The light pulsing at the heart of Eternity was not just light—it was a reflection of something far greater, a force that existed beyond space and time. But this light was fading. And with it, the Eternal Garden was weakening.
Emiren stood still, feeling the currents of possibilities coursing through him. He saw endless futures—some where the Garden thrived, others where it was erased from reality, and some that held no meaning at all, only infinite chaos.
Behind him, Flamen and the Hollow stood frozen. They sensed something as well, but their attention was not on the Heart—it was on what was approaching.
The Shadows.
They were no longer just formless smudges in the darkness. Now they had shapes—tall figures dissolving into time itself. Their faces were impossible to distinguish, yet their presence was undeniable.
— They have come for the Heart, — Flamen whispered, his palms already burning with fire.
The Hollow said nothing, but his gaze was fixed on the largest of the shadows. This one moved differently from the others. It did not dissolve into reality; instead, it altered it simply by existing. Wherever it stepped, cracks spread through the air, as though time itself was crumbling beneath its weight.
— It’s him, — the Hollow said. — The One Who Bears the Void.
A name never spoken aloud. Not just an enemy, but something that had always existed—beyond life, beyond death.
Emiren clenched his fists.
— If he touches the Heart, it’s over.
— Then we won’t let him, — Flamen raised his hands, and the flames around him burned brighter.
But the One Who Bears the Void had already taken his first step toward the Heart of Eternity.
A Rift in Time
It all happened in an instant.
Flamen launched a fire blast, but the flames simply died out before reaching their target.
— He extinguishes the very essence of existence, — the Hollow said. — We can’t fight him like an enemy.
Then Emiren did something unexpected.
He closed his eyes and touched the Heart.
In that moment, the world tore apart.
He felt his mind slipping through the fabric of reality. He saw events that had never happened, people who had lived and died in worlds that had never existed. He saw versions of himself—some weak, others all-powerful.
And amidst this chaos, he searched…
For the right moment.
The only future where they could win.
A Nameless Shadow
When he opened his eyes, he understood.
He could not destroy the One Who Bears the Void.
But he could make it so that he had never existed.
— Help me, — he whispered.
Flamen and the Hollow looked at him, but there was no doubt in their eyes.
Emiren raised his hands to the Heart of Eternity.
And he whispered a word that had never existed in any possible future.
The Shadow’s true name.
The world trembled.
The One Who Bears the Void recoiled. His form began to change, to blur, as though something was pulling him out of reality itself.
He tried to scream, but there was no voice. Because he no longer existed.
The End?
Silence fell.
Flamen swayed slightly, the fire in his hands extinguished.
— What have we done?
The Hollow closed his eyes.
— We have rewritten Eternity.
Emiren could feel everything shifting around them. The Eternal Garden was reviving. The Heart pulsed with a light that no longer faded.
But he knew.
Something remained.
He could feel it inside him.
The echo of the One Who Bears the Void.
And this was only the beginning.