The air in the arena, which had witnessed absolute silence, began to vibrate slightly—like a string accidentally plucked. The crowd no longer murmured, but neither were they silently watching. A strange state had set in—not fear, not awe—but a collective tension, as if the entire world was holding its breath.
In the middle of the space, Albert did not move. He was not a dramatic figure, he did not raise his arms, nor did he raise his voice. He simply was. And in that "was," reality itself seemed to search for its meaning.
A boy from the third row whispered:
— Who is he really?
No one answered. Because there was no answer that wasn't an incomplete echo.
—
[Arena perimeter – Kaelya and Zhelenya]
Kaelya shook her head slowly.
— He's no longer part of the tournament. He turned the question into a path.
Zhelenya's fingers clutched a translucent obsidian amulet, her eyes fixed on the projected magical image of the scene.
— He changed the very nature of the test. No one will ever understand the purpose of this competition after him. There won't be an "after him," only... "what follows him."
Kaelya looked up toward the sky, where the clouds were subtly contorting.
— Do you feel it? The world... is redirecting.
— Yes, Zhelenya confirmed. Not through force. Through pure intent.
—
[Albert – In His Silence]
Albert gently lifted his head. He did not look around. His eyes—at that moment—had no visible color. They were a convergence point of all the hues of his supreme gaze. Like silence before decision.
— I wasn't born to play by your rules, he whispered.
The words were not shouted. Yet every being in the arena heard them.
Not with ears. With existence.
— I was born... so you could rethink them.
—
[The Unseen Effects]
In the depths beneath the Central Academy—deeper than any registry knew—an ancient forbidden symbol began to pulse on the wall. It was a circle with an open spiral, and in its center, the name "Albert" appeared, written in a language lost before the world's birth.
In another dimension, in the Plane of Living Shadows, nameless entities began to fracture in silence.
— It has begun, one said.
— What? asked another, broken.
— The rewriting.
—
[Albert – Final Line of This Part]
He closed his eyes for a moment.
— If a man can no longer be defeated… can he be understood?
Then he turned toward the center of the arena.
And with his step… the floor became something it had never been before.
[Temple of Stone – Sealed Zone of the Forgotten]
In a place where not even priests prayed anymore, where the statues had their eyes covered with strands of ancient dust, a bell moved by itself.
It didn't ring. It only trembled.
An old man without a voice, chained in silver, opened a book that should not open. Inside, the pages were blank.
But his hands knew what to write.
— The story has begun of one who no longer needs to exist... in order to be real, whispered a silence from the wall.
—
[Albert – Inside Frozen Time]
He stopped in the middle of a second that would not pass.
A moment where time did not flow, and even the air seemed to stop breathing.
Above his head, a circle formed—not of light, but of unlived choices. An unstable ring, a column of "what-ifs," all woven from shadow and regret.
Albert looked at the circle. Not with awe. But with complete understanding.
— You did not create these possibilities. I left them behind.
Every temporal branch, every echo of an alternate life, began to dissolve around him, leaving behind only one line: the one he was walking now.
—
[Zhelenya – Personal Reaction]
— He just burned all future possibilities, she whispered, stunned.
Kaelya looked at her in shock.
— What does that mean?
— It means… whatever happens from now on, no one and nothing can divert him.
— Not even us?
— Not even the world.
—
[Within the Depths of Global Consciousness]
In a shapeless space, where all human dreams blended into an eternal sea of memory, an ancient entity began to unravel.
Not from pain. But from clarity.
— He is no longer a memory. Not a projection. He has become the absolute present.
—
[Albert – One Last Look Toward the Crowd]
He turned his head toward the stands.
One child met his gaze. No one else dared.
The child did not cry. Did not smile. Only… felt.
Albert gave a small nod.
And in that gesture, the child understood everything.
[Forbidden Halls of the Central Academy – Nameless Chambers]
One of the older professors, dressed in a pale green robe and with the wear of years around his eyes, descended a secret staircase. On each step, symbols were etched—ones no magical dictionary recognized anymore. Symbols as old as time's beginning.
In his hand, he held an hourglass. But instead of sand, it held flowing darkness.
— I didn't think it would be real, he whispered.
— Who? asked a woman's voice from the living wall of the corridor.
The professor didn't answer right away.
— The one who walks without a path. The one who can no longer be predicted.
The wall sighed. A door opened without a key. Inside, a map of the world had been rewritten. The name "Albert" pulsed across every continent, without ever having been written.
—
[Albert – Back Inside the Arena That Was No Longer an Arena]
The ground had changed. It was no longer stone or wood. It was a surface that reflected not the body's image, but the truth of the being.
Albert walked, and under each step, a symbol appeared. But the symbol did not remain. It disappeared immediately, as if reality itself was struggling to keep up with him.
From one edge of the arena, a student shouted:
— This isn't fair! What is this? Forbidden magic?
Another, visibly older, murmured:
— It's not magic. It's... decision. Absolute.
—
[Zhelenya – Analyzing]
She turned an obsidian disc in her hands.
— The resonance around Albert is identical to what we define as "level 10 vibration." But...
— But what? asked Kaelya.
— It's only a fraction. Not his full power. It's… a fragment.
Kaelya paled slightly.
— Then if he's just walking... and the world is already bending before him...
— What would happen if he truly wanted to change something?
—
[Albert – The Thought That Wasn't Spoken]
He stopped.
Raised his hand and gently drew a circle in the air.
From that gesture, a flower bloomed.
An impossible flower. Made of concepts, not petals. Each part of it was a decision humanity never had the courage to make.
— Shapeless Flower, he murmured.
A magic that does nothing. But makes the world ask why not?
Echoes of a Decision That Cannot Be Understood
—
[Tower of Stillness – Zhelenya, Alone in the Archive]
In a chamber with walls of blurred mirror, Zhelenya sat with her hands folded. In front of her, a living parchment unrolled itself. With every heartbeat, letters appeared on their own:
— "He made a choice that doesn't fit into logic. And because of that... it is absolute."
She closed her eyes.
— You chose a flower that cannot be plucked, Albert.
—
[On the Other Continent – In a Village Hidden from Time]
An old man with stone-like skin and ash-colored eyes lifted a cup of tea and grinned toward the sky:
— The magic that does nothing… is the most dangerous.
A child looked at him, puzzled.
— Why?
— Because it asks questions. And the world has never been ready for honest questions.
—
[Cathedral of the Broken Light – The Abandoned Sanctuary]
Three clerics prayed in silence. But one of them stood.
— It is here.
— Who?
— The question.
—
[The Eternal Council – In the Shadow of the Horizon]
The eight members did not speak.
Above the empty chair floated a translucent flower. Without form. Without scent. Without presence.
— He made it from nothing, one member said.
— And from that nothing, we feel... less.
—
[In a Past That No Longer Exists]
A fragment of forgotten reality, suspended between two worlds, crumbled.
From it, only one sentence remained:
— "A man who creates without purpose… is closer to the gods than any god."
[Albert – In the Silence of a Rejected Past]
Albert stopped at the center of a circle that hadn't been drawn, but existed nonetheless.
A shadow fell over him—not from the sky, but from the memory of a world that feared him.
A voice emerged from nothingness:
— You are no longer what you were summoned to become. You've become what the world would never dare to ask for.
Albert didn't respond.
He raised his hand, and the air around him transformed into strands of light. They stretched from his heart to the edges of the arena, forming an invisible network. In that web, each point was a decision from the past that was never made.
He touched them one by one, whispering:
— No.
— No.
— No.
When he reached the last strand, a sphere of light formed in his palm. A decision no one would have wanted.
— Yes.
And at that moment, reality trembled slightly.
—
[Arena – The Ground Begins to Break]
The floor was no longer stable. Not because it cracked, but because it had lost its meaning.
A young student at the edge stood up, frightened:
— What is he doing?!
— He's not creating, whispered a professor.
— Then?
— He's choosing from what never was.
—
[Kaelya – Awe and Fear]
— He didn't use a word. Not a spell. And yet, the world responds.
Zhelenya, gaze distant:
— Because he no longer needs language. Only intent.
—
[Albert – Final Declaration of This Part]
— I only wanted to understand, he said calmly.
— But now… I have nothing left to ask.
His eyes opened wide. For a moment, they had no color. Then — gold.
Everything stopped.
[Albert – In Time That No Longer Flows]
Time had stopped, but Albert walked.
Each of his steps didn't shake the world—it rewrote it. Not with force. But with a silence that could not be ignored.
Around him, lifeforms invisible to the living revealed themselves: abandoned memories, unborn children, ideas too afraid to become reality. All watched him.
— You did not create them, said a voice.
Albert stopped.
— But they recognize you as their author.
— Perhaps. Or perhaps I simply left the door ajar, he murmured.
—
[On a Nameless Planet – Far From Everything]
A woman with white hair and fog-like skin touched a stone.
On the stone, a single word appeared: "He comes."
She closed her eyes and smiled.
— He does not come as a destroyer. But as a reminder.
—
[At the Edges of Universal Memory]
A fire billions of years old was extinguished.
In its place remained only a spark with no name, only a purpose:
— To bear witness to the end of things that never began.
—
[Albert – Reappearance]
The arena reformed.
The crowd said nothing. The professors didn't breathe. Even the wind seemed to ask for permission to touch the ground.
Albert appeared at the center of the arena as if he had never left.
But his eyes… were golden. And the world sensed that the gold was not a color. It was the judgment of complete truth.
A professor fell to his knees without knowing why.
A student forgot who he was.
And Kaelya let a tear fall—not out of fear. But out of understanding.
—
[In the Tribunal's Underground Hall – The Observers]
An agent removed his mask.
— We lost.
— Not yet, said the woman in the red mantle.
— Yes. When a man becomes both question and answer… you don't fight. You listen.
—
[End of Chapter – The Last Flicker of Magic]
In the sky, for no reason, a star fell backward—upward.
Albert closed his eyes.
— Done. Now… let's continue.
And the world… resumed its course.
Those Who Watched and Did Not Understand
—
[Sanctuary of Broken Silence – Temple of the Forgotten Healers]
An old priest, blind for centuries, moved his hand for the first time.
— This is not a miracle, he whispered. It is a choice the world was never ready to allow.
At his feet, flowers born from wounds began to glow.
—
[Basin of the Stilled – Near the Living Archive]
A creature of water, born from forgotten tears, raised its gaze to the sky:
— He didn't claim to be a God.
— He doesn't have to, said another voice. His very existence… forces creation to rewrite itself.
—
[A Sealed Hall – In Another Reality]
Five beings stood around a cube that pulsed with memories.
— He activated the golden color.
— Does that mean he chose? one of them asked.
— No. It means he understood.
They all stood.
— And when you truly understand… nothing else is required.
—
[A Shared Dream – Plane of Living Shadows]
A young man slept. In his dream, he saw Albert—but without a face.
The voice within the dream spoke:
— You don't need to see him. Only to know that he was there.
—
[Within a Book Yet to Be Written – The Sealed Library of Nimbara]
On a blank page, letters began to form on their own:
> "And when he returned, the world learned that not all paths need to lead somewhere. Some… just need to exist."