Chapter 35: The One You Save Is the One Who Betrays You

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: The One You Save Is the One Who Betrays You Nothing. No floor. No sky. No gravity. Just white. Pure, endless, sterile white. Kai floated like thought in a world that refused to think. No sound. No pain. Just... Waiting. [System Alert: You have entered – "Epimethean Nullspace"] Realm Type: Narrative Waste Function: Deletion Buffer Warning: Time does not exist here. Thought will echo. Emotion will rot. You are not alone. "That’s new," Kai muttered. The silence responded with a whisper. Or a voice. Or maybe a scream slowed down to kindness. He turned. A woman stood behind him. She wasn’t there a second ago. She was never born. She will always have been. She wore a dress woven from burned manuscripts. Her hair shimmered with forgotten plot threads. Her eyes were clocks without hands. And when she smiled, Kai felt like all his endings had already happened. [System Alert: Entity Detected – "She Who Ends"] Alignment: Neutral Inevitable Class: Conceptual Goddess – Endings, Betrayal, Closure Threat Level: Undefined Voice Pattern: Compassionate Dagger "Hello, Kai Veyron," she said. "You’ve caused quite a mess." Kai frowned. "You’re not part of the system." "I am the silence between choices. The graveyard of finales. I am the end that never aired." Her smile turned thoughtful. "And you’ve been skipping mine." Kai floated backward, tensing. "What do you want?" "To tidy the narrative. To offer you... a proper ending." Her hand rose. A golden scale appeared between them. On one side: a glowing orb. Flickering with Seris’ lightning. On the other: seven smaller orbs. Faint. Dim. Each marked by a harem girl’s bond. Kai’s breath caught. "What is this?" "A bargain," she said gently. "I will give you one certainty in this story of betrayal." "One girl. Safe. Loyal. Unchanging. She will survive the ending you are heading toward." [Choice Presented] Accept: Choose one harem member to protect. She cannot betray or die. Reject: Let fate play. Any — or all — may fall. Warning: The protected one may be the traitor. The unchosen may become loyal. Kai’s heart pounded. "That’s not a choice. That’s a trap." Her expression didn’t change. "I am not cruel. I offer clarity. In a story like yours, that is the rarest kindness." He thought of them all. Seris — burning with vengeance, but loyal in her own way. Elira — the first kiss, but the first to lie. Nyx — assassin or lover? Maybe both. Yuri — the healer with poisoned hands. Astra — a goddess who stopped believing. Rin — too innocent. Or maybe pretending. And one more... Someone he hadn’t even met yet. But her bond flickered too. He clenched his fists. "If I choose one... the rest could die." The goddess tilted her head. "Yes." "And if I choose none?" She smiled wider. "Then perhaps all of them betray you. Perhaps all of them love you. You will not know — until it’s too late." [Timer Initiated: 60 Seconds Until Choice Collapses] Your decision echoes through Chapter 50. "Why are you doing this?" "Because endings are not about justice," she said. "They’re about consequence." Kai looked at the orbs. Each one held a name, a memory, a kiss, a blade. Could he trust his heart? No. Could he trust any of them? Also no. Could he walk this path without choosing? Only if he was willing to lose everything. He looked up at her. "I reject." The scale vanished. She looked... pleased? "Very well." She turned. "One of them will love you until death," she said. "Another will cause your death." Kai whispered, "Will it be the same one?" She didn’t answer. She only said: "Chapter Fifty will be your reckoning." And then she was gone. [System Alert: Divine Choice Rejected – Narrative Instability Increased] Affection Paths: Unlocked Loyalty Modifiers: Unknown The path you walk now has no guarantees. Good luck, Hero. The whiteness shattered like glass. Kai fell through time. Through choices. Through kisses and knives and laughter and lies. He landed in mud. In a forest. Breathing hard. Wet. Alive. Seris crouched beside him, scowling. "Took you long enough. What happened?" He looked at her. And lied. "Nothing." Because truth was heavier now. And the wrong word could kill the right girl.