CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINE Sylphria's body began to disperse yet again. From the emptiness, her voice echoed, resounding deep within their very bone marrow. “The heart is changed. To the last step of rebirth under the flames. The bones are separated and reforged. This will create a brand new start for each. It doesn't matter if it's a rebirth or a loop. A second chance requires a mind, body, and bone marrow cleansing. Each has to undergo their various cleansings to succeed in achieving what they think they deserve. Ahahaha!” For Zane, the void resolved into a narrow corridor made of jagged white stone that resembled interlocking ribs. He took a step forward, but his legs felt heavy, as if the marrow inside them had been replaced with lead. It was a labyrinth of his own choices. Every crossroad he approached offered no paths to the left or right, but rather visions of his past—moments where he had hesitated, moments where he had ignored his own desires just to please people. Th

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENDarkness consumed the chamber so completely that Zane could no longer tell whether his eyes were open or closed. The floor vanished beneath his feet.The air disappeared from his skin. Even the distant presence of Trigger faded into nothing.For several moments, Zane remained motionless, waiting for the next attack. None came. The darkness simply remained.Then, a voice spoke. “Zane Vaughn.” His eyes narrowed.The voice sounded familiar. It was his own voice. A second Zane stepped out from the darkness.The figure looked identical in every detail. The same black hair. The same darkness in his eyes. The same posture. Even the expression was exactly the same.“You failed,” the shadow said calmly.Zane frowned. “What?”“You failed.” The duplicate took another step forward.“Edgar is in Hell.” Another step.“Jinx is in Hell.” Another. “You couldn't save either of them.”The words struck Zane in his weak spot. Not because they were lies but because they were

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENThe memory fractured, bleeding rapidly into a different scene.Months had passed. Marcus was sitting in a dimly lit room where he was invited by a few stern individuals dressed in stark black robes.They stated coldly that they needed his brilliant mind and specialized expertise to break down a complex, experimental project and redefine its core framework.Skeptical but driven by ambition, he agreed. But the moment he arrived at the secret underground base, his blood turned to ice.Travis and Marylyn were already there. They were standing side by side at a central laboratory table, their notes intertwined. Everyone in the facility whispered about them, constantly calling them the perfect pair.Marcus hated it. He loathed every single second of it. For weeks, he endured the torturous sight of their shared smiles, the collective praise, and the suffocating reality of his own displacement. Until the dam finally broke.The scene shifted to a secluded corri

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENThe sky tore entirely open, trading the blinding white snow for an oppressive, pitch-black firmament.Thick, sentient streaks of red lightning began to rain down upon the frozen plateau like an unleashed beast, exploding against the stone floor in a fit of vengeance for the slain guardian.“Give me the keys!” Marcus roared over the deafening thunder, his back pressed tight against the colossal gateway. “The trial has changed! Hand them over before this entire mountain collapses on our heads!”Trigger adjusted her stance, keeping her body firmly between the traitor and Zane, who was still kneeling in a trance. “You think we're stupid, Marcus? You just tried to sacrifice us to save your own skin!”“The blank slate cracked, didn't it?” Zane muttered, his eyes suddenly snapping open.The celestial knowledge of centuries of forbidden history—the truth of the Empedocles, the fall of humanity, and the sanctuary of Hell—now poured in his gaze.He surged to his

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEENThe damp stone of the dungeon cell felt completely dead beneath Zane's palms, lacking even a shred of natural heat. Trigger leaned her back against the jagged wall, her eyes still clouded by exhaustion.“If the weather manual isn't real, Zane,” Trigger whispered, her breath turning to a faint vapor in the sterile air, “then what is the apocalypse? Why did the surface freeze over like a frost graveyard?”Zane stared down at the cold stone floor, the vast reservoirs of Sylphria’s memories sorting themselves out behind his eyes. “It’s a resetting cycle. The apocalypse on Earth is a punishment from the divine beings of the Empedocles—the primordial elements of fire, earth, water, and air. When the collective sins of humanity become too overweight for the world to bear, they bring a massive catastrophe. A wildfire, a frost apocalypse, a global hurricane, a volcanic eruption... it’s all designed to punish mortals and force them to mend their ways. The ice