Abigail's POV
Time: Moments after the Collapse of Nullis Aeternum
---
The walls trembled.
Not physically—but in essence.
A sickening pressure washed over the dungeon like a pulse from the end of time itself.
I dropped the stale bread from my trembling hands. My chains rattled. The air turned thin, then heavy. My ears rang. My vision blurred.
"What… is this…?"
I looked up toward the ceiling, though I knew it was useless. The sensations weren't from above.
They came from beyond.
Something ancient had moved.
No—ended.
The guards around me collapsed, choking. Screaming. One of them bled from his eyes, crawling back toward the wall.
And then—
A holographic screen flared to life.
[Emergency Transmission – System Instability]
:: CODE BLACK: TRANSCENDENTAL IMPACT DETECTED ::
:: TARGET: SAMUEL GEBB – UNDEFINED REALM RETURNED – CORE ASCENSION UNLOCKED ::
:: RESULT: ENTITY "ETERNAL REFLECTION" TERMINATED ::
:: SYSTEM NEXUS… SHAKEN ::
The screen blinked twice. Then flickered.
And showed him.
Samuel.
Emerging from a black gateway, his cloak torn, his gauntlets steaming, eyes no longer violet—but deep, ancient gold, like he had stared into the roots of creation and didn't blink.
His expression wasn't rage. Or madness.
It was something worse.
Absolute Stillness.
Like the world around him no longer had any weight.
Like even the gods had to pause before they dared speak to him.
I gasped.
My knees buckled.
"No… it can't be… that place was a myth… it's not possible…"
"He was supposed to be broken."
"He was supposed to suffer…"
I clutched my chest as my heart raced painfully. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't blink.
Then the screen whispered something meant only for me—
"You watched him fall. Now watch him rise—without you."
Tears spilled from my eyes, and I couldn't even wipe them.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
Samuel Gebb was transcending.
And I was trapped down here—chained to my regrets, my betrayal, and the ghost of what we used to be.
_______________________________________
Samuel's POV
Location: Unknown – Beyond the Nullis Aeternum
Realm: Seat of the System Architects
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The gateway wasn't made of stone or magic.
It was made of concepts.
Every step I took forward bled my existence across time, across versions of myself that could've been. I saw flickers—
Samuel the King.
Samuel the Monster.
Samuel who died.
Samuel who never left Abigail.
Samuel who never picked up a blade.
Samuel who never met Roselle.
Samuel who broke.
Samuel who ruled the stars.
But I didn't stop.
Not until I reached the Nexus Chamber—a place that wasn't in the universe. It was the needlepoint around which it spun.
I stood on a platform made of shifting threads—data, memory, fate, and soul, all woven into a divine circuit.
Before me were six thrones.
Only one was occupied.
A being with a face ever-changing. Male. Female. Neither. All.
"Welcome, Samuel Gebb," it spoke, its voice overlapping with itself like a choir trapped in a mirror.
"Dark Knight. Breaker of Fate. Sovereign of the Self."
I stepped forward.
"You're one of the Architects, aren't you?"
"You made the System."
The entity nodded.
"We did. Long ago. To control power... to restrict chaos... to guide existence through cycles. But you've done something we didn't account for."
I narrowed my eyes. "I broke it."
"No. You transcended it."
There was a long pause.
I clenched my fists.
"Then answer me."
"Why Dark Knight? Why that class? Why that path?"
The Architect tilted its head.
"Because you were never meant to be a savior… nor a villain."
"You were meant to walk in shadow… while protecting light."
"The Dark Knight is not the warrior of destruction. He is the warrior of burden. Of memory. Of regret."
"He is the one who carries the sword when no one else can."
"That is who you are."
I looked down at my hands. Felt the power tremble inside them.
Then I asked the real question.
"And now that I've gone beyond… past the System's leash…"
I looked the Architect straight in its glitching, divine eyes.
"Can I go back?
To my old world?
With no restrictions. No surveillance. No resets. No forced forgetfulness?"
The Architect was silent for a long time.
Then it said:
"You are no longer tethered to rules. You are no longer a product of code or prophecy. You are now a Free Entity."
A window opened before me.
[WARNING: Return to Origin World – Dimensional Breach Will Occur]
[No System Limitations – You Will Retain All Powers, Memories, and Forms]
[Reality-Bending Presence Will Be Noticed Instantly By Those Sensitive to Fate or Divine Law]
Proceed?
I stared at the prompt.
A thousand thoughts in my head.
Roselle. Abigail. My enemies. My allies.
My past.
My future.
I took a deep breath, and said:
"Yes."
"Let the old world see who I've become."
And the Architect smiled.
As the portal home tore open, carved from the fabric of creation itself, the voice whispered one last thing—
"Samuel Gebb is dead."
"Only the Knight Eternal remains."