Chapter 2 – Echoes of the Forsaken Era
The sky above the central continent bled crimson. Not from sunset, but from imbalance.
Far from where Zephron had awakened, in the bustling city of Varinthal, seers screamed in madness, temples cracked, and sacred artifacts shattered without warning. Something ancient had shifted—something the world had long forgotten and feared.
In the high tower of the Oracle Order, a boy barely sixteen fell to his knees. His hands trembled as golden glyphs burned across his skin.
> "It's him…"
"The Eternal has returned…"
Those who heard the whisper dismissed it as myth.
But the wise knew—legends are often memories twisted by time.
---
Meanwhile, Zephron walked through a desert that should not have existed.
It was called the Desolation of Truth, a cursed land where reality was thin, where lies became solid and truth dissolved into mist. No one dared enter it… except him.
Each step he took echoed with quiet authority. The desert parted, showing him reverence, or perhaps fear. Echoes of past timelines flickered around him—his former selves, choices never made, battles never fought.
He stared at one vision: a woman with violet eyes, her silhouette fading in his arms as the world crumbled behind them.
> "Elysia…"
The name escaped him like a forgotten melody. But his eyes hardened the next second.
That was another time.
Another Zephron.
This one had returned not for love.
But for balance.
For judgment.
---
Suddenly, the air cracked.
A being emerged, cloaked in layers of smoke and blades. A Warden of Time, one of the few who dared face him.
> "You were sealed for a reason, Eternal," the Warden said, his voice distorted.
"You tip the scales. Your existence is... an error."
Zephron didn't respond. He didn't need to.
He raised a single hand.
Time stopped.
Not slowed.
Not paused.
Stopped.
The Warden's breath halted mid-word. Stars froze in the sky. The desert's wind ceased its dance.
Zephron whispered, almost pityingly,
> "You speak of balance, yet you serve a system bound by fear."
He closed his hand.
The Warden shattered like glass.
Time resumed with a distant thunder, as if the world had gasped in relief.
---
Somewhere, in the deeper realms of reality, a presence stirred.
Watching. Waiting.
> "So... the Eternal walks once more. This time, let's see how far he gets."