The path to the Library wasn't on any map.
It didn't exist in space.
It existed in possibility.
Lucian stepped into the fracture between moments, leading Lysia and Naia through a veil of cracked hours and forgotten decisions. Time shimmered around them like broken glass.
At the threshold, a door awaited.
There was no wall around it.Just a lone archway, floating in a gray sea of stillness.
Inscribed above the door:
"All that was. All that could be. All that was denied."
Lucian reached forward.
The door opened.
[System Notification]
Area Entered: [The Forbidden Library of Time]Status: Nonlinear Time – all future and past events may echo hereAuthority Required to Modify: 100%Access Granted: Former Title – The Author of Truth
The interior stretched beyond logic.
Infinite staircases curved through endless space.Shelves spiraled into the clouds, each holding books that wrote themselves.Some glowed. Others bled. One shelf hissed with the whispers of unborn timelines.
And in the center—
A pedestal.
With a single book.
Bound in silence. Locked by light.Its title shimmered in gold:
"The Final Betrayal of Lucian."
Lysia stared.
"…Did you write that?"
Lucian's voice was low. "No. But I will."
Naia stepped forward.
"This place... is older than the gods."
Lucian nodded.
"It's where I once kept the truth. And where they tried to bury it."
As they walked deeper, books came alive around them.
One unlatched itself.
Flew open.
Displayed a memory:
—A young Elenya, crying beside a grave, praying for someone she couldn't name.
Another flipped itself violently, revealing:
—Lucian's past life, creating a star-system as a gift for someone now long gone.
Then a newer book quivered.
Lucian paused.
The pages fluttered open.
Words formed:
"In a week's time, Lysia will bleed under a divine blade.And Elenya will be the one holding it.Not from hatred.But because she believes it will save Lucian."
Lysia's face drained of color.
"…That's not real."
Lucian said nothing.
Naia placed a hand on the book.
"It hasn't happened yet."
"But it could."
Lucian turned to them both.
"In this place, every potential betrayal writes itself. But only if we believe it."
He looked Lysia in the eyes.
"I don't."
Suddenly—
A tremor shook the floor.
And a new book landed at Lucian's feet.
It thudded open.
Pages blank.
Only the title gleamed:
"The Day Lucian Rewrites Destiny."
Lucian bent to pick it up.
And the moment he touched it—
Everything changed.
—Memory unlocked—
He saw himself at the center of the Library, long ago.
Cloaked in stardust.
Alone.
Writing truths that gods couldn't see.
He was the one who wrote names.The one who bound lies into reality.The one who allowed the gods to exist at all.
Then—
He saw himself lock his own memory away, sealing this library from access.
Because the knowledge was too dangerous.
Because the gods feared what he might write.
Because even he feared what he might become.
Back in the present—
Lucian opened his eyes.
A dozen books hovered before him.
Each whispered a choice:
"Write Elenya's future. Make her loyal."
"Erase Lysia's death. Force her survival."
"Seal Naia's past. Hide her betrayal."
Lucian stared at the options.
Then whispered:
"No."
He dropped the pen.
And said:
"They must choose me. Not because I rewrote them.But because they remember who I am."
The Library trembled.
And the forbidden knowledge acknowledged his will.
[System Update]
Trait Acquired: [Truth Author] – Lucian can now see the "threads of choice" around people, but cannot change them unless they offer permissionMemory Restored: [Author of the Divine Lexicon]Influence Unlocked: 27%Library Reaction: Awakened Guardian ProtocolAlert: Unauthorized Intrusion Detected
Suddenly—
A scream tore through the still air.
A book exploded.
From its remains, a shape emerged.
Cloaked in flaming scripture.Face hidden beneath ten rotating masks.
It floated toward them, speaking in a voice of shredded pages:
"You should not have come here, Forgotten One."
Naia drew a blade made of broken oaths.
Lysia raised her sword.
Lucian stood tall.
"What are you?"
The entity spread its arms.
"I am the Editor. The one sent by the gods… to ensure this story ends their way."