The city breathed.
Not wind.
Not sound.
Memory.
The moment my foot touched the inner stone, the First Veil City responded—streets tightening, towers leaning inward, as if the ruins themselves were adjusting their posture to face me properly.
I stopped walking.
So did the world.
Xian Yu raised her hand sharply. "Don't move."
"I didn't," I said.
But the city had.
The mark on my hand—gone since the Boundary Steps—burned again, not visible, but undeniable. Heat crawled under my skin, threading into my veins like molten lines mapping a path I hadn't agreed to follow.
Shuang's talismans trembled, their edges blurring. "This place is locking onto him," she said. "Not hostile. Recognizing."
That word again.
Recognizing.
The gates behind us sealed with a slow, deliberate grind. No rush. No alarm. Just certainty.
I exhaled slowly. "It feels like I've been here before."
Xian Yu didn't look at me. "That's because part of you has."
The street ahead reshaped itself.
Stone folded inward, forming an archway that hadn't existed seconds ago. Symbols crawled across its surface, rearranging until they mirrored the pattern that once burned into my hand.
My pulse synced with it.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
A whisper slid through the air.
Not loud.
Not distant.
Close.
"—You came back—"
I stiffened.
That voice wasn't cold like the Hall's.
It was tired.
Shuang snapped her fingers, talismans flaring. "Do not answer it."
"I didn't," I said.
But the whisper continued.
"—You always do—"
The archway opened.
Beyond it stretched a wide plaza, its surface carved with massive concentric arrays—circles layered over circles, lines intersecting like a map meant to guide something far more dangerous than people.
At the center stood a figure.
Human.
Still.
Waiting.
My breath hitched.
Same height.
Same posture.
Same face.
Me.
Not a reflection.
Not an illusion.
Older. Sharper. Eyes hollowed by something that never healed.
The erased one.
[CRITICAL ALERT]
[Identity Convergence Detected]
[Synchronization Threshold: 27%]
Xian Yu stepped in front of me instantly, blade half-drawn. "Don't look at him."
Too late.
He smiled.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Like someone who had already accepted the ending.
"So," he said calmly, in my voice, "you chose the Veil instead of the Hall."
My throat locked. "You're not real."
He tilted his head slightly. "And yet you feel the pull."
The plaza pulsed.
Stone lit up beneath his feet.
Shuang's voice was tight. "The city is responding to him as an authority."
"No," the erased one corrected gently. "It's responding to us."
He took a step forward.
The ground didn't resist.
It welcomed him.
[WARNING]
[Synchronization Rising: 34%]
"Stop," I said.
He did.
Instantly.
The city froze with him.
Xian Yu's eyes widened. "Li Wei… what did you just do?"
I stared at my hand.
I hadn't moved.
I hadn't activated anything.
I had simply decided.
The erased one chuckled softly. "See? You understand faster than I did."
"You're controlling this place," I said.
He shook his head. "No. I'm remembered by it."
Another pulse rolled through the plaza.
From the edges, shadows began to move—figures stepping out from broken alleys and collapsed corridors. Veil Walkers. Dozens. Their empty eyes fixed on us, bodies half-formed, stitched together by lingering will.
Shuang inhaled sharply. "They're responding to his presence."
The erased one raised a hand.
The Veil Walkers froze.
Every single one.
A chill crawled up my spine.
"You built this," I said quietly.
"No," he replied. "I was meant to rule it."
The sky above the plaza darkened, clouds rotating slowly, deliberately.
[ALERT]
[City Core Awakening]
[Environmental Authority Detected]
Xian Yu shifted her stance. "Li Wei, listen to me. Whatever he is—whatever he offers—you cannot accept it."
The erased one looked at her with mild curiosity. "She fears what you'll become."
He turned back to me. "I don't."
"Why?" I asked.
His smile faded.
"Because I already was."
He stepped closer.
This time, I felt the pull—pressure behind my eyes, memories loosening like cracks in old glass. Pain surfaced that didn't belong to this life. Decisions made under skies I didn't remember seeing.
"You were split," he said quietly. "So the world could survive you."
The words hit harder than any blow.
Split.
[WARNING]
[Memory Seal Weakening]
[Unauthorized Recall Detected]
Shuang shouted, "Break eye contact!"
I tried.
I couldn't.
The city leaned inward, towers bowing slightly, as if listening.
"You felt it outside," the erased one continued. "The Warden didn't attack you. The Veil didn't reject you. This city didn't seal you out."
He took another step.
"Because you are not an intruder."
My heart pounded violently.
"What are you?" I whispered.
He answered without hesitation.
"The version of you that didn't hesitate."
The plaza cracked.
Light surged through the arrays, energy spiraling upward, threading into the sky.
[EMERGENCY NOTICE]
[Synchronization Approaching Critical]
[Threshold: 49%]
Xian Yu moved.
Her blade flashed, cutting a line of force between us. The air screamed as her strike disrupted the resonance.
The erased one staggered half a step—surprised.
The city shuddered.
I gasped, the pressure snapping like a severed cord.
Xian Yu grabbed my collar. "You do not speak to him again. Do you understand?"
I nodded, chest heaving.
The erased one straightened slowly, expression unreadable now.
"You see?" he said calmly. "They'll always choose restraint. Fear. Delay."
The Veil Walkers stirred again.
"Enough," he said.
They stopped.
I clenched my fists. "You want me to merge with you."
"Yes," he replied. "Because together, we don't just survive the Veil."
He met my gaze one last time.
"We redefine it."
The plaza trembled violently.
Cracks raced outward from the arrays, light spilling through like veins of gold.
[FINAL WARNING]
[Choice Node Approaching]
[Irreversible Outcome Possible]
Xian Yu pulled me back hard. "We're leaving. Now."
The city resisted.
Then—
It yielded.
The archway behind us tore open violently, space folding inward like a wound forced shut.
As we retreated, the erased one didn't chase.
He simply watched.
And as the city sealed itself again, his voice followed me—soft, patient, certain.
"Li Wei… the world already chose you."
The gate slammed shut.
Silence fell.
But I knew the truth now.
The Outer Veil wasn't testing me.
The Hall wasn't imprisoning me.
And the erased one wasn't my enemy.
They were all waiting—
to see which version of me would finish the story.