The sky burned red as Kale Silva opened his eyes to the end of the world.
Mountains crumbled like sandcastles. The ocean boiled. A god's dying scream echoed through the collapsing firmament, thunderous and wet. Blood—cosmic, thick, golden—dripped from Kale's fingers as he stood over the slumped body of the Devourer of Aeons.
The air tasted of ash and regret.
His breath came slow. Calm. Mechanical. His thoughts whispered like a broken prayer.
Not enough.
He had killed another one. One more ancient entity, forgotten by time and feared by fate itself. But still—too late. The skies cracked open. The veil between realms tore. And reality itself began to unravel, threads of existence curling into nothing.
"I failed."
The words were spoken only to himself. There was no one left to hear them. No gods. No mortals. Only the vast emptiness that followed death after death after death.
Kale staggered forward, knees buckling, vision doubling. He'd held this loop longer than most. Too long. The weight of centuries pressed into his chest. His body, made nearly immortal by divine flame and cursed memory, could hold no more.
The light swallowed him whole.
He awoke to birdsong.
It pierced through the silence like a dagger.
Kale sat up sharply, gasping. Sweat clung to his skin. The air was clean. The bed—soft. Silk sheets. Marble floor. A single shaft of sunlight filtered through the open window.
He was in his room.
Again.
The Silva Estate. The world before the end. Before the Devourers. Before Scarlet's blade at his throat. Before Evan's hollow eyes turned the sky to fire.
Again.
Kale stared at his hands.
They were clean.
No blood. No ichor. No power trembling at his fingertips. Not yet. Not here.
He let out a bitter laugh, one hand running through his jet-black hair.
"Not again," he murmured.
But it was.
Kale no longer counted the loops. There was no point. Whether he'd died a dozen times or a thousand, the weight remained the same. Agonizing. Familiar.
And no one remembered.
Not even her.
Across the estate, Scarlet stared at the silverware on the breakfast table like it had insulted her.
She wasn't used to waking early. She hated formalities, loathed noble life, and barely tolerated the man who was supposed to be her future husband. She wore a high-collared red jacket, hair in a sharp ponytail, and a stare that could cut through bone.
Kale walked in.
And the tension snapped taut.
She didn't rise. She didn't greet him.
He sat across from her, wordless, and poured himself tea.
Scarlet narrowed her eyes.
"I heard you left the estate last night," she said.
Kale blinked. He hadn't. Not this loop.
But he smiled lightly. "Bad dream," he offered. "Felt like I had to walk it off."
Her eyes scanned his face, lips tightening.
He's lying again.
She didn't know how she knew. But she always did. It was like something inside her curled into a fist when he spoke. A subtle hum beneath his words—like there was more to him than he ever let on.
"Right," she said coldly. "And let me guess—you weren't killing demons in your sleep either?"
Kale sipped his tea.
I was killing gods, actually.
Scarlet blinked.
What?
She glanced at him. His lips hadn't moved. But the words… she heard them. Or thought she did.
No. That was ridiculous.
Wasn't it?
Kale spoke again, aloud this time. "You never believe me, Scarlet."
She scoffed. "Because you're always hiding something."
She hates me. Again. And I can't even blame her. In loop 17, I tried to steal her soul just to see if I could break Evan's timeline. No wonder she doesn't trust me anymore.
Scarlet froze.
Again, the voice. Inside her head—but not hers.
Kale Silva, she thought slowly. What the hell are you?
She said nothing. Did nothing. Only stared as Kale finished his tea and stood.
"I'll be training in the courtyard," he said calmly. "Try not to stab me in the back again."
She said nothing.
And he didn't know what she'd heard.
Outside, beneath the blood-orange sky of morning, Kale stood in the center of the stone training square, hand closed around the hilt of a sword that had once slain a World-Eater.
"I don't know how many more times I can do this," he murmured.
His blade gleamed in the light. The air hummed around him.
But inside the manor, Scarlet sat quietly, hand trembling, heart pounding.
Because for the first time since she had met Kale Silva—
She wasn't sure he was the villain anymore.