Above the cracked, crimson firmament, the colossal sky-door continued to open with a deafening, agonizing groan.
"What... what is happening?!" Leo gasped, staring upward into the abyss.
Out of nowhere, a calm, familiar voice echoed directly inside his mind.
"I know none of this is your fault... but I still blame you for this. And as for the answer to your question... welcome to the day when the sky falls."
Leo looked frantically around the empty white expanse, but there was no one beside them. "H-Hey, guys! Did you hear that?!"
Null and Lana remained frozen, their eyes locked in terror on the massive tear in the sky. They didn't react to Leo's question at all.
"No one can hear me except you," the voice echoed inside his skull again.
Leo winced, taking a step back. "W-Why?! Who are you?!"
"Because... I am currently inside you."
"What?!" Leo yelled in his mind. "How?!"
"How could you not recognize my voice by now?" the voice chuckled softly.
Leo paused, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I... I feel like I've heard it somewhere before, but I can't recall it..."
"I am the Leader of the Creators."
Leo's jaw dropped. "YOU?! I thought you were dead! I saw your chest get ripped apart!"
"I am dead," the Leader replied calmly. "Or at least, my physical body is gone. But just before my life faded and my consciousness dissolved, I transferred my remaining soul into your body. Though... I must admit, I didn't expect your body to already house a second consciousness."
Leo panicked, clutching his head. "Wait! What did you do to Chibi?!"
"Relax. I didn't hurt your precious little smartphone," the Leader sighed. "I already knew you were a Heart Replicant. So i made you a heart replicant literally now instead of your phone now others have to stab you at a very particular point of heart. But that's completely irrelevant right now. The main issue is what stands directly in front of us."
Leo looked back up at the terrifying sky-door. "Yeah... the day the sky falls. You know how to deal with this, right?"
The Leader let out a long, dry laugh inside Leo's mind. "Let me make one thing crystal clear to you, kid: you can only deal with a situation when there is actually something to deal with. Right now? There is absolutely nothing you can do."
Leo froze. "What... what do you mean by that?!"
"I mean... sit back and wait for your death."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Leo yelled internally.
"Do I sound like I'm in the mood to tell jokes?" the Leader snapped. "Did you not read any of the history books?"
"How the hell was I supposed to read history?!" Leo argued bitterly. "From the very day I arrived in this world, I've been hunted down every single second!"
"Didn't I give you dozens of books back in that elevator room?!"
"Never mind that!" Leo interrupted. "Just explain what's happening in the simplest way possible!"
The Leader let out a heavy, dramatic sigh inside Leo's consciousness. "Ugh... it looks like I'm forced to deliver a massive monologue. Fine. Let me start from the very beginning."
The Leader's voice grew grave as the sky above continued to crack.
"The bodies of the Creators are made of immense, concentrated magical energy designed to regulate the ambient magical energy of this world. In truth, all the magic flowing across this planet is nothing more than energy leaking from our bodies. Because this world relies so heavily on magic, everything—the flow of time, the paths to heaven and hell, and existence itself—is tied directly to us."
"You are only safe right now because of your Heart Replicant nature," the Leader continued. "Null is safe because of Axiom. And as for that girl... frankly, I have no idea. But listen closely: we Creators did not literally create this world. This world was forged by the First Light."
"To maintain the flow of energy, the First Light created beings like me. But even we have limits. When a Creator reaches their limit, they are forced to share their divine title with others. I belonged to that original line, but I thought differently. I wasn't just some pre-programmed creature content with playing my part. I wanted to end the endless cycle. I refused to be just another face in the crowd."
"I knew that if I didn't do something different, this world would be trapped in this meaningless loop forever. So, I devised a plan to reshape reality into a world that doesn't rely on magical energy at all. But the experiment was far too risky. To safeguard the world, I created four beings just like myself and shared my magical energy with them—the ones you saw me call my 'brothers.' I made them so that if something happened to me, they could take responsibility."
The Leader's tone darkened with profound bitterness.
"I never imagined my own creations would betray me. Every experiment I ran to eliminate magic failed completely. Just as I was about to give up, pure coincidence struck—Null was born. His existence gave me hope again."
"But my brothers refused to accept it. They plotted against me, seeking to hunt down Null and kill me. They triggered an absolute destruction sequence—a countdown to the end. The day the sky falls."
"Whenever this happens, the First Light shows up to reset the world. because everything this happens under my surveillance. They will restart everything... but with one major change: a world where I never existed. My brothers will take over as the leaders, because I never revealed to them that I was their creator. They genuinely believe they were once humans chosen to become Creators..."
The Leader paused, his voice trailing off. "And that... is the entire story, as simply as I can put it."
Meanwhile, back in reality...
Null and Lana were staring at Leo with deep concern. Out of nowhere, Leo had stopped looking at the sky and begun mumbling incoherently to himself, his eyes completely unfocused.
Panicking, Lana grabbed Leo by both shoulders and began shaking him violently!
"Leo! Wake up! Leo!"
"Woah! Woah! Lana, stop!" Leo blurted out, snapping back to reality as his head wobbled.
Lana let out a massive sigh of relief, releasing him. "Are you sure you're okay?! You fainted for two whole hours and then started mumbling like a crazy person!"
"First of all, stop shaking me like a ragdoll!" Leo groaned, rubbing his dizzy head.
Null walked over, inspecting Leo's face carefully. "If you're fine, that's a good thing. Lana was convinced that falling from a height of 2.5 meters earlier permanently damaged your brain."
"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Lana stammered,.
Leo looked at both of them, his expression dropping into dead seriousness as the Leader's words echoed in his head.
"She might actually be right..." Leo whispered softly, staring at his hands. "...because I have something insane to tell you guys."
He paused, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he stared up at the opening sky.