The moment that thing smiled,the temperature around us dropped so violently that frost began spreading across the broken ground beneath our feet.
Not normal frost.
This darkness froze reality itself.
The black mist crawling from the Door thickened slowly around the ruins,wrapping itself around shattered pillars and collapsed stone like something alive.The sky above us no longer looked like a sky anymore.It looked wounded.Enormous black fractures stretched endlessly through the heavens while distant thunder echoed from somewhere beyond reality itself.
And through all of it…
Those eyes remained fixed on me.
Watching me patiently.
Like a predator that already knew its prey would eventually stop running.
Faye moved closer beside me until her shoulder pressed against mine.Her breathing remained uneven,but despite the fear in her eyes,she still refused to let go of my hand.
"Kael…" she whispered softly,"tell me you know how to stop this."
God…
I wanted to.
I wanted to tell her everything would be okay.That somehow we would survive this like we survived the prison.That there was still hope waiting for us at the end of all this darkness.
But deep inside…
The synchronization was terrified.
And for the first time since crossing the Door,I realized something horrifying.
The synchronization wasn't reacting like a weapon anymore.
It was reacting like a memory.
Silver light pulsed violently beneath the fractures across my skin again,and suddenly unbearable pain exploded through my skull.
I gasped sharply.
Another vision tore through my consciousness before I could resist it.
This time,the memory felt clearer.
Older.
More real.
Suddenly,I was no longer standing beside Faye.
I stood inside a massive city built beneath a black sky filled with dying stars.The air smelled like ash,blood,and burning stone.Enormous towers surrounded me,their surfaces covered in glowing silver symbols that flickered chaotically like they were failing.
People were screaming everywhere.
Running.
Crying.
Praying.
The entire city was collapsing into panic.
And at the center of it all—
The Gate.
Not the Door behind us.
Something far older.
Far larger.
A colossal structure floating above the ground,surrounded by enormous chains stretching endlessly into darkness.The silver symbols covering its surface moved constantly like living creatures trapped beneath stone.
The closer I looked at it,the harder my heart pounded.
Because deep down…
I recognized it.
This was the Final Gate.
The original one.
The source of everything.
Then suddenly—
I saw him.
The First Keeper.
He stood alone before the Gate,his body trembling violently beneath glowing silver fractures spreading across his skin.Blood stained the front of his dark clothes while exhaustion completely hollowed out his face.
But what terrified me most…
Was the fear in his eyes.
Not fear of death.
Fear of what stood behind the Gate.
The temple around him shook violently.
Massive cracks spread across the floor while chains surrounding the colossal structure groaned under unbearable pressure.
Then slowly—
Darkness leaked through the center of the Gate.
Not smoke.
Not shadow.
Absence.
A part of existence where nothing survived.
No sound.
No light.
No life.
Just emptiness swallowing reality itself.
The First Keeper staggered backward immediately.
"No…" his voice cracked weakly."No,no,you were sealed…"
The darkness moved.
And then—
Those eyes opened inside the void.
My entire body froze.
Because even after everything I had already seen,nothing could compare to the terror on the First Keeper's face in that moment.
He looked destroyed.
Completely broken.
Like his soul itself had shattered beyond repair.
Outside the temple,the screams became louder.
The city was dying.
The sky itself was collapsing.
And still…
The thing inside the Gate simply watched him silently.
Then softly—
Almost gently—
It spoke.
"You opened the path."
The First Keeper fell to his knees instantly.
Blood poured from his nose while tears mixed with the fear covering his face.
"I tried to save them…" he whispered desperately."I thought synchronization could control the abyss…"
The entity remained silent for a moment.
Then
"You were never meant to control it."
The Gate trembled violently.
Chains began snapping one after another.
The First Keeper looked up in horror while the darkness continued spreading beyond the opening.
And suddenly…
I understood everything.
Synchronization was never created to dominate the abyss.
It was created to prepare someone.
Someone capable of opening the Final Gate completely.
Someone capable of surviving what existed beyond it.
My breathing stopped.
Because deep down…
I already knew who that person was.
The vision shattered violently.
I returned to reality gasping for air while pain tore through every nerve inside my body.My knees nearly collapsed beneath me,but Faye caught me immediately.
"Kael!"
Her voice sounded distant now.
Because my mind was still trapped inside the memory.
Still hearing those words.
You opened the path.
Behind us,the Door groaned violently again.
Another chain snapped.
The opening widened.
And from inside the darkness…
That thing took another step closer.