers he wielded still felt different from anything connected directly to the legendary warrior.
The space distortions.
The way he manipulated movement itself.
The moments where reality around him bent unnaturally during battle.
Those abilities did not belong to Karna.
They belonged to Arin himself.
And now—
he finally asked the question lingering in his mind for years.
"…why?"
The observatory fell quiet again afterward.
Arin stared directly toward Elyra.
"These abilities I use now…"
Another pulse moved through the chamber.
"They don't belong to Karna."
His voice lowered slightly.
"They don't belong to Vijaya either."
Then finally—
"…so why do I have them?"
Elyra remained silent for several seconds.
Not because she lacked an answer.
Because the answer itself carried weight.
The Regent slowly stepped closer afterward while the golden markings along her hands glowed faintly brighter beneath the chamber light.
"…because you learned something no other version mastered this quickly."
Arin's expression sharpened slightly.
Elyra continued calmly.
"Space-time manipulation."
The words alone made the atmosphere heavier instantly.
Selene frowned deeply.
"…what?"
Elyra turned slightly toward the group afterward.
"The powers Arin uses are not divine abilities."
Another pause.
"They are adaptations."
Liora quietly looked toward Arin again now.
Because suddenly everything started making sense.
The strange way his abilities evolved naturally over time.
The fact that he learned them instinctively rather than inheriting them directly.
Elyra continued speaking softly.
"Your soul remembers."
The observatory lights pulsed faintly around them.
"Throughout your life as Aditya, you constantly manipulated space on a small scale."
Fragments immediately surfaced inside Arin's mind again.
Teleportation through collapsing buildings.
Distorting attacks before impact.
Slowing moments around him instinctively during combat.
At the time, he barely understood what he was actually doing.
He simply learned through survival.
Elyra's voice echoed quietly afterward.
"Your soul adapted to those abilities."
Another pause.
"And when you were reborn…"
She looked directly into his eyes now.
"…your next life inherited the adaptation."
Silence filled the observatory instantly.
Kael slowly processed the explanation afterward.
"…so you're saying his soul evolved."
Elyra nodded once.
"Exactly."
The truth settled heavily across the chamber.
Arin finally understood now why his abilities always felt strangely natural despite having no direct connection to Karna.
They weren't inherited from ancient legends.
They were learned.
Earned across lifetimes.
Elyra continued quietly,
"You already mastered basic space-time manipulation during your life as Aditya."
Another pause.
"And that…"
For the first time since the explanation began, faint admiration crossed her expression.
"…is something the first Karna required countless lifetimes to achieve."
Everyone froze again afterward.
Even Arin himself looked slightly stunned now.
The first Karna.
The version who escaped the cycle entirely.
And yet even he needed countless lives to master what Aditya learned within one.
Riven stared blankly afterward.
"…okay now I'm confused again."
"That's normal," Kael answered quietly.
Arin remained silent while processing the implications.
Because suddenly another realization surfaced.
If the first Karna and he shared nearly identical lives—
then why had things unfolded so differently?
Why was he progressing faster?
Why was the System reacting to him differently?
The question formed almost immediately.
And Elyra already knew it.
"…you're wondering why."
Arin slowly nodded afterward.
Elyra looked upward briefly toward the night sky visible beyond the observatory ceiling before answering.
"Because you are different."
The words echoed softly throughout the chamber.
"Not entirely."
Another pause.
"But enough."
Liora frowned slightly.
"How different?"
Elyra's expression darkened thoughtfully afterward.
"We still don't fully understand."
That answer surprised everyone immediately.
The Regent—
someone who clearly knew far more than any of them—
still sounded uncertain.
Elyra continued quietly afterward.
"There was only one major divergence between your timeline and the first Karna's."
Arin felt unease crawl slowly through him already.
Because deep down—
he already knew what she was about to say.
Elyra looked directly toward him afterward.
"During your life as Karna…"
The observatory grew quieter.
"…you had a best friend."
A memory surfaced instantly.
Laughter beneath moonlit battlefields.
A hand pulling him back to his feet after war.
A voice mocking him endlessly despite standing beside him through everything.
Ashwathama.
Acharya Putra.
Arin's heartbeat slowed slightly afterward.
Elyra continued softly,
"The son of Dronacharya."
Another pause.
"Ashwathama."
Liora quietly noticed the change in Arin's expression now.
Because even among all his memories—
the ones connected to Ashwathama always carried something deeper.
Not tragedy.
Warmth.
Elyra continued speaking.
"In the first Karna's timeline…"
Her golden eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Ashwathama was merely an ally."
The words felt wrong immediately.
Arin himself could feel it.
Because in his memories—
Ashwathama had been far more than that.
Not simply another warrior standing beside him during war.
He was family.
Brotherhood stronger than blood itself.
The person Karna trusted most completely.
Elyra looked toward Arin carefully afterward.
"But in your timeline…"
A faint pulse moved through Vijaya again.
"…he became your best friend."
Silence settled afterward.
Everyone instinctively understood the importance of what she was saying now.
Everything else remained the same.
The war.
The betrayals.
The deaths.
The cycle itself.
But one relationship changed.
And somehow—
that slight difference created an entirely different version of Karna.
Elyra continued quietly,
"That single alteration should not have mattered enough to create this much deviation."
Another pause.
"But it did."
The observatory suddenly felt impossibly vast around them.
"Your growth accelerated faster than expected."
"Your soul adapted differently."
"The cycle itself reacted to you unusually."
Her gaze sharpened slightly afterward.
"And most importantly…"
Golden symbols across the chamber walls glowed brighter again.
"…you developed individuality separate from the original pattern."
Arin slowly understood now.
Most versions of Karna followed similar paths. Similar emotions. Similar destinies.
But he drifted away from that structure somehow.
Not completely.
Enough to become unpredictable.
Enough that the System no longer understood him fully.
Elyra finally said the words lingering beneath the entire explanation.
"We don't know what makes you special."
The admission echoed heavily through the chamber.
"Only that you are."
Silence followed.
Then quietly—
Liora looked toward Arin afterward.
And suddenly she understood something terrifying too.
If Arin truly was different from every other version…
Then maybe his future would be different too.
Maybe the cycle itself could break in a way nobody expected.
Or maybe—
he could become something even the first Karna never reached.
And somewhere far beyond the kingdom, hidden behind endless realities and collapsing timelines—
the System was beginning to realize that possibility too.