---
A Fight Against the Forgotten
The Guardian's form flickered, its massive shape twisting between reality and the abyss. Every movement it made distorted the space around it, like a broken signal desperately trying to remain coherent.
Luo Fan clenched his fists. "Shen Mu! We push through!"
Shen Mu didn't hesitate. His sword flashed with a pale, silver glow as he lunged forward, slicing through the tendrils of shadow reaching for them. But every time his blade connected—
The Guardian regenerated instantly.
Luo Fan's eyes narrowed. It wasn't just healing. The missing fragments of its body were being replaced by other erased realities, filling in the gaps as if existence itself was patching it together.
> "Okay, I hate this thing." EchoStar's voice crackled. "It's literally made of deleted concepts. It's like trying to kill a bad sequel—the more you fight it, the more unnecessary additions appear!"
Luo Fan dodged another attack, gritting his teeth. "Then we stop fighting it."
Shen Mu exhaled sharply. "Explain."
Luo Fan's gaze locked onto the massive door at the end of the bridge.
That was the real target.
Not the Guardian.
The Guardian only existed to prevent them from reaching it.
He made his decision in an instant. "Cover me! I'm going for the door!"
---
The Path to the Door
Shen Mu didn't question him. With a sharp motion, he raised his sword, unleashing a wave of light that forced the Guardian back.
> "I really hope this is a good idea, because I don't have a 'retry' button if you die!" EchoStar warned.
Luo Fan sprinted across the unstable bridge. The surface shifted beneath him, pieces of old realities crumbling away into nothingness.
The door loomed closer.
Its carvings pulsed—unreadable symbols that felt familiar in a way that made his soul ache.
Like something he should remember.
But then—
A cold whisper coiled around his mind.
> "You are not meant to open this door."
Luo Fan's steps faltered.
The Guardian wasn't stopping him.
The door itself was rejecting him.
> "Oh no. NOPE. NO existential crises right now!" EchoStar yelled. "Ignore the creepy voice and OPEN IT!"
Luo Fan gritted his teeth and pushed forward. His fingers stretched toward the ancient surface—
The moment he touched it—
The world shattered.
---
Inside the Forgotten Realm
Luo Fan's breath caught in his throat.
He was no longer on the bridge.
No longer in the void.
He stood in a place that shouldn't exist.
A vast, empty city stretched before him. Towers of frozen time, streets filled with echoes of voices that no longer belonged to anyone.
It felt… half-real.
Like a dream.
Like a memory.
> "Okay. So. Uh. Where are we?" EchoStar asked hesitantly.
Luo Fan took a slow breath. "The Forgotten Realm."
A place where things erased from the multiverse still remained.
Somewhere in this place…
Was something that shouldn't exist anymore.
And he was going to find it.
---
[To Be Continued...]