Darkness. Silence. Stillness.
Time had either stopped... or something had shattered it.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in a vast, white glowing plain. No walls. No sky. No horizon. Just endless emptiness stretching in all directions.
"Tomo...? Aika...? Is anyone there?"
My voice echoed weakly—devoured by the void. No reply. Just a faint pulse, like a heartbeat thumping in the distance.
Dhump... dhump...
Then, behind me... a voice spoke. Familiar, yet hollow. Like life had been drained from it.
Echo:
"This is where it all began... and this is where it ends."
I turned.
He was standing there—Echo. My face. My eyes. But not my soul. He looked like me… but felt like death.
"You again...?" I muttered, my fists clenched. "I didn't come here to become someone like you."
Echo tilted his head slightly, as if amused.
Echo:
"No. You won't become me. You'll speak, you'll fight, you'll fall... and then I'll become what you never could."
Suddenly, a black distortion surged between us. A shape formed within it—a swirling figure with no body, no face. Just chaos in motion.
Spiral.
Spiral (distorted voice):
"Choices aren't made... they're taken. And both of you—are just fragments of one."
My grip tightened around the rod in my hand. Something within me clicked.
"I see now," I said, my tone colder than before. "Spiral isn't a villain... he's the trial of time itself. And only those who survive him... write the next chapter."
Echo raised his hand, eyes glowing with dark clarity.
Echo:
"Then let's begin... your trial."
The battle exploded.
Echo moved like lightning—fluid, sharp, relentless. I barely blocked each strike, my arms trembling under the force. Every hit felt like it came from a future I couldn't see.
Then—Tomo's voice rang in my ear.
Tomo (calmly):
"Aren. Echo will always be one step ahead of you. But you can feel him. Don't fight him... predict him."
Don't fight. Feel.
I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing in the silence between strikes. Then I sensed him—his intent, his angle, his heartbeat.
When the next attack came, I stepped aside—just a second early—and drove my rod straight into his chest.
Echo (staggering):
"...You learned."
"I'm becoming the version of me I was meant to be," I said, my breath heavy but steady.
And then—everything froze.
Above us, the sky cracked open, revealing a massive glowing spiral—an eye of light, watching.
Spiral:
"Aren... you've survived the first turn."
A powerful pulse rippled through the space, distorting everything. The white world began to fade.
Then—another voice echoed into the void.
Deep. Calm. Powerful.
??? (off-screen):
"So this is the boy... who's shaking time itself?"
The scene shifted.
Now, we were in a dark room—shadows dancing along cracked stone walls. A tall figure stood in the center. Just a silhouette. In his hand, a glowing trident pulsed with unknown energy.
Tomo (warning):
"Aren… distortion reading: extreme. Identity: Unknown. But… power level—beyond limits."
I swallowed hard.
(Who... is he?)
The silhouette stepped forward slightly, a faint smile in his voice.
Voice:
"I am... Arka."
The view pulled back—sky above torn apart, time itself spiraling like a broken clock.
And then, inglowing text:
> "To be continued in Volume 2 – When Time Breaks Again"**
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Volume 1 – END