The night had not yet lifted, and a damp chill filled the air. The streetlights were dim and feeble, as if bearing endless secrets, constantly peeking at everything. Kalle, Darlene, Anna, and Lucas stood in front of the car, and the atmosphere among the four of them was heavy and oppressive. At that moment, even time seemed to slow down, and every second was like a sharp sword hanging in the air.
An elusive emotion flickered in Lucas's eyes. It was neither anger nor fear, but a silent threat and cold determination. "Do you think the truth of all this is just limited to the appearances you've seen?" Lucas's voice was as low as the thunder rolling in the distance, breaking the brief silence.
Kalle's hand trembled slightly, but he quickly calmed down, and a trace of resolve flashed in his eyes. "What exactly do you want to say? If you had a plan all along, why wait until now to reveal everything?"
Lucas didn't answer immediately. Instead, he took out a yellowed piece of paper from his bosom. The writing on the paper was blurred, but every stroke exuded an unsettling aura. "This piece of paper is from the relic left by your father." Lucas handed the paper to Kalle. "It reveals the truth that you've never touched upon."
Kalle's heart skipped a beat. His father, this once mysterious and powerful man, had actually left such a piece of paper after his death. Kalle's gaze was deep and complex, and his hand trembled slightly, but he endured it and took the paper. Upon closer inspection, the writing on the paper was blurred, as if eroded by time, but a few words could still be vaguely made out: "Eternity" and "Destruction".
"What your father left you is not just an inheritance." Lucas said coldly. "He left you the key to your destiny, and the truth you've been chasing is far more unfathomable than you can imagine."
Kalle took a deep breath and looked up at Lucas. "What does this mean?"
"It means that your destiny has already been arranged. All your efforts, all your struggles, will come to nothing." A sneer curled at the corner of Lucas's mouth. "And you think you're fighting against the darkness, but in fact, the darkness has been controlling everything about you."
Darlene's brows furrowed tightly, and a trace of unease flashed in her eyes. "What exactly do you mean by these words? What exactly are you trying to tell us?"
Lucas glanced at her, and a trace of pity flashed in his eyes. "You've been misunderstanding all this and your own roles. You don't belong in this battle. You're just a pawn on the chessboard, and everything has already been set by others."
Kalle's heart was in turmoil. He still didn't let go of the piece of paper, and his eyes became even colder. "Who is manipulating all this behind the scenes? When you say these words, it seems that you've already known everything about us."
Lucas finally spoke, his voice low and forceful: "Your enemy has never been the people you think. The truth you've been trying to find has long been in the place you least want to face."
Suddenly, a harsh car horn broke the atmosphere, and then, rapid footsteps came from a distance. Kalle turned his head and frowned slightly. Darlene's face also became solemn, and she almost instinctively prepared herself.
A figure suddenly appeared in their sight. It was a woman wearing a black tight-fitting outfit, with a stern face and sharp eyes. As she ran, she took out a photo and handed it to Kalle, a trace of despair in her eyes. "You... you have to know this, Kalle."
Kalle took the photo, and a sudden dizziness hit him. On the photo was a portrait he had never seen before. It was what his father looked like when he was young. Behind him was a city engulfed in flames. The flames in the picture seemed to be burning some deep secret, and his father's eyes were empty, as if he had lost himself in the abyss.
"What... is this?" Kalle could hardly control his emotions and tightly grasped the photo.
The woman said in a low voice: "This is the last group photo of your father, and what's hidden behind this is the truth of the entire situation. The truth you've been searching for is hidden in this photo, and you have to know..."
Kalle took a deep breath, and his face turned pale. "The truth I've been searching for actually... is related to my father's past?"
"Yes." The woman's voice was filled with pain. "Your father was a key figure in this contest, but you've never known his true role behind the scenes. He wasn't what you imagined. He wasn't just an ordinary warrior."
"Then what exactly was he?" Kalle almost gritted his teeth, and his voice almost squeezed out from his throat.
The woman hesitated for a moment, as if weighing something. "He... was a guardian." She added in a low voice. "But not the kind of guardian you understand."
Darlene's face suddenly changed, and she stood there stunned. "A guardian? What does this mean? What exactly was he guarding?"
"What you want to know is the 'eternity' he was guarding." The woman said slowly, her voice full of helplessness and complexity. "And 'eternity' is the destiny that none of you can escape."
Kalle's heart beat violently, and his whole body seemed to be pulled by an invisible force. The pain and confusion in his heart almost made him suffocate. His father turned out to be a guardian, a being hidden behind history and burdened with some unsolvable mission.
"What exactly do 'eternity' and 'destruction' represent?" Kalle murmured to himself, with confusion flashing in his eyes.
"They don't represent time but the intersection of destinies." The woman's eyes became profound. "Your destinies have long been engraved in the cycle of history, and you're just a part of this game."
Kalle tightly held the photo in his hand, and his mind was in a mess. He had never expected that everything he had been searching for was actually closely related to his father's past. His father's death was not just a simple betrayal or passing away. Hidden behind it was a deeper and more confusing truth.
"Then what should I do?" Kalle's voice almost carried a trace of despair. "How should I face all this?"
The woman didn't answer immediately. She just let out a deep sigh, and a trace of compassion
flashed in her eyes. "You have no choice. You've never had a chance to choose."
Suddenly, Anna's voice broke the silence. She said coldly: "This is just a chessboard of destiny, Kalle. And you've already been placed on it."