The moment KRRISH crossed the threshold, existence did not merely distort—
It rejected him.
Not violently.
Not immediately.
But in a slow, suffocating way… like a body trying to expel a foreign poison it could not understand.
There was no sky above him.
No ground beneath him.
Yet he stood.
Not because the world allowed it—
…but because something inside him forced reality to comply.
Darkness stretched endlessly in all directions, but it wasn't empty. It moved. It breathed. It listened.
It was aware.
And it knew him.
Each step KRRISH took didn't echo—it sank. As if the space itself was swallowing the sound before it could exist. The silence here wasn't peaceful.
It was oppressive.
Alive.
Hungry.
And then—
It began.
At first, it was just a whisper.
Not outside.
Inside.
"You finally came back…"
The voice was not singular.
It overlapped itself.
Layer upon layer.
Old.
Ancient.
Broken.
KRRISH didn't react immediately.
But his eyes…
They sharpened.
Because something about that voice—
Felt familiar.
Not in memory.
But in instinct.
"Show yourself."
His voice didn't travel.
It pressed forward.
And the darkness answered.
Slowly—
It began to gather.
Not forming into a shape at first, but into density. A thicker black within the endless black. A distortion so deep that even the concept of light felt like it would die if it touched it.
Then—
A figure emerged.
Tall.
Unstable.
Its body flickered like it couldn't decide what it was supposed to be. Limbs stretched and retracted unnaturally. Its face—
Its face kept changing.
One moment, it resembled KRRISH.
The next—
Something far worse.
"You've grown."
The voice echoed again.
But now—
It was clearer.
Colder.
KRRISH stared at it.
Unblinking.
"And you've been waiting."
The figure tilted its head.
Not like a human.
Like something mimicking one.
"Waiting… watching… repeating."
A pause.
Then—
"You always come back here."
Those words didn't just sound—
They sank.
Deep.
Like something trying to unlock a door inside him.
KRRISH took a step forward.
The moment his foot moved—
Reality cracked.
Not visibly at first.
But audibly.
A faint, brittle sound… like something fragile breaking under pressure.
Still—
He continued.
"I don't remember this place."
The figure smiled.
Too wide.
Too unnatural.
"You don't remember any of them."
And then—
Everything broke.
The darkness shattered like glass—
And what replaced it—
Was worse.
Visions.
Thousands.
Millions.
Not in sequence.
Not in order.
All at once.
KRRISH staggered—
Not physically—
But internally.
Because what he was seeing…
Should not have been possible.
He saw himself standing in worlds that didn't exist anymore.
Burning cities that had no names.
Fighting creatures that should never have been born.
And every time—
Every single time—
He was the center.
Not a hero.
Not a savior.
A constant.
An outcome.
He saw himself tearing through enemies without hesitation—not out of rage, but because something inside him demanded it.
He saw himself alone.
Always alone.
Even when surrounded.
Even when victorious.
Because nothing stayed.
Nothing survived.
And then—
He saw something else.
Something worse.
He saw himself—
Standing at the end of everything.
Not after destruction.
Not after victory.
After silence.
Total.
Absolute.
The kind of silence where even existence forgets it ever existed.
And in that silence—
He was still there.
Breathing.
Watching.
Waiting.
The visions stopped.
Abruptly.
Violently.
KRRISH's breathing was heavier now.
Not from exhaustion—
But from weight.
Understanding.
Slow.
Incomplete.
But growing.
"What is this…"
His voice was lower now.
The figure stepped closer.
This time—
No distortion.
No hesitation.
Just presence.
"This… is you."
KRRISH's jaw tightened.
"That's not possible."
The figure leaned in.
Close enough that its shifting face nearly touched his.
"You think this is your first life?"
A whisper.
"You think your suffering… is unique?"
KRRISH didn't answer.
Because deep inside—
Something was starting to respond.
Not consciously.
Instinctively.
"You are not living a story."
The figure's voice deepened.
Darkened.
"You are trapped in a cycle."
Each word felt heavier than the last.
"You rise."
"You fight."
"You fall."
"And then—"
A pause.
"You return."
The darkness pulsed violently.
As if reacting to truth being spoken aloud.
KRRISH's eyes flickered.
For a split second—
Something ancient moved behind them.
Then stilled.
"And why?"
His voice was calm now.
Too calm.
The figure smiled again.
But this time—
There was no mockery.
Only certainty.
"Because you're not meant to end."
A silence fell.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
"You are not a person."
"You are not a warrior."
"You are not even a being."
The figure's voice dropped to a whisper—
Cold enough to freeze thought itself.
"You are a function."
KRRISH didn't move.
Didn't react.
But something inside him—
Shifted.
"A function of what?"
The answer came instantly.
"End."
The word didn't echo.
It consumed.
"You exist to push everything forward… until it breaks."
"You don't save worlds."
"You don't protect lives."
"You accelerate their collapse."
Each word dug deeper.
Sharper.
"And when everything ends—"
The figure's face stopped changing.
Locked.
On him.
"You remain."
For the first time—
KRRISH closed his eyes.
Not in denial.
Not in fear.
But in thought.
Everything he had seen…
Everything he had felt…
All of it—
Was aligning.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
When his eyes opened again—
They were different.
Not glowing.
Not burning.
But deeper.
As if something inside them had no limit.
"Then I'll change the outcome."
The figure froze.
Just for a moment.
"You can't."
KRRISH stepped forward.
And this time—
Reality didn't crack.
It bent.
"You said I repeat."
Another step.
Closer.
"You said I return."
Another.
"You said I don't end."
Now—
They were face to face.
"So what happens…"
His voice dropped.
Dark.
Controlled.
"When I choose not to follow the pattern?"
The silence that followed—
Was different.
Not empty.
Not oppressive.
Uncertain.
For the first time—
The figure didn't have an immediate answer.
And that—
Changed everything.
The darkness around them reacted.
Not violently.
Not chaotically.
But cautiously.
As if something impossible—
Had just been introduced.
The figure's form flickered again.
Unstable.
"You don't understand what you're interfering with."
KRRISH didn't blink.
"Then I'll understand it by breaking it."
And in that moment—
Something shifted completely.
The darkness surged toward him.
Not attacking.
Not resisting.
Submitting.
It wrapped around him.
Through him.
Inside him.
Not like possession.
Like recognition.
Like something ancient… finally finding its rightful place.
KRRISH's body didn't break.
Didn't reject it.
It adapted.
Instantly.
Perfectly.
As if it had always been incomplete without this.
The figure stepped back.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Observing.
"You've made it worse."
KRRISH stood still.
But the space around him—
Was collapsing inward.
Not from destruction.
From pressure.
"I know."
His voice was no longer the same.
It carried something else now.
Something deeper.
Something older.
"Good."
And then—
Everything ended.
The void collapsed.
The figure vanished.
The darkness was gone.
And KRRISH—
Returned.
But not as he was before.
The battlefield didn't react with chaos—
It submitted.
Flames bent downward.
The ground sank.
The air thickened.
Because something had come back—
That didn't belong to life anymore.
Far ahead—
The gate had fully opened.
And from within it—
Something stepped out.
Its form incomplete.
Its presence absolute.
Ancient.
Monstrous.
Unavoidable.
The moment it appeared—
The world trembled.
Not from fear—
From recognition.
KRRISH looked at it.
Calm.
Still.
Unshaken.
Because now—
He understood.
This wasn't a battle.
This wasn't even a war.
This was inevitability meeting inevitability.
And only one of them—
Would be allowed to exist.
And as the darkness around him slowly deepened—
One final truth settled into place.
He was no longer fighting to survive.
He was deciding—
What deserved to.