Elias stumbled forward, his mind reeling from the weight of the Guardian's revelation. The Dreamscape trembled around him, as if it too recoiled from the truth that had just been unveiled. The paradox was not just an external force—it was woven into the fabric of his very existence.
A sharp whisper slithered through the air. "You were never meant to wake up, Elias."
The voice belonged to a figure emerging from the shifting mist—a reflection of himself, but twisted. His doppelgänger's eyes gleamed with an eerie light, a mockery of his own desperation.
Elias instinctively took a step back. "Who are you?"
"The part of you that refused to break," the doppelgänger said with a smirk. "The one who accepted the Dreamscape's gift instead of fighting it. You think you're the only Elias who's walked this path? How many times have you died trying to escape? How many times have you failed?"
A cold dread settled in Elias's chest. Visions flooded his mind—endless cycles of struggle, of reaching for a reality that unraveled the moment he grasped it. Each version of himself had believed they were getting closer to the truth, only to be consumed by it.
The walls of the Dreamscape twisted and cracked, revealing glimpses of those past failures. Each fragment held echoes of his own voice screaming in despair.
"No… I'm different this time," Elias whispered, though uncertainty clawed at the edges of his resolve.
His reflection laughed, a hollow sound that sent a chill through the air. "They all said that. But here you are again. And you will break just like the rest."
The chamber erupted into chaos as shadowed figures clawed their way from the fractures, distorted versions of Elias, all screaming in agony. The Dreamscape was collapsing, its boundaries fraying under the weight of its own contradictions.
Elias clenched his fists. He had come too far to be swallowed by the cycle again. He had to find Lyra. He had to find the real truth.
Summoning every ounce of willpower, he lunged at his reflection, determined to shatter the illusion once and for all.