The fury of the Door shook the prison.
Entire sections of the fractured sky cracked under the force of its roar. Silver chains erupted from ancient layers of the seal, wrapping tighter around the abyss below as though the prison itself feared what might happen if the creature spoke.
And that realization alone sent a chill through Dominic.
The prison was restraining it.
But was it silencing it too?
The Observer remained motionless.
Calm.
Watching.
Waiting.
The Door's countless eyes locked onto her.
Pure hatred burned within them.
Not fear.
Not survival instinct.
Hatred.
Ancient and absolute.
Marcus slowly pointed downward.
"…Okay."
A pause.
"That's definitely not the expression of someone who wants a reasonable discussion."
No one laughed.
Because everyone felt it.
The hatred was real.
The Observer looked toward Dominic again.
"Ask it."
The Door immediately roared.
Reality bent around the sound.
The prison strained.
"Ask it what happened before your creator found it."
Silence followed.
The synchronization pulsed heavily.
Dominic could feel the hidden layer responding.
Not guiding.
Listening.
Leila stepped closer beside him.
"You think the First Warden lied."
The Observer shook her head.
"No."
A pause.
"I think he only learned half the story."
Below them, the abyss erupted again.
Darkness surged upward violently.
The claw slammed against the prison walls.
Cracks spread through the seal.
The Door was desperate.
And suddenly Dominic realized something.
The Door had interrupted every explanation.
Every revelation.
Every discussion.
But it had never actually defended itself.
Not once.
The realization settled heavily over him.
The Door always reacted with force.
Never answers.
The Observer noticed his expression.
And nodded.
"Good."
The Door's roar intensified.
LIAR.
The word thundered across existence.
Everyone froze.
Marcus blinked.
"…Wait."
A pause.
"It can actually talk normally?"
Silence.
Because until now—
The Door had always spoken in cryptic declarations.
Ancient warnings.
Fragments.
This was different.
The Observer tilted her head.
"Then explain."
The Door trembled.
The countless eyes narrowed.
For a long moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
A memory erupted from the abyss.
The battlefield vanished.
Not completely.
Just enough.
Reality bent around them.
A vision formed.
Ancient.
Older than the prison.
Older than the balance.
Dominic saw endless realities stretching through existence.
Beautiful.
Alive.
Expanding.
Then the Observers appeared.
Thousands of them.
Millions.
Moving between universes.
At first—
Nothing happened.
Then worlds began disappearing.
Consumed.
Erased.
Leila gasped.
Marcus pointed immediately.
"SEE?!"
The Observer remained silent.
The vision continued.
More realities vanished.
More stars disappeared.
Entire dimensions collapsed.
Death followed wherever the Observers traveled.
The Door's voice echoed through the memory.
THEY DESTROYED EVERYTHING.
The abyss shook violently.
I WARNED THEM.
The vision shifted.
Dominic saw the Door as it once existed.
Not imprisoned.
Not corrupted.
Free.
A living bridge between realities.
It moved through existence carrying warnings.
Guiding worlds away from danger.
Trying to stop the spread.
And then—
The vision changed again.
A universe died.
Then another.
Then another.
The Observers consumed them all.
Marcus crossed his arms immediately.
"Okay."
A pause.
"I am officially back on Team Door."
But the Observer still wasn't reacting.
Which bothered Dominic.
Because she wasn't denying any of it.
The vision ended.
Reality returned.
The prison trembled.
The Door's voice thundered.
THEY FEED.
THEY CONSUME.
THEY END WORLDS.
The Observer finally sighed.
"Yes."
The battlefield froze again.
Even the Door seemed momentarily surprised.
The Observer looked toward Dominic.
"I told you that already."
Silence.
Leila frowned.
"You aren't denying it?"
"No."
The Observer's gaze remained steady.
"We consume dying realities."
The Door roared.
LIE.
The Observer looked upward.
Almost tired.
Then she raised her hand.
A second memory appeared.
And immediately—
Everyone realized something was different.
This memory wasn't showing the same events.
It was showing what happened before them.
Before the worlds died.
Before the consumption.
Before the collapse.
The realities were already failing.
Entire universes were decaying from within.
Stars dying prematurely.
Dimensions unraveling.
Possibility shrinking.
Life disappearing.
The Observer looked toward them.
"They always show the end."
The vision expanded.
Countless dying realities filled existence.
Not destroyed.
Dying.
Natural extinction accelerated over unimaginable ages.
Then the Observers arrived.
And consumed what remained.
The Door's fury shook the prison.
Because this memory contradicted its own.
Not completely.
Just enough.
Dominic stared at the two visions.
The synchronization pulsed.
The hidden layer analyzed.
Compared.
Measured.
And then something terrifying happened.
The hidden layer did not reject either memory.
Both were genuine.
Both were real.
Both had happened.
Leila felt the same realization through the bond.
"They're both telling the truth."
Silence followed.
The Observer nodded.
The Door roared.
And Dominic suddenly understood why this war had lasted so long.
Because neither side was lying.
They simply disagreed about what should happen when reality begins to die.
And somewhere between those two truths—
The fate of existence waited.