Chapter 53
Author: Ugo Lee
last update2025-09-14 01:05:47

Darkness. Not empty darkness, but a thick, heavy void that pressed against Everett’s skin.

He couldn’t feel the ground beneath him, nor the air in his lungs. His body floated in a vast space that wasn’t space at all, it pulsed, glowing faintly with veins of light, like the inside of a living crystal.

He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Only fire burned in his chest, bright and violent, clashing with the cool hum around him. The voice came again. “Warden. Key. Everett Crest.”

Each name struck like thunder. The sound wasn’t from outside, it was inside him, reverberating through his bones, his veins, his thoughts.

Everett clutched his head, trembling. “Stop it! I’m not your Warden! I’m not your Key! I’m me, I’m Everett Crest!”

The glow shifted around him. Shapes formed out of the crystal walls, faces, bodies, echoes. He saw soldiers with glowing eyes, their mouths moving in unison.

He saw the Shroud, screaming his name with madness. He saw the steel-woman, her eyes sh
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