100 years later, Kiran became the first Hero.
Everyone had worked together to strengthen one of the contained Specters to make it a Demon.
Without a Demon, they couldn't have any Heroes.
50 years after Kiran became a Hero, he managed to unlock the biggest door in the entire city.
What he found beyond the door was a gargantuan machine.
The Archive.
He found endless knowledge in the Archive, and the people immediately started to research it.
Over the next 150 years, the underground society made huge strides.
There were no longer any Specters that could threaten them.
Any new Specter that appeared in the city was immediately contained.
The people lived in peace.
Yet, there were still more things to research and more secrets to uncover.
On this day, Kiran was surrounded by several machines.
The people had taken years to make these machines work.
He activated all of the machines, and in the next moment, a burst of Pure Energy entered into a tiny bead.
Kiran implanted the tiny bead in his hand and activated it.
This was the first Seed.
Kiran was officially named Emperor by the authority of the Seed and Starbreaker Base.
And just in time.
Kiran only had four decades of longevity left, and he was a Peak Hero.
He needed to become a Protector, but no matter how much they worked with their Demons, they just couldn't turn them into Fallen.
Kiran could only hope that the Seed would have an answer for his problems.
Thanks to the Seed, he could finally open all of the doors inside Starbreaker Base.
He found extremely powerful weapons, unimaginably advanced machines, and plenty of Containment Units.
Kiran almost gave up hope, but then, he opened one more door.
The door led to a long corridor, and he walked through it.
At the end of the corridor was another door, which he opened.
When he opened the door, his eyes widened.
The door led back to the place where everything started.
The statue of the Duskbringer.
Yet, they could just enter it through the front door if they wanted to go there.
This was just another entrance to the same place.
Kiran sighed.
One more failure.
"You did not disappoint me."
Kiran's eyes widened as he heard the familiar voice again.
The Duskbringer!
He was speaking to him!
The last time the Duskbringer had spoken to him was when he had just arrived.
450 years had passed since Kiran had arrived in Starbreaker Base.
He was in the same location he was back then, but he was no longer the same person.
He had changed.
He had grown.
The next moment, tears appeared on Kiran's face.
It was like all of the pressure he had carried on his shoulders vanished.
Even until the very end, he had still doubted himself.
What if he was wrong?
What if he made a mistake?
But when he heard the voice, all these doubts vanished.
He had done it!
Suddenly, Kiran looked to his left as his perception picked up something new.
A person was standing beside him.
And this person looked just like the Duskbringer.
"You did well," Nick said.
Kiran looked with shock at Nick.
At this moment, he felt just like back when he saw the Duskbringer for the first time.
This power.
It was endless!
A question appeared in Kiran's mind.
Many people asked him this question.
And yet, Kiran hadn't asked this question in many, many years.
"What happens now?" he asked.
People always came to him for advice and orders.
This time, he was asking for advice and orders.
"I will now show you the true face of the enemy," Nick said.
Kiran felt a lot of Zephyx gathering around him, and the next moment, he vanished.
When he reappeared, he found himself in a world of darkness yet again.
Nick landed on the dark ground, and Kiran followed him.
Nick slowly walked forward, and Kiran could see where they were walking towards with his perception.
He saw a pool of pure Zephyx, which was over 20 meters wide.
And in the middle of that pool was a corpse.
Naturally, during the last era, the pool of Zephyx had been much larger, but that was because it was much later in the era.
This era was still near its beginning.
When Kiran saw the corpse, his heart shook.
It felt just as powerful as the Duskbringer!
"This is the Nightmare," Nick spoke.
"I want you to look at it. Investigate it. Learn about it."
"And I want you to never speak of its secrets."
"You have learned about the law of information and its presence as a physical thing."
"Keep that in mind."
Kiran slowly walked forward and used his powerful perception to look into the Nightmare.
When he saw the complex machinery around the Nightmare's Zephyx Synchronizer, he became shocked.
It was a Specter!
Everyone knew that the Nightmare was a Specter!
Yet, Specters didn't have Zephyx Synchronizers!
Only humans had Zephyx Synchronizers!
So, why did the Nightmare have a Zephyx Synchronizer, and what were these machines around it?!
"Life," Nick spoke. "Think of the planets you have learned about. The universe. The history of the Ancient Ones."
"Combine the clues and solve the puzzle."
Kiran investigated the Nightmare more, and after some seconds, he combined the clues.
Specters were not natural lifeforms.
They were artificial!
They were just as artificial as the artificial Specters they could create themselves!
They were just made by a different entity!
The true face of the enemy.
Now, Kiran understood.
The Specters were just a tool.
There was someone who made these Specters for a specific purpose.
But then, the Sun wasn't the true enemy.
It was also just a tool.
Nick could see that Kiran had understood.
"Three obstacles," Nick said.
"The Sun."
"Two powerful warriors."
"An antimatter laser."
"We need to deal with these three things."
Darkness clouded Kiran's mind.
The power in front of him made him feel hopeless.
"The Sun is the easiest to overcome," Nick continued.
"I will deal with the antimatter laser."
"As for the warriors…"
"That will be, by far, the most difficult obstacle."
"Humanity needs warriors that can buy time."
"Buy time?" Kiran asked. "Time for what?"
"For the Duskbringer," Nick said.
"Aren't you the Duskbringer?" Kiran asked.
"No," Nick said.
"I am just the weapon that deals with the antimatter laser."
"The two warriors are too powerful."
"I can't hope to defeat them."
"No human on Earth can defeat them."
"My only hope is the Duskbringer, the weapon I am working on to deal with them."
Nick looked at Kiran.
"Work with the Nightmare and become a Protector."
"After that, I will tell you about the plan."
"We will free humanity."
"I am the Dusk."
"You are the Dawn."
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