The sky above the Eternity node boiled, like a living being filled with chaotic energy. Colors swirled, merging into vortices of light and shadow. The space hummed, as if the entire world was warning of an impending catastrophe. Eternity was on the brink of overload—a system meant to control the flows of time and existence now strained under its weight.
The one who keeps the balance stood still at the center of this chaos. His figure seemed to be part of the very space—half-shadow, half-light, a being more an embodiment of equilibrium than a living entity. But this time, he had to act, to intervene in what he was destined only to observe. This was his choice—and his risk.
“Overload has reached critical levels,” he said, his voice calm and emotionless, yet resonating across every corner of the node. “Excess energy must be neutralized.”
Raising a hand, he touched the very fabric of space. The rift between dimensions obeyed him, and the energy threatening to destroy the balance began to flow into him. This was more than a process. It was an act of absorption—a redirection of destructive force into a body and mind designed to endure such a burden.
His presence seemed to expand, becoming part of the node itself. The light around him dimmed, consumed as if he had become the core of an infinite absorbing wheel. But just as the energy began to lose its chaotic form, something shifted.
From a shadow hidden between the lines of reality, an attack burst forth. A concentrated blast of energy tore through the air, hurtling toward the one who keeps the balance. It was a force capable of fracturing even the structure of Eternity if it reached its target.
The Keeper, without ceasing his work, responded almost casually. His hand moved lightly through the air, as though drawing an invisible line, and the attack, which threatened to destroy everything, changed its direction. It collided with the rift between dimensions and dissolved as if it had never existed. Yet his gaze—filled with an unseen fury—found the source of the threat.
“Violation is unacceptable,” he said, his voice no longer calm. It carried the echo of a power that could destroy even the one who dared attack.
The attacker remained invisible to others. Only the Keeper could see him. A figure, hidden behind the veil of time and space, seemed to be born of a pure desire to destroy. He had been hoarding energy, exploiting the node’s instability to create weapons. But now, under the Keeper’s gaze, he felt fear.
A slight movement of the Keeper’s hand, and the energy hoarded by the attacker began to slip from his control. Not gradually, but suddenly. It dispersed into the space, while the remaining flow was absorbed into the Keeper’s body. He took even this energy, transforming it, subduing it.
“You can no longer gather energy for attacks,” the Keeper said. His voice held cold finality. “Your gift—or your flaw—exists no more.”
The attacker seemed hollow. He retreated, vanishing into the swirling chaos of space, powerless and disarmed.
Meanwhile, the Keeper completed his intervention. He had absorbed the excess energy, stabilizing the node and restoring order. But every drop of that energy remained within him, and his figure now radiated a faint light, almost threatening in its intensity.
When he disappeared, the tension in the space vanished with him. Everything fell back into place. Yet those who witnessed the moment could not feel relief. They knew that even the one who keeps the balance does not emerge from such interference without consequences.