Antem stood before the clock tower once more. Its spires seemed even taller, and the pendulum swung with such force that each strike resonated in his chest. Now he knew that the sphere had not brought him here by accident, and that hidden in the shadow of this tower was not only the truth but also his own fate.
He held the artifact in his hands, and it felt almost as if it were breathing, emanating a warm glow. The lines on the sphere’s surface glimmered again, but now they moved, almost like a map showing a path. And this path led to the mechanism inside the tower.
Antem took his first step. The doors of the tower creaked open before him. Inside was a different world—giant gears turned in synchrony, as if the heart of this mechanism beat in the rhythm of time. The walls were covered in symbols he had never seen before.
His footsteps echoed as he moved toward the center of the tower, where the pendulum hung. Now he saw it up close: a massive metallic object radiating some supernatural power. With each swing, the space around it distorted, and Antem felt the heaviness of time compressing him once again.
“This is all an illusion,” he murmured quietly to himself. “Time… It’s not real.”
The feeling of this realization was so vivid that Antem dismissed all doubts. He could no longer allow this pendulum to dictate the world. In his hands was the key to change—the artifact that could stop everything.
He stepped closer, almost touching the pendulum. The artifact began to glow brighter, its warmth becoming nearly searing. Antem knew what he had to do: connect the sphere to the pendulum. But he understood that this might have unforeseen consequences.
“If this is an illusion, then I will destroy it,” he said loudly, almost shouting the words as if convincing himself.
He raised the artifact and touched it to the surface of the pendulum. At that moment, everything around him changed. The clock mechanism began to slow down, gears coming to a stop one by one, and the sound of the pendulum faded away. And then—absolute silence.
Antem felt a wave of energy pass through him. He fell to his knees, but not from pain—rather from the weight of what he had just done. The world froze.
He looked around. The tower was no longer resonating. Time had stopped. And with it, the silence of the world grew so profound that Antem felt he might suffocate from it.
But something was not right. The space around him began to warp, as if reality itself could not withstand this halt. Light began to emerge from beneath the floor, and in the depths of this radiance, Antem saw a silhouette.
“You dared…” the same voice that had haunted him before spoke. The figure in the dark cloak reappeared, but now it looked different: tall, majestic, with glowing eyes that pierced through him.
“What have I done?” Antem whispered, unable to look away.
“You have initiated the break,” the figure replied. “But this is just the beginning. And now you have a choice: to shatter the system or to become a part of it.”
Antem felt fear growing within him, but alongside it was something greater—an urge to understand. He knew there was no turning back now.
“I will not be a part of the lie,” he said firmly. “I will destroy it.”
The figure smiled, but there was no joy in its eyes.
“Then you must prepare to lose everything.”
The world began to shift again, but it was no longer the same as before.