The moon didn't move tonight.
It just hung there—frozen, watching.
Kai stood beneath its still light at the edge of the Northern Cliffs, the wind whispering low warnings through the trees. He had come here to breathe… to escape the weight of his unspoken title, the unknowns of his second class, and the strange pull he'd been feeling for days now.
But something… was off.
> [Warning: Timeline Interference Detected]
[Activating Passive Skill: Temporal Rejection]
External presence attempting to anchor into your existence…
Result: Ejected
Status: Protected against Fate, Time, and Reality Overwrites.
Then the air fractured like glass behind him.
And a voice that sounded like it had spoken across centuries whispered:
"So you are the one who survived the shift."
Kai turned, his eyes narrowing.
There, sitting cross-legged in midair above the cliff's edge, was a figure cloaked in spiraling threads of time itself. His body was blurry—like even reality struggled to define him.
His voice came again, calm but filled with weight:
"The Heavens chose twice, yet only one burned away the stars."
Kai said nothing.
But the man smiled.
"You are not him. Not yet. But the signature is there—just barely. Buried under fear, doubt, and humanity."
"Who are you?" Kai asked slowly.
The figure tilted his head.
"I am not of your world. I watch from the fractures. I know timelines that fell because of him… the one they now call the Voidbound Tyrant."
Kai felt the hairs on his neck rise.
"Voidbound Tyrant?"
"He was once… like you. Heaven's Chosen. Loved. Ordinary. Until a god died whispering his name."
"You knew him?"
The figure's voice grew colder.
"He was a friend. Then he became something else."
A long pause. Then:
"And in this timeline… he does not exist. Not yet."
Kai's heart thudded.
"Are you saying he could—"
"No. You won't become him," the being said, eyes narrowing. "Because something in you rejected the chains of fate. Something ancient. Hidden."
> [Secondary Class Passive Awakened]
[Name: Unknown]
Effect: Auto-Rejection of Fatal Paradoxes. Reality Lock Enabled.
Summary: No force may erase you from your destined path.
Unique Effect: Timeline Ejection – Any being attempting forced alteration will be purged.
Kai's breath caught. A phantom pressure vanished from his chest—like something had tried to erase him again… and failed.
The being floated downward, coming to Kai's eye level.
"Beware those who remember you when they shouldn't. And trust no one who offers power without cost."
"Even you?" Kai asked.
The being smiled, gently this time.
"Especially me."
Then he vanished.
No ripple. No flash.
Just gone.
And all Kai could hear… was the sound of his own breath and the wind beginning to move again.
---
Next: Chapter 10: "Echoes in the Dust"