The Mark of the Unknown
The Broken Realm was quieter than usual.
Leo, Max, and Lyra walked through the floating forest, stepping carefully on the glowing dust leaves that made soft cracking sounds under their feet. The air felt heavier than before, as if something was watching them from far away.
Lyra kept looking around nervously.
"Today feels wrong…" she whispered.
Max groaned, rubbing his shoulder. "Everything in this world feels wrong. The sky is cracked, the ground floats, and trees grow upside down. Of course it feels wrong!"
Leo didn't speak.
He couldn't.
Something inside him had changed after the fight with the Hunters of Ruin.
His body felt heavier, his head felt warm, and sometimes—just for a moment—he heard a distant heartbeat that wasn't his.
A deep, slow thump… thump… thump…
Like a giant heart in the void.
Lyra stopped walking.
"Leo," she said softly, "your aura… it isn't normal anymore."
Leo blinked. "Aura? I don't even know what that is."
Lyra frowned.
"You're glowing. Just a little, but… something awakened inside you."
Max stepped in front of Leo like a shield.
"Hey hey hey—don't say scary things like that. He's already freaking out!"
Leo sighed. "I'm not freaking out…"
A faint ripple shook the air behind them.
All three froze.
"Did you hear that?" Max whispered.
Lyra slowly turned.
At first, nothing was there.
Then the air split—
CRACK!
A thin line of silver light sliced open the space behind them, glowing and humming like a broken star.
Max almost fell backward.
"BRO—WHY IS REALITY CRACKING AGAIN?!"
Leo stepped closer, drawn to it.
The crack was shaped like the mark that appeared on Ella's photo.
The same symbol.
A twisted spiral.
A silent echo.
A sign that something powerful had touched their world.
"What does this mean?" Leo asked quietly.
Lyra's voice trembled.
"That… is not normal energy. That is the mark of a higher being."
"A higher being?" Leo repeated.
Lyra nodded slowly.
"There are normal gods… realm gods… absolute beings… but above all of them, there exists a myth. A legend. A being who travels across timelines, universes, and realities."
Leo's chest tightened.
He didn't know why…
but he felt like she was describing someone he already knew.
Lyra continued,
"He is nameless. Faceless. Unknown.
But the Hunters of Ruin call him—
The Unknown God."
Max gulped loudly.
"God? Like… actual god? The strongest of the strong?"
Lyra nodded.
"Some say he once destroyed entire universes with a single step. Some say he healed timelines with a single breath. Some say he is not even a being—just a silent force that even the Absolute cannot understand."
Leo felt cold.
Lyra pointed at the crack.
"And that symbol? That same shape you saw on your photo?"
She swallowed.
"That is the symbol said to appear wherever the Unknown God interferes."
Max's jaw dropped.
"Leo… bro… does that mean a GOD is stalking you?!"
Leo swallowed hard.
"It appeared on my photo… and now here… That means…"
He didn't finish.
Because the crack widened.
A whisper came out.
A whisper that didn't belong to this world.
"You cannot run from your fate, child."
Lyra grabbed Leo's arm, panicked.
"DON'T LISTEN—CLOSE YOUR EARS!"
Max jumped in front of Leo again.
"HEY! Unknown-whatever! Stop whispering at my bro!"
The crack pulsed.
Silver light burst out—
—but it didn't attack.
Instead, it formed a shape…
a small floating sigil…
the same spiral symbol as before.
It hovered in front of Leo like it was choosing him.
Lyra whispered,
"It's a… mark."
Leo frowned. "Mark?"
Lyra nodded.
"A connection. A thread. A message."
Max scratched his head.
"Bro… what kind of message does a cosmic god leave? Good morning?"
Leo reached out and touched the sigil.
The moment his finger brushed the light—
FLASH!
A wave of images exploded in his mind:
Ruined worlds.
Broken timelines.
A giant shadow sitting alone in the void.
A hand reaching out to him.
A voice saying:
"Grow, so you may survive what comes next."
Leo gasped and stumbled back.
Max caught him.
"LEO! HEY! Are you okay?!"
Lyra looked terrified.
"What did you see…?"
Leo's voice shook.
"I… I saw someone…"
Lyra held her breath.
"Who?"
Leo took a deep breath.
"…Someone sitting alone in endless darkness. Someone far, far above anything I can imagine."
Max stuttered.
"Bro… you saw the Unknown God… didn't you?"
Leo didn't answer.
He only looked at his hands.
They were glowing faint silver.
Lyra said softly:
"Leo… you're not just a traveler anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"You're marked."
Leo stared at the fading crack.
Lyra continued,
"And beings who are marked by the Unknown God… are hunted by every other realm."
Max yelled,
"AGAIN?! Why can't we just have one normal day? WHY?!"
Leo swallowed.
"…Why me?"
The wind blew softly.
The sigil faded.
The crack closed.
But the words still echoed inside Leo's mind:
Grow. Survive. Become more.
Leo tightened his fist.
Whatever this being was—god, monster, or something else—
He was watching Leo.
And now the entire Broken Realm would know.
This was only the beginning.