Silence spread across the battlefield after those words.
Not ordinary silence.
The kind that settles when a truth reaches somewhere deep enough that no one knows how to answer it.
"They will fear you eventually too."
The voice of the First One continued echoing through reality long after the words ended, vibrating beneath the fractured sky like something ancient enough to become part of existence itself.
And the worst part was not hearing it.
It was the fact that part of me believed him instantly.
The black fractures beneath my skin pulsed softly again.
Not painfully this time.
Calmly.
As though the synchronization inside me had reacted to the thought itself.
Faye's hand remained tightly around my arm.
But even through that contact…
Doubt had already entered my mind.
Not because of her.
Because of the memories.
The previous chosen one had once stood exactly where I was standing now. He had people beside him too. Allies. Companions. Maybe even family.
And eventually…
They feared what he became.
The inherited emotions buried inside those memories made that truth impossible to ignore.
The loneliness.
The isolation.
The moment everyone's eyes changed when they stopped seeing a person and started seeing a threat.
I clenched my fists hard enough to stop my hands from trembling.
The First One spoke again.
"You already feel the distance growing."
Pain flashed through my chest immediately.
Because he was right.
Every synchronization changed something subtle inside me.
Emotions still existed.
But they felt farther away now.
Sharper.
Colder.
As though humanity itself had become something I needed to consciously hold onto instead of something natural.
The entity beside me stepped forward sharply.
"Do not answer him."
Its voice carried real warning now.
"The moment you begin justifying the separation, the process accelerates."
The First One laughed softly.
The sound felt ancient enough to shake the fractured sky itself.
"You still cling to denial after all this time."
The entity's expression darkened immediately.
"I watched what you became."
"And yet you still failed to understand why."
The battlefield trembled violently.
The Door beyond the sky pulsed again, opening another fraction while darkness spilled endlessly through the widening gap.
The enormous eye remained locked on me.
Patient.
Confident.
Like it already knew which path I would eventually choose.
That certainty terrified me.
Rin slowly forced himself back upright nearby, still breathing unevenly.
"This is getting worse…"
No one argued.
Because reality itself was beginning to break down around us now.
The black fractures in the sky no longer closed completely after appearing. Thin cracks remained spread across the heavens permanently now, exposing pieces of the impossible darkness beyond.
And occasionally…
Shapes moved behind them.
Watching.
Waiting.
The synchronization inside me deepened suddenly.
I staggered slightly as another memory surfaced.
The previous chosen one sitting alone beneath a dark sky while voices from beyond the Door whispered endlessly around him.
Not manipulating.
Comforting.
Because by that point…
The Door was the only thing still speaking to him without fear.
The emotional impact hit me brutally hard.
I finally understood the true horror behind synchronization.
The danger was not simply power.
It was emotional erosion.
The gradual feeling that humanity could no longer fully understand you.
And once that distance became too large…
The Door filled the emptiness.
Faye suddenly stepped directly in front of me.
Her eyes locked onto mine with absolute intensity.
"Look at me."
I forced myself to focus on her.
"You're thinking too much about him," she said firmly.
The words cut through the chaos slightly.
"I…"
She grabbed both my shoulders now.
"You are not the previous chosen one."
The synchronization weakened for a brief second.
The fractures beneath my skin dimmed slightly.
The First One spoke immediately afterward.
"He said the same thing."
Cold spread through me instantly.
Faye's expression hardened.
"You're lying."
"No," the First One answered calmly.
"I am remembering."
The battlefield fell silent again.
The emotional pressure behind those words felt almost unbearable.
Because for the first time…
I sensed genuine sadness from him.
Not manipulation.
Not rage.
Regret.
Centuries of it.
The entity beside me noticed my hesitation immediately.
"Do not confuse suffering with innocence."
Its voice sharpened.
"He chose this path."
The eye beyond the Door narrowed slightly.
"And you abandoned him once he changed."
The entity's silence lasted too long.
That alone confirmed enough.
The First One continued softly.
"You feared evolution because it no longer resembled you."
The words hit harder than they should have.
Because deep down…
I understood both sides now.
The previous chosen one had changed into something terrifying.
But he had also been left alone during that transformation.
And isolation had completed the process.
The synchronization inside me pulsed again.
This time differently.
Not toward the Door.
Toward understanding.
That frightened me more than anything else.
Because empathy was becoming dangerous.
The First One's voice softened.
"You feel it now."
Another memory surfaced instantly.
The previous chosen one reaching toward someone while black fractures spread across his body.
Fear in their eyes.
Disgust.
Then abandonment.
The loneliness afterward nearly drowned me.
I dropped to one knee again, breathing hard.
Faye immediately knelt beside me.
"Kael!"
The First One whispered gently.
"You already know how this ends."
I closed my eyes tightly.
Because part of me did.
The stronger I became…
The less human I would appear.
And eventually…
People would begin fearing me.
Not because they hated me.
Because they no longer understood me.
The synchronization deepened again.
The fractures beneath my skin spread farther across my chest.
The Door pulsed violently.
And then—
Something unexpected happened.
Faye wrapped her arms around me.
The battlefield froze.
Even the First One stopped speaking.
Her voice remained steady against the chaos surrounding us.
"I don't care what you become."
My breathing stopped.
"You hear me?" she whispered softly.
"You're still Kael."
The synchronization inside me destabilized instantly.
Not painfully.
Violently.
The black fractures across my body flickered unpredictably as the pressure surrounding me exploded outward in every direction.
The First One's eye widened slightly beyond the Door.
For the first time since awakening…
Its certainty disappeared.