Chapter 47 – The Keeper of Forgotten Truths
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A Voice from the Erased Past
Luo Fan stood before the masked figure, his breath steady despite the unnatural weight pressing down on him. The air in the Silent City felt thick, as if it resisted his very existence.
The figure remained still, its robe flowing despite the absence of wind. The runes carved into the monolithic tower pulsed, shifting through unreadable patterns.
Finally, the silence broke.
"You are the anomaly."
Luo Fan narrowed his eyes. "You said you remember everything. Who are you?"
The figure's mask shifted—no expression, yet something about it felt like a smirk.
"I am the Keeper. The last remnant of what was erased."
EchoStar buzzed erratically.
> "Oh wow, a cryptic ancient being who speaks in riddles. That's so original. Next, he'll tell us we're 'not ready for the truth' and vanish mysteriously."
Luo Fan crossed his arms. "You said I shouldn't be here. Why?"
The Keeper tilted its head.
"Because you do not belong. This city is a place for those forgotten—but you?"
A long pause.
"You are something else entirely."
Luo Fan felt a chill creep down his spine.
Shen Mu stepped forward, his voice low. "Then you do remember him from before the reset."
The Keeper's mask twitched. The runes on the tower behind him flared violently, their symbols attempting to rearrange—only to fracture into static.
"Yes. But something is... wrong."
> "Great. Love hearing that from the eldritch memory god."
Luo Fan frowned. "What do you mean?"
The Keeper's voice deepened, a resonance that felt like it came from outside time itself.
"The reset should have erased you. Yet you remain. And worse... you changed the rules."
A wave of force erupted from the tower, sending cracks through the empty streets. The air hummed with barely restrained power.
Shen Mu tensed. "Is that a problem?"
The Keeper remained motionless. Then—
"That depends. What do you intend to do with what remains?"
Luo Fan met the hollow gaze of the mask. "Find my way back. Rebuild what was lost."
A moment of silence. Then—
The Keeper laughed.
A dry, hollow sound, echoing through the abandoned city like a forgotten memory clawing its way back to life.
"Then you are already against them."
Luo Fan's heartbeat quickened. "Them?"
The Keeper raised a hand.
The runes on the tower flared—this time forming a single phrase in a language Luo Fan could finally read.
[The Architects of the Reset.]
EchoStar's screen glitched violently.
> "Oh. Oh, that's bad. That's really, really bad."
Luo Fan's hands clenched into fists.
The reset had always felt like an inevitable force, something outside his control. But now?
Now, he had a name.
And names could be challenged.
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[Chapter End.]