— The Truth Room
Riven trailed behind Cory toward the darkest point of the island.
They stopped before an ancient temple carved from deep-blue stone.
Its door looked so old that a touch might reduce it to dust.
Cory lowered his head.
> "From here on… only those chosen as god-candidates may enter, my lord."
Riven didn't answer.
He stepped inside.
The door th slammed shut behind him.
---
A silence so perfect it felt alive.
No light.
No breath.
Not even the faintest echo.
Just an all-consuming darkness.
But when Riven narrowed his eyes, the void began to move.
White lines crawled across the walls, weaving themselves together like threads of a spiderweb.
They connected.
They formed an image—
The moment Riven was born.
---
BIRTH / THE UNVEILED TRUTH
The wall displayed the scene of baby Riven in the birthing chamber.
But something was wrong.
Something that had never appeared in Cory's story.
In the corner stood a being with a white mask.
It wasn't human.
Its face carried no emotion.
And its hand reached toward the newborn Riven.
Riven's breath froze.
> "Who… is that?"
Words etched themselves onto the wall with burning light:
"Ascendance of the Pure Whites — The Selector."
This godlike being…
was trying to take him.
But then—
---
ELIRA'S SACRIFICE
Elira—Riven's mother—threw herself between the god and her child.
Desperation ripped through her voice.
> "You will not take him from me!"
The masked god paused.
Just for a heartbeat.
Then a single ray of light touched Elira's heart.
She collapsed.
Riven's eyes trembled.
> "No… no. My mother didn't die like this…"
The wall did not stop.
When Elira's body went still, a surge of white energy burst from her chest.
The god lifted this energy in his palm and whispered:
"Divine Return."
Elira's life was restored—
But every memory she ever had…
was erased.
And in a trail of divine light, she vanished.
Riven staggered back.
> "…So that's why she can't remember me?"
The glowing script answered:
"Yes."
---
THE TRUTH BEHIND VEL'S DEATH
A new image replaced the scene.
Vel… standing on the edge of a cliff, panting heavily.
And behind him—
The same masked god.
He spoke to Vel.
The sound was muted.
Only his lips moved:
"Cursed beings must not unite."
Then the image cut.
Vel's body dropped into the abyss.
Riven clenched his fists so tightly blood nearly broke the skin.
> "He didn't jump…
The gods killed him."
The wall flickered:
"Correct."
---
THE ORIGIN OF THE CURSE
Darkness swallowed the room again.
A massive symbol spiraled into view—
the shape of an eye woven from swirling void.
Beneath it:
"The Void's Child."
Another line burned into existence:
"Cursed not by evil…
but by the rejection of the gods."
Riven's voice trembled.
> "So I'm cursed because…
the gods refused to claim me?"
The final inscription carved itself onto the wall:
"Their rejection… is your curse."
Riven's entire world shifted.
Everything he had believed—every wound, every sin, every judgment—
had been built on a lie.
---
THE DESTINY STONE
A stone rose from the center of the room.
A single sentence glowed upon it:
> "Cursed children are destined to kill a god."
More lines appeared:
"That is why they fear you."
"That is why they took your mother."
"That is why they killed Vel."
Riven's knees trembled.
But he didn't fall.
The darkness held him up, as if acknowledging him.
---
🌑 RIVEN'S DECISION
Riven slowly raised his head.
His eyes were pitch-black—
but within them flickered shards of blue sky.
He stood tall.
> "Then…"
"I'll fulfill the destiny they fear so much."
He touched the stone.
It cracked instantly.
The entire chamber shattered—
darkness exploding outward like a storm.
Riven's wings burst open, stretching wide.
A blade of shadow split the collapsing walls.
> "If the gods have rejected me…"
"Then I will erase the gods."
Only one verdict lived in his gaze:
> "The first to die…
will be the White-Masked God."
---