Lawless Arc: Part XLII)
The universe did not break when Je crossed the threshold.
It looked away first.
Not out of mercy—
but instinct.
A wall appeared before him.
Not built of stone.
Not forged of mana.
A Fourth Wall, older than narrative itself.
A border that separated the readers, the author, and the story—
yet feared being acknowledged by all three.
The System residue did not glitch this time.
It simply scrolled across Je's sight like carved prophecy:
[NOTICE: NARRATIVE PRESSURE DETECTED]
[ENTITY: SELF-AWARE STORY BARRIER]
[THREAT LEVEL: CANNOT BE NAMED]
[RESPONSE: OBSERVATION AVOIDED]
Je placed his palm on the Wall.
It flinched beneath his touch—not resisting, not accepting.
Remembering.
A murmur, ancient and unavoidable, brushed the edges of existence:
"Do not read too deeply into what reads back."
Je smirked—small, calm, dangerous.
"So you're the wall that stops gods from seeing the Author?"
The Wall shimmered faintly, like ink dispersing in water:
"I stop no one."
"I protect the story from being read before it is feared."
"But you…"
"…I protected them from you."
Je's eyes narrowed.
"Oh?"
A crack formed—not in the Wall, but in the meaning behind it.
"Kael cracks the void."
"Je cracks the reader."
"But the Wall cracked first."
"Not by force…"
"…by presence it did not want to describe."
Je exhaled.
"So you turned away because you couldn't describe me?"
"No, Je Veyron."
"I turned away…"
"…because I finally could."
The Wall dissolved after the sentence was spoken.
Not destroyed.
Not devoured.
Dismissed by comprehension.
Je walked past it without ceremony.
Because some borders do not fall to power—
they fall to someone who no longer cares to look at them.