The moment something began crawling through the opening, every living instinct inside me screamed.
Not warning.
Terror.
The ancient gates trembled violently as darkness poured endlessly through the widening gap, spreading across the fractured sky like blood leaking from a wound too large to close. Massive black cracks spread downward through reality itself while the pressure descending over the battlefield became almost unbearable.
And then—
A hand emerged.
If it could even be called a hand.
It was enormous, larger than entire buildings, covered in shifting black skin that looked more like living shadow than flesh. Endless symbols crawled across its surface like moving parasites, glowing faintly beneath the darkness.
The moment its fingers touched our world—
Reality screamed.
The air shattered around the creature instantly.
Mountains in the distance collapsed.
The ocean far below the battlefield rose violently upward as if gravity itself had become unstable.
And every fracture beneath my skin ignited with unbearable pain.
I dropped hard onto one knee.
The synchronization surged wildly.
The thing crawling through the Door stopped moving immediately.
It felt me.
The First One's voice thundered across reality.
"GET BACK!"
For the first time since hearing him…
He sounded afraid.
Not tired.
Not lonely.
Terrified.
The creature's enormous fingers tightened slowly around the edge of the Door.
The ancient gates groaned violently under its grip.
And then—
An eye opened in the darkness behind its hand.
My breathing stopped.
It did not resemble the First One's eye.
This thing's gaze felt empty.
No humanity.
No thought I could understand.
Just hunger older than existence itself.
The entity beside me moved instantly.
"Everyone move NOW!"
The battlefield exploded.
Darkness erupted outward from the creature's hand in violent waves, erasing entire sections of reality wherever it touched. Not destroying.
Erasing.
The ground vanished completely beneath the spreading darkness, leaving behind empty voids that even light could not enter.
Rin barely escaped before part of the battlefield disappeared entirely behind him.
"What IS THAT THING?!"
The entity answered while pulling Lira backward.
"One of the original prisoners."
Cold spread through every part of my body.
Original.
Meaning there were older things beyond the Door than even the First One.
The synchronization inside me pulsed painfully again.
And suddenly—
I understood why the prison existed.
Not to protect humanity from invaders.
To protect reality itself.
The creature pushed farther through the opening.
The Door cracked louder.
Its enormous hand forced against the gates while darkness spread continuously from its body, infecting the sky around it like corruption made physical.
The First One's voice roared again.
"KAEL!"
Pain exploded through my chest instantly.
The synchronization reacted violently to his call.
I looked upward instinctively—
And saw him.
Not beyond the Door this time.
Standing directly against the inner side of the gates.
Holding them shut.
Black fractures covered his entire body now, darkness leaking endlessly from the cracks beneath his skin while reality bent around him violently under the strain.
And despite everything—
He was still fighting to keep the prison closed.
The realization hit me brutally hard.
The First One had never truly become the enemy.
He became exhausted.
The creature behind the Door pushed harder.
The gates trembled violently.
The First One staggered.
And for the first time—
I saw fear in his eyes.
Not fear for himself.
For this world.
The synchronization inside me surged uncontrollably.
The fractures across my body spread farther.
The Door reacted instantly.
The creature's eye locked directly onto me.
Hungry.
Recognizing.
The entity beside me shouted sharply.
"It senses the successor!"
The creature moved violently afterward.
Its arm forced farther through the opening while the Door cracked wider around it.
Reality began collapsing faster.
The ocean below split apart.
The sky distorted.
Even time itself felt unstable now.
Faye grabbed my arm immediately.
"Kael!"
Her voice grounded me just enough to think clearly.
The First One's scream echoed across reality.
"IF IT FULLY CROSSES, EVERYTHING DIES!"
The creature pushed again.
The Door split another fraction.
And suddenly—
More hands appeared behind it.
Dozens.
Pressing against the gates from the darkness beyond.
Trying to force their way through.
Rin stared upward in horror.
"There's THAT MANY?!"
The entity's face had gone completely pale now.
"The prison is collapsing…"
The synchronization inside me pulsed painfully.
And deep down…
I already knew the truth.
There was no more time left.
Either the Door stabilized now—
Or the ancient prisoners entered reality completely.
The First One looked directly at me through the widening gates.
For the first time since this began…
He no longer looked ancient.
He looked human again.
Broken.
Exhausted.
Desperate.
And then he said the words I feared most.
"I cannot hold them anymore."
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
The synchronization inside me trembled violently.
Because deep down…
Part of me had already made the decision.
Faye must have seen it in my eyes instantly.
"No."
Her grip tightened around my arm.
"You're not doing this alone."
The fractures beneath my skin flickered.
The synchronization reacted to her words immediately.
The entity noticed too.
Its eyes widened suddenly.
"Wait…"
It looked between us rapidly.
"The connection…"
Another violent impact shook the Door.
The First One nearly collapsed against the gates now.
The entity turned toward me sharply.
"If she crosses with you, the synchronization may stabilize permanently."
Faye stared at it.
"You mean I can help hold the prison?"
The entity hesitated.
"…Maybe."
Rin looked absolutely horrified.
"MAYBE?! That's your plan?!"
Another hand emerged through the Door.
Then another.
Darkness spread across the sky faster now.
The world was running out of time.
The First One's voice weakened.
"Kael…"
I looked upward.
His silver-gray eyes met mine.
And despite the chaos surrounding us…
He smiled.
Not because he was saved.
Because for the first time…
He no longer had to face eternity alone.