The guardian of the Forbidden Stacks descended like a maelstrom of shattered thought, its form shifting between faces Jin Long did not recognize—yet somehow knew. Each shape it took, each scream it let out, tugged at buried memories inside him. It wasn't just a guardian. It was a reflection—of everything he had tried to forget.
Jin Long stepped forward, sword drawn, Genesis Core pulsing in sync with the raw truth he had just uncovered.
"You were the Final Architect," Yue Lan whispered, standing beside him, her hand glowing with light. "You built this Core. You built the defenses. You built this thing to keep your own knowledge hidden."
"I didn't trust even myself," Jin Long said grimly. "That means this guardian won't be defeated with power alone."
The guardian's voice echoed through the chamber like a storm through broken glass.
"Only the one who knows why he built the Core… may pass."
Jin Long lowered his sword.
He remembered now. The war with the Void Sovereigns had been unwinnable. Civilizations were falling like dominos. The Primordials had sealed themselves away. And he, the Architect, had made the Genesis Core—not to destroy the Sovereigns, but to deceive them. It was a trap. A vessel that could mimic the divine—luring the true enemy to reveal itself.
"I created the Core to be a lie powerful enough to attract the truth," he said aloud. "That truth is the Eclipse Mind."
The guardian paused.
"And I created you… to erase that memory from every version of myself. Every timeline. Every world."
The guardian pulsed, form flickering. "Then why have you broken your own seal?"
"Because the Eclipse Mind is returning—and this time, I'm not running from what I did."
With those words, the Genesis Core flared to life.
It wasn't just energy—it was intent. Knowledge. Will. And the Core recognized Jin Long not as a wielder, but as its creator. The energy within him reshaped, not as a tool, but as a legacy reclaimed.
The guardian roared, lunging for him.
But Yue Lan stepped forward, raising both hands. "We're not your enemy anymore. We're your continuation."
The light between them shimmered. The guardian froze—then slowly dissolved into radiant particles, returning to the book it had emerged from.
Jin Long closed the book, breathing hard. His hands trembled—not from fear, but from awakening.
"I built the Core to bait a god," he murmured. "Now I have to finish what I started."
Yue Lan looked at him, both fear and wonder in her eyes. "Then we need to get to the Observatory. That's where the timelines converge. That's where the Eclipse Mind will strike."
He nodded.
As they climbed from the depths of the Forbidden Stacks, the world around them shifted. The stars above twisted into unfamiliar constellations. The balance of fate had changed the moment Jin Long remembered.
And far in the distant void… something stirred.
A thought, old as time itself.
A whisper.
"The Architect has awakened. Let the unmaking begin."