The Atrium was no longer a hall.
It was a battlefield of words. The sky of parchment tore open, scrolls unraveling like veins of light. The floor dissolved into fragments of ink, hunters clinging to floating shelves as the void yawned below.
And at the center, Elias stood against the Fragment of an Author.
---
The Fragment's quill-arms slashed faster, glowing words cutting into reality itself.
> [Erase: Light.]
The world dimmed, hunters blinded.
> [Erase: Breath.]
They choked, gasping soundlessly.
Elias countered each with frantic strokes of the Codex, pages blazing into shields, echoes, reversals. But his body trembled, blood dripping down his chest, his breath ragged.
His cracked glasses split further, one lens shattering entirely.
Lyra screamed, "Elias!" as his knees buckled.
The hunters gasped, terror flooding them. If he fell now, everything would collapse.
---
The Fragment raised both quills.
> [Erase: All Support.]
The hunters' spells flickered out. Shields died. The air collapsed.
Lyra roared, slamming her staff into the floor.
"Not while I'm here!"
Violet light erupted, forming a dome that expanded across the Atrium. Her barrier blazed brighter than the sun, intercepting the Fragment's erasure. For a heartbeat, her body shook violently, blood dripping from her nose.
But she stood.
Her voice rang across the chaos: "If you want them, you'll have to break me first!"
Hunters, staring in awe, rallied behind her glow.
Elias raised his head, his lips curving faintly.
---
Caleb, hunched over parchment, scribbled faster than he ever had. His ink-stained hands shook, but his eyes were sharp with revelation.
"I see it… I see it! It's not just erasing — it's reviewing! It's marking errors in this world, testing whether Elias can survive correction!"
He staggered to his feet, shouting with all he had: "This isn't about us — it's about him! They're not fighting to kill you, Elias! They're fighting to see if you're worthy of being written into the Manuscript!"
The Codex flared at Elias's side, its pages burning with golden light.
> [Truth Acknowledged.]
[Codex Evolution Available.]
---
The Fragment's quills descended, words of erasure blazing:
> [Erase: Elias Crowe.]
Hunters screamed. Lyra's barrier cracked, blood streaming down her chin. Caleb shouted hoarsely, "Rewrite yourself!"
The Codex blazed brighter than ever, pages scattering like wings of fire. Elias raised his hand, his voice calm, absolute:
> [New Feature Unlocked: Self-Annotation.]
Authority: Rewrite the Reader.]
The words of erasure struck him — and dissolved. Script rewrote across his body, sealing wounds, straightening his stance. His broken glasses reformed with a gleam.
He stood renewed, stronger, sharper, his pages orbiting like a storm.
Elias Crowe had rewritten himself.
---
The Fragment recoiled, script flickering erratically. Elias stepped forward, his voice carrying across the Atrium.
"You write endings. But I…"
Pages burst outward, burning into the Fragment's body, covering its glowing script with his own.
"…rewrite them."
The Fragment shrieked, its words unraveling, its quills dissolving. The parchment sky shuddered, scrolls tearing as the whispers of the Authors grew frantic.
> [The Reader writes himself.]
[This margin cannot be erased.]
The Fragment convulsed — then collapsed into silence, its body unraveling into drifting ash.
---
The Atrium fell still. The parchment sky dimmed. The marble floor restored itself, whole once more.
Hunters dropped to their knees, sobbing, gasping, clinging to life. The guild leaders stared in pale silence, their pride stripped away.
Seraphine's golden eyes lingered on Elias, her lips curling into a smile both awed and sharp. "You've stepped beyond us, Elias Crowe… beyond all of us."
Lyra, bloodied but standing, moved closer, her staff trembling in her hand. Her violet eyes burned with pride and something deeper. "No. He hasn't stepped beyond. He's still here — and he chose us."
Seraphine's smile sharpened. Caleb, ink-stained and shaking, muttered through tears: "He rewrote himself… he's not just a reader anymore. He's… the first editor of the Authors."
Elias closed the Codex, its glow fading. His voice was calm, but carried through the hall.
"This was only one chapter. The Manuscript still waits."
The hunters shivered. The Hidden Library had been survived — but what lay beyond the Atrium was no longer just a dungeon.
It was the true story.