" Day the Broken Realm Trembled"
The Broken Realm had always been unstable, like a giant glass world filled with cracks. People lived on floating shards, drifting islands, broken pieces of ancient continents, and sky-bridges made of leftover laws of creation. Everyone accepted the realm was fragile. Everyone accepted danger was normal.
But today, the realm itself felt different.
It felt… scared.
Even the sky changed color—turning from silver-blue to a deep shade of twilight, as if day and night fused into one. The winds were too silent. The ground had tiny vibrations, like something massive was trying to wake up below the surface.
And all of it began because one boy had returned.
Leo.
Everyone who watched the live surveillance feeds, everyone who sensed the sudden shift in the cosmic aura, everyone who felt space bending for a single second… they all came to the same terrifying truth:
"He has come back."
Whether they understood who "he" truly was did not matter. The realm itself recognized him, and that was enough to spread fear.
But Leo stood quietly on the edge of the ruined sky-bridge, staring toward the direction of the Dawn Nexus. His hood was still up, covering most of his face. His steps were calm. His breathing steady.
Nothing about him looked dangerous.
Yet everything about the world reacted to him like a living nightmare.
Behind him, Milo and Arin struggled to walk straight. The pressure leaking from Leo wasn't intentional, but even the tiny drop he couldn't fully hide was too much for normal people.
"L-Leo…" Arin whispered, wiping sweat from his forehead. "You're releasing something again…"
Leo paused, exhaled, and lowered the energy in his body. The pressure immediately vanished.
"Sorry," he said softly. "Still trying to control it."
Milo forced a laugh, trying to hide his fear. "Bro… it feels like my bones were screaming. How can you call that 'still trying'?"
Leo didn't reply. His mind was somewhere else—somewhere far deeper than the physical world.
Inside him, "Nothingness" stirred again.
It wasn't an energy, not exactly. It was an existence, an essence, a truth. It did not glow or shine. It simply erased. The more Leo used it, the more reality became thin around him.
And this time, it wasn't reacting because of danger.
It was reacting because the realm was calling him.
As if sensing a missing piece returning to its place.
Leo closed his eyes.
This realm… it's changing because of me. Even though I don't want that… not yet.
---
Somewhere Else — Deep in the Broken Core
The meeting hall of the Eight Observers shook violently.
These were not ordinary people. They were high-level guardians, watchers, and keepers of the realm. Some were ancient. Some were born from cosmic remnants. Some were half-constructed beings created from laws.
But even they stood in silence.
In the center of the hall floated a giant, broken crystal sphere showing the image of Leo walking across the sky-bridge.
Elder Vara's voice trembled as she watched. "This… this aura cannot belong to a mortal."
"Not aura," corrected Observer Kael, his face pale. "The system readings refused to classify it. Only one term appeared repeatedly: 'undefined.'"
The last observer, wearing a mask of shifting symbols, whispered:
"The Fragment Bearer walks again. The Realm remembers."
And with that single sentence, every observer felt a cold shiver.
---
Back to Leo
He reached the end of the bridge where a young guard was standing. The guard's hands shook uncontrollably as Leo approached.
Leo offered him a friendly smile. "Is the Dawn Nexus entry open?"
The guard swallowed hard. "Y-Yes… yes, sir… please enter."
Leo nodded and walked past him.
But then something strange happened.
The guard collapsed to his knees.
Not because of fear.
Not because of pressure.
But because he suddenly received a memory — not his own.
A vision burst inside his mind: a broken star, a throne of shadows, and a shining figure standing alone against a cosmic storm.
Leo.
The guard gasped loudly.
"What… what was that…?"
Leo didn't turn around.
The guard was not the only one.
Hundreds of people across the realm suddenly experienced flashes of memories they never lived.
The realm wasn't just trembling now.
It was remembering him.
---
Inside the Dawn Nexus
The Nexus was a giant ruined structure, half temple, half machine, and half living creature. Its many halls were carved with symbols no one could read—symbols older than the realm itself. Streams of light flowed like rivers inside, each one representing data, history, or fragments of law.
Leo walked through the halls, and the entire building started… shifting.
Walls moved.
Symbols brightened.
Voices whispered.
Milo grabbed Arin's arm tightly. "Bro… why does it feel like this place—"
"—is bowing to him?" Arin finished.
Leo stopped walking.
He turned to them, expression serious.
"You two stay here."
Arin blinked. "Why?"
"Because what I'm about to see… you're not ready to see it."
Milo gulped. "Is it dangerous?"
"Maybe," Leo answered honestly. "Or maybe it's just something that was waiting for me."
He stepped forward, and the giant doors at the end of the hallway opened automatically. A cold wind blew through the gap, carrying dust, old whispers, and a strange feeling—like stepping into the past of someone else.
As Leo entered, the doors closed behind him with a heavy boom.
---
The Core Chamber
The chamber was round, with floating crystal fragments circling slowly like stars in a galaxy. In the center stood a pedestal, cracked and covered in dust. Above it floated a pitch-black cube—the size of a fist, but its presence felt infinite.
Leo walked closer.
The cube pulsed once.
And the entire chamber darkened for a second.
Then a voice echoed in Leo's head:
"You have returned… Fragment of Nothing."
Leo frowned. "You're… awake again."
The cube vibrated.
"The Realm trembles because it recognizes the paradox walking inside it."
Leo lowered his gaze.
He knew the meaning.
He understood the danger.
"Was it my fault that the realm reacted like this?" he asked.
"Partially," the cube replied. "Your existence is incompatible with incomplete realms. They will always respond to you instinctively."
Leo sighed softly.
"I didn't come here for a lecture. I came for answers."
The cube pulsed again, brighter this time.
"Ask."
Leo clenched his fist.
"Someone is watching me. Someone powerful. Someone who made the entire realm aware of me the moment I walked outside. Who was it?"
The cube fell silent for a moment before answering.
"The one watching you was not an enemy."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Then who?"
"A witness."
"A… witness?"
"Yes. One who remembers the truth that even you have forgotten."
Leo's heart tightened.
He knew what the cube meant.
He had memories missing.
Not normal memories—cosmic memories.
The day he transcended.
The day he surpassed "absolute."
The day he erased something too dangerous for any realm to know.
The cube continued:
"He is tied to your past. To the battle that broke the great timeline. To Ella's fate. To Max's rebellion. To the origin of Nothingness."
Leo's breathing slowed.
The connection lines were forming.
And then—
"His name…"
The cube whispered loudly, as if the whole chamber was speaking:
"…is The Witness of Endings."
The air shook.
The crystals cracked.
Even the pedestal began to crumble.
Leo's eyes widened.
"That monster is still alive?"
"Not alive."
The cube corrected him.
"He never lived. He simply observes. And he has found you again."
Leo stepped back.
A cold dread crawled up his spine—not fear, but something older, something deeper.
The Witness of Endings wasn't a villain.
Wasn't a hero.
Wasn't even a being.
He was a concept.
The embodiment of "the moment something dies."
Wherever he appeared, something important was about to end.
Leo whispered: "Then he must be here because…"
The cube finished his sentence:
"…something in this realm is reaching its final chapter."
---
Outside the Chamber — Milo & Arin
The hallway trembled violently.
Cracks spread across the floor as if something giant was awakening under the Nexus. Milo grabbed the wall to keep balance.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?"
Arin stared at the giant doors Leo entered.
"He's doing something inside," Arin muttered. "Something the realm can't handle."
Suddenly, the lights in the hallway flickered.
A voice echoed from the far end of the corridor:
"Step away from the door."
Milo and Arin turned around sharply.
A man stood there, tall, wrapped in a dark cloak. His face was hidden by a hood with silver markings. His presence was calm… too calm.
But there was something unnatural about him.
Something wrong.
Arin's voice cracked. "Who… who are you?"
The man tilted his head, as if confused by the question.
"I am not here to harm you," he said. His voice carried no emotion. "I am simply fulfilling my role."
Milo gulped nervously. "W-What role?"
The man raised his head slightly.
For the first time, they saw his eyes—empty, colorless, like staring into a blank page before a story begins.
"I am The Witness."
Arin froze.
Milo felt his heartbeat stop.
But The Witness didn't approach them.
He simply stared at the closed door Leo had walked through.
And then he spoke words that made the entire realm shake:
"I am here to witness the end of this era."
---
Inside the Chamber — Leo's Reaction
Leo felt the entire hall tremble violently.
He turned toward the door.
"He's here… isn't he?"
The cube flickered rapidly.
"Yes."
Leo closed his hand into a fist.
"Then this realm… is in greater danger than I thought."