The doors swung open with a low groan, and a wave of energy rolled out, pressing against me like an invisible tide. For a moment, I hesitated, my body frozen at the threshold. The woman's words echoed in my mind: The truth changes everything.
I stepped inside.
The chamber was vast, impossibly so. It felt as though I had entered another dimension entirely. Stars hung suspended in a sea of darkness, their light casting faint, shifting patterns on the floor beneath me. The ground wasn't solid—it was more like a shimmering surface of liquid glass, rippling with every step I took.
At the center of the chamber was a pedestal, and atop it rested a sphere, glowing with a pulsating, golden light. It was mesmerizing, yet foreboding. The sphere seemed alive, its glow breathing in tandem with the rhythm of my own heart.
"You've reached the heart of the cycle," a voice said.
I spun around. The woman stood at the entrance, her hood no longer concealing her face. Her features were sharp, almost otherworldly, her eyes swirling with a kaleidoscope of colors. She looked at me, not with malice, but with something closer to pity.
"What is this?" I asked, gesturing to the sphere. My voice echoed unnaturally in the chamber, as if the walls were absorbing my words.
"This," she said, walking toward the pedestal, her movements graceful and deliberate, "is the anchor of your loop. The core of the prison you've been trapped in. It holds every fragment of time you've experienced, every choice you've made, every consequence you've faced."
My eyes narrowed. "If this is the core, then destroying it will free me, won't it?"
She tilted her head, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Yes… and no."
I clenched my fists. "Stop speaking in riddles."
Her gaze softened, and she reached out, placing her hand gently on the sphere. Instantly, images exploded into existence around us—snapshots of moments I recognized from my countless loops. Conversations, actions, failures. They swirled around us like a storm, flickering in and out of focus.
"Breaking the loop will free you," she said, her voice low and steady, "but freedom comes at a cost. This loop exists for a reason. It's not just your prison—it's your protection."
"Protection?" I asked, my voice rising. "Protection from what?"
She stepped aside, letting me approach the pedestal. "Touch it," she said. "See for yourself."
Every instinct screamed at me to stay back, but curiosity—and desperation—won out. Slowly, I reached forward, my fingertips brushing against the sphere. The moment I made contact, the world around me shattered.
I was standing in the middle of a battlefield.
The sky above was a chaotic swirl of black and crimson, torn apart by unnatural storms. The ground was littered with bodies—human, alien, and things I couldn't begin to describe. Giant mechanical constructs loomed in the distance, their silhouettes glowing with an eerie, blue light.
I turned, and there I saw it.
A monstrous entity towered over the landscape, its form shifting and pulsating like a living shadow. Its eyes burned with a malevolent light, and its presence was suffocating. Around it, the air seemed to fracture, reality bending and breaking under its sheer power.
"This," the woman's voice whispered, though she was nowhere to be seen, "is what your loop is protecting you from."
I staggered back, my heart pounding. "What is that thing?"
"It's called the Eviscerator," she said, her tone grim. "An entity beyond comprehension. It exists outside of time, feeding on the collapse of reality itself. Your loop… your endless cycles… were designed to keep it contained."
I couldn't breathe. "Designed by who?"
She appeared beside me, her expression unreadable. "By those who came before. Beings who understood the fragility of time and the dangers of tampering with it. They created the loop, anchoring you to this prison, because you are the key. You are the anomaly."
I shook my head, stepping back. "No. No, this can't be real. I'm just—just a person! I didn't ask for any of this!"
Her eyes met mine, filled with a strange mix of sorrow and resolve. "You didn't ask for it, Ethan. But you were chosen. Your existence is a paradox, a ripple in the fabric of time. That's why the loop was created—to keep the Eviscerator at bay, to use your paradox to anchor reality."
The weight of her words crashed over me, leaving me reeling. "So, if I break the loop…"
"The Eviscerator will be unleashed," she said, finishing my thought. "And not just here. Across all realities. Time itself will unravel."
I turned back to the battlefield, my mind racing. "But if I stay in the loop… if I keep going through this… I'll never be free."
She nodded. "That is the cost of your existence. Freedom… or survival. The choice is yours."
I stood there, staring at the glowing sphere on the pedestal, my hand trembling. The Guardians had given me the first test. The woman had given me the truth. Now, it was my decision.
The loop was my prison, but it was also the world's salvation.
"Ethan," the woman said softly, her voice almost gentle now. "What will you choose?"
I looked back at her, then at the sphere. The weight of the decision was crushing, but deep down, I knew there was no easy answer.
The cycle wasn't just about me anymore. It never had been.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself.
And I made my choice.