The First One's smile disappeared the moment the ancient prisoners pushed harder against the gates.
The Door cracked violently.
A deafening sound exploded across reality as another massive hand forced itself through the opening, followed by dozens of shadowed limbs writhing behind it. The fractured sky darkened completely now, consumed by endless corruption spreading outward from the prison beyond reality.
And beneath that nightmare…
The world was collapsing.
Entire sections of the battlefield had already vanished into empty voids where reality itself no longer existed. The ocean below twisted unnaturally, rising toward the sky in impossible spirals while distant islands shattered beneath the pressure pouring from the Door.
There was no more time.
The entity beside us looked upward grimly.
"If the synchronization does not stabilize now, the seal breaks completely."
Rin stared at it in disbelief.
"You keep saying that like it's somehow reassuring!"
Another impact slammed against the Door.
The First One staggered again.
Black fractures spread farther across his body while darkness leaked endlessly from beneath his skin. He was weakening rapidly now.
And the prisoners knew it.
Their movements behind the gates had become frantic.
Hungry.
Desperate.
The synchronization inside me surged painfully.
Every instinct screamed the same truth now.
The Door needed a keeper.
Immediately.
Faye stepped beside me without hesitation.
"What do we do?"
I looked at her.
Even now, with reality collapsing around us, fear remained inside her eyes.
But she still stayed.
That alone nearly broke something inside me.
"You don't have to do this."
Her answer came instantly.
"Yes, I do."
The synchronization pulsed violently.
The fractures across my skin stabilized slightly again.
The entity noticed immediately.
"It's working already…"
The First One looked downward through the opening.
For a brief moment, relief crossed his exhausted expression.
Then—
The Door exploded outward another fraction.
A monstrous roar erupted from beyond reality.
One of the prisoners finally forced part of its head through the gap.
My breathing stopped instantly.
It had no true form.
Its face shifted continuously between countless distorted shapes, as though reality itself could not fully process what it was seeing. Eyes opened and closed across its surface endlessly while darkness poured from its body like smoke.
And the moment it emerged—
Everything around it died.
The sky blackened further.
The air dissolved.
Even sound itself warped unnaturally.
The entity's voice sharpened instantly.
"NOW!"
The synchronization inside me detonated.
Pain ripped through my entire body as the fractures spread completely across my arms, chest, and throat. Darkness surged around me violently, twisting the battlefield beneath my feet while the Door pulsed in direct response.
The First One shouted through the chaos.
"KAEL!"
I understood immediately.
The Door was accepting me.
The next keeper.
The realization should have terrified me.
Instead…
It felt inevitable.
Faye grabbed my hand tightly before I could move.
"You're not leaving me behind."
The synchronization reacted again.
The darkness surrounding my body stabilized.
Not weaker.
Balanced.
The entity stared openly in shock.
"It's actually possible…"
Another prisoner began forcing itself through the widening gap.
Then another.
The First One slammed both hands against the gates desperately.
The entire Door shook violently.
But he was losing.
Fast.
I looked at Faye one last time.
"If this fails…"
"It won't."
Her answer came too quickly.
Too confidently.
But her trembling hand betrayed the fear she refused to show.
And somehow…
That made me smile.
Because she stayed anyway.
The synchronization deepened completely afterward.
The world around us slowed.
The fractured sky.
The prisoners.
The collapsing battlefield.
Everything became distant beneath the overwhelming pull of the Door.
The First One's voice echoed directly into my mind.
You must cross now.
The darkness surrounding me rose violently upward.
Faye tightened her grip.
And together—
We stepped forward.
Reality shattered instantly.
The battlefield disappeared.
The sky vanished.
For one endless second, it felt like falling through an ocean made of memories.
Voices whispered around us endlessly.
Fragments of previous chosen ones.
Failed synchronizations.
Centuries of loneliness.
And through all of it—
Faye's hand remained locked tightly around mine.
The synchronization stabilized.
The whispers weakened.
The darkness around us shifted.
Then—
We landed.
My knees hit cold black stone.
Silence surrounded us instantly.
I looked upward slowly.
And my breath stopped.
We stood beyond the Door.
The prison stretched endlessly in every direction beneath a sky filled with fractured stars. Gigantic chains crossed the darkness above us like scars through reality itself, connected to enormous black monoliths floating endlessly in the distance.
And everywhere—
Doors.
Thousands of them.
Different sizes.
Different shapes.
All sealed shut.
All containing something behind them.
Faye stared in disbelief beside me.
"…What is this place…"
A familiar voice answered quietly behind us.
"The edge of existence."
We turned instantly.
The First One stood there.
Not broken anymore.
Not monstrous.
Just tired.
The fractures covering his body glowed faintly beneath the darkness, but here, beyond reality, they seemed calmer somehow.
For a long moment, none of us spoke.
Then finally—
Another roar echoed across the prison.
The entire endless dimension trembled.
One of the distant Doors shook violently against its chains.
The First One's expression darkened immediately.
"They know the transition has begun."
Cold spread through my chest.
"Transition?"
He looked directly at me.
"The prison is recognizing its next keeper."
The synchronization inside me surged again.
The fractures across my body burned violently.
And somewhere deep within the endless darkness surrounding the prison…
Something opened its eyes.