The Emperor and the Hidden Truth - Part 2

"I am not of this world."

The emperor's voice cut through reality like a whisper, laden with something indescribable. Tyrin felt an involuntary shiver as he faced the man whose very presence seemed to distort the air around him.

"I had another name, another life. Another mother. Another father. But one day, I gave it all up. I climbed to the top of the tallest building I knew… and jumped."

The moment the words were spoken, something plummeted from the sky. A blur of flesh and bone struck the ground with a dull, wet impact. The air filled with a sharp, metallic scent. Tyrin felt something warm trickling down his cheek—a thick, sticky substance. He raised a hand to his face, trying to understand what it was, and then… he saw it.

An eye.

Wedged within a shapeless mass of flesh and blood, it spun toward him, as if still able to see.

The scream caught in his throat. Around him, panic spread like wildfire. People ran in all directions, screaming in horror. But within seconds, everything dissolved into silence.

Now, only he and the emperor remained before the grotesque scene.

And then, the man spoke again.

"That is me. Or rather, that was me."

Tyrin's mind struggled to process what he was hearing.

"Before," the emperor continued, unhurried, "the world was an unbearable weight. Nothing made sense to me. Everything was an endless curve, with no beginning and no end. I never saw the cup overflow until it was too late. I was a spectator in my own existence. But a second before I hit the ground… I saw the end. And I regretted it."

The silence that followed was almost tangible.

Tyrin, unable to contain his confusion, stammered, "I… I don't understand, Your Majesty."

The man smiled, but it was an empty smile, devoid of humor.

"Call me Heitor. That is my real name."

Tyrin frowned.

"But… the records say your name is—"

"Odin DoomHammer," the emperor interrupted. "Yes, that is the name I was given when I reincarnated."

The ground beneath them seemed to tremble. Sirens from patrol units echoed in the distance, rapidly approaching. But then, like a dream vanishing in an instant, everything stopped. Time twisted in on itself.

And in the blink of an eye… the ground was clean.

The corpse was gone. The blood, the bones, the stench of death—everything had been erased, as if it had never happened.

Tyrin's heart pounded. He looked at Heitor, expecting an explanation. But the emperor simply gazed at the horizon, as if waiting for something.

Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.

"But today, I have a visitor. HAHAHAH! Come, I want to show you some places from my first life."

With no other choice, Tyrin followed the emperor down a path that should not have existed.

The city before them was magnificent, immaculate. Every building gleamed with exaggerated luxury, as if reality had been refined to a state of artificial perfection.

"This city is beautiful," Tyrin murmured. "I didn't even know a place like this existed."

Heitor laughed again, but this time, there was something melancholic in his tone.

"And it doesn't."

Tyrin turned to face him, perplexed.

"We were alone in this universe," Heitor explained. "No enemies. No threats. We had no need to defend ourselves. So we indulged in frivolities. This… this is what I miss the most."

"My planet was born in war, as were all planets in my era—and, most likely, yours as well. We were always in the shadow of the worst, burying ourselves beneath earth and concrete or forging desperate creations to protect us. But in the end, we were just prisoners of the wind, waiting silently for the inevitable collapse."

They walked for hours. Or perhaps for a time that could not be measured.

At some point, Heitor mentioned that there was a precise limit to how far they could go. Exactly three kilometers from the place of his death. In any direction—but not a centimeter more. Not a centimeter less.

Tyrin felt the weight of those words but couldn't grasp why.

"Your Majesty..."

"Just call me Heitor."

"...Heitor, then. I still don't understand what you mean by 'another universe.'"

Heitor stopped and took a deep breath before answering.

"I didn't understand it at first either. It took me decades to accept. But, to put it simply... I died in my universe. And when I woke up, I was in yours. I gained some... interesting things."

He turned to face Tyrin, his eyes scrutinizing him as if reading something invisible.

"And I see that you have, too."

A chill ran down Tyrin's spine.

"What do you mean?"

Heitor narrowed his eyes.

"One of my rarest abilities allows me to see the status of people and monsters. All of them. Even what's hidden from themselves. I saw it in friends... and even enemies."

Tyrin's mouth went dry.

"And what do you see?"

Silence was the only response for a long moment.

Then, Heitor whispered:

"Your status... is impossible."

🌀 STATUS 🌀

• Level: 12

• Classification: SSS / 00 — Primordial Apex

• Strength: 22

• Endurance: 37

• Speed: 22

• Skill: 39

• Psyche: 0

• Available Points: 18

Hidden Abilities:

• Precursor (+100 to all stats) (requirements not met)

• Precursor of the Middle (+500 to all stats) (requirements not met)

• Precursor of the End (+1000 to all stats) (requirements not met)

• Precursor of Redemption (+1,000,000 to all stats) (requirements not met)

• Unshakable (+10 to all stats) (hidden)

Pet:

• Ilútar, the Dragon

"If I had to summarize your potential..." Heitor paused, his eyes unreadable as he studied Tyrin. "You would be an unspeakable abomination."

Those words weighed on Tyrin like a divine verdict. He swallowed hard, his throat dry, but before he could react, Heitor continued:

"But I have no idea why your potential is locked. There's probably something you need to do to unlock it."

Tyrin felt the world spin for a moment. Everything he had heard so far seemed absurd, far removed from the reality he knew. Despite the impossible events, a part of him still insisted this was just a dream—strangely vivid, but a dream nonetheless.

Heitor chuckled, a rough sound laced with resignation.

"Well, I think I've shown you everything I can before my body splatters against the ground again and everything resets."

Resets? The word felt wrong, out of place. Tyrin frowned, looking around. The world seemed to pulse, as if in a constant state of rewriting.

After everything returned exactly as it had been before, Tyrin, ever curious, seized the opportunity to ask as many questions as possible.

The first questions were superficial—what was the emperor's home planet like? What was his civilization like? But as they talked, the conversation narrowed. Heitor's answers were vague yet laden with hidden meaning, and Tyrin began to feel that something far greater was at play.

That was when he decided to go straight to the core of the matter.

"How did you know where to shoot?"

Heitor narrowed his eyes and smirked.

"Finally, you're asking the harder questions, huh? HAHAHA! Makes sense." He sighed, looking up at the starless, clouded sky. "I'll tell you a secret... something that took me a long time to figure out. And, to be honest, I was only absolutely sure of it during the war."

Tyrin leaned slightly forward.

"What?"

"We are being watched. All the time."

A shiver ran down Tyrin's spine.

"I don't know why or what's behind the veil, but I can say with certainty that in every war I've fought, they were there. Watching."

"What do you mean by 'they'?"

"Beings that don't belong to this world. As old as the universe itself. My power allowed me to see them, floating above battlefields, their presences cold and indifferent, just... watching. As if they were cataloging every death, every massacre."

Heitor took a deep breath, his gaze distant.

"But that day, in the peak of desperation, I decided to call them. To summon them into the war. If we were going to die, I wanted those beings to kill our enemies too."

He laughed, devoid of humor.

"Imagine my surprise when I ended up here."

Tyrin felt a knot form in his throat.

"You're saying that colossal ship... follows wars?"

Heitor slowly nodded.

"I can't say if it's always the same one. But I can guarantee one thing: whenever it appears, a bloodbath follows."

A heavy weight settled over Tyrin. Now he understood how the emperor knew. He had always known. From the very beginning, he had seen what no one else could.

For long minutes, Heitor continued explaining the nuances of his powers, the intricate web of events that connected each occurrence, and, most importantly, the people Tyrin could trust.

Orion was among them, to his relief.

But something began to unsettle him.

A strange sensation. An invisible presence... as if someone were calling him.

And the tightness in his chest began to grow.

"Lord Heitor... I'm feeling something."

"Hmm..." The emperor watched him for a moment before smiling. "Maybe it's time for you to leave."

Tyrin's eyes widened.

"What makes you think that?"

"I was the only one who did something to remain here. This punishment is likely my purgatory, not yours."

Heitor hesitated for a moment, as if pondering something important. Then, with a swift motion, he pulled something from beneath his glove and extended it toward Tyrin.

"Take this with you."

It was a small ring, but its glow was almost hypnotic.

"I believe this will help you on your journey. It holds some of my weapons and armor. They aren't my best, but they'll still be useful."

The tightness in Tyrin's chest intensified. His body began trembling involuntarily.

Something was about to happen.

"I'll get you out of here." The promise escaped his lips before he could even think. "I swear, Lord Emperor."

Heitor smiled—a real smile this time.

"That's a nice thought. If I could, I'd give you my power... without hesitation."

And then...

Tyrin saw something leave the emperor's body.

A blue flame, luminous as a distant star. It danced in the air for a brief moment before flying toward him, passing through his chest like an icy wind.

A deep shiver ran through him, something beyond the physical. Something that touched his soul.

"What's happening, Emperor?"

Heitor only smiled.

"I hope you go beyond what I ever could. Good luck, kid."

Tyrin began to float. His body was pulled upward, beyond the majestic buildings of the nonexistent city. When he reached the top, he saw—

A colossal star, blinding, shining with an impossible yellow light.

And then, he fell.

The ground rushed toward him.

This time, Tyrin did not struggle.

He simply accepted it.

And in those last moments before impact, he saw.

The emperor, radiant, watching him from afar.

He could read Heitor's lips.

"Beware of the Impostor."

Impact.