The Librarian waved a hand, and the liquid glass beneath Kane's feet turned transparent.
Beneath them lay the corpses of thirteen other "God-Feeders." One was a creature with a thousand eyes; another was a being of pure plasma; one was a human who looked remarkably like Kane, clutching a rusted blade.
"Every hundred million years," the Librarian whispered, "the Hegemony grows too large. They stop being 'Gardener's' and start being 'Parasites.' They choke the timeline with their 'Order.' And so, the System creates a Glitch. It creates you."
Kane looked down at the dead 13th Iteration. The man's eyes were wide with a terror that transcended time. "You're saying... the 'Hunger' isn't my power? It's just a tool to clear the board?"
"Correct," the Librarian said. "The Reapers are the blades that prune the branches. But the God-Feeder is the fire that burns the roots. You were never meant to 'win,' Kane. You were meant to end everything so the Garden could start again."
Kane felt a cold rage bubbling in his chest. It wasn't the "Hunger" this time. it was Humanity.
"I didn't lead my squad across the galaxy just to be a janitor," Kane hissed, his silver hair sparking with a violet discharge. "I'm not resetting the clock. I'm breaking the damn thing."
"Thirteen others said the same," the Librarian noted, its geometric body shifting into a mocking shrug. "All thirteen consumed their Sectors. All thirteen became the 'Great Villains' of their age. And all thirteen were snuffed out by the Gardener once they had finished their 'Work.'"
The Librarian pointed to a massive, dark sphere at the edge of the soul-space. "That is the Source-Code. If you touch it, you will see the 'True Origin.' But be warned: Once you know the truth, you can never go back to being a 'Hero.' You will truly become the God-Feeder."