Valen didn’t answer.

  Not immediately.

  The smirk lingered on his lips, but there was something else beneath it. A flicker of something older than expression, something deeper than amusement.

  Elias could see it now.

  See him now.

  Valen wasn’t just Valen. He was many, layered, shifting, a voice that had been spoken through generations. He was the sum of every Lie Seller before him, the remnants of those who had come before, the echoes of minds that were no longer their own.

  And yet—he still was Valen.

  Still separate.

  Still him.

  Elias exhaled. “You’re not going to answer, are you?”

  Valen tilted his head slightly. “Would you believe me if I did?”

  Elias’ jaw tightened.

  Sera watched them both, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. “You’re stalling.”

  Valen hummed. “Am I?”

  Sera’s fingers curled slightly at her sides. “You wouldn’t show him this without a reason. What’s your angle?”

  Valen chuckled. “You give me too much credit.”

  Sera didn’t look convinced.

  Elias frowned. “You said the system let me in too easily.”

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  Valen nodded. “That’s right.”

  Elias inhaled slowly. “And now you’re showing me this?”

  “Correct again.”

  Elias clenched his fists. “Why?”

  Valen’s smile lingered, but his eyes darkened.

  There it was again. That shift.

  The subtle crack in his usual demeanor.

  Elias had seen Valen amused. He had seen him entertained, curious, detached.

  But this?

  This was different.

  This was calculated.

  Valen wasn’t just playing a game. He was fighting for something.

  Elias’ pulse quickened. “The system wants to replace you.”

  Sera stiffened.

  Valen’s gaze didn’t waver. “It seems that way.”

  Elias exhaled sharply. “And you’re worried.”

  Valen’s smirk twitched. “I don’t worry.”

  Sera scoffed. “You should.”

  Elias’ mind raced. “Is that why you’re showing me this? You’re trying to… what? Prove something?”

  Valen studied him. “What do you think?”

  Elias’ stomach twisted. He didn’t know.

  Valen was playing his cards carefully, laying out pieces of truth while still keeping the full picture hidden.

  But why?

  Elias swallowed. “You don’t want to be replaced.”

  Valen hummed. “No one does.”

  Sera narrowed her eyes. “But you’re not like the others.”

  Valen’s smirk sharpened. “No.”

  Elias exhaled. “Because you won.”

  The room felt colder.

  Valen tilted his head. “Yes.”

  Elias met his gaze. “And you want to keep winning.”

  A beat of silence.

  Then—

  Valen grinned.

  The same smirk as before, but now—

  It was honest.

  “Now you’re getting it.”

  Sera’s expression darkened. “So, what? You’re trying to turn him into an ally?”

  Valen chuckled. “Ally is a strong word.”

  Elias clenched his jaw. “You need to maintain control.”

  Valen’s smile didn’t fade.

  Elias’ heartbeat pounded in his ears. The Lie Seller wasn’t just concerned about being replaced.

  He was preparing for it.

  He wasn’t just testing Elias. He wasn’t just playing a game.

  He was looking for an answer.

  An answer to a question he hadn’t spoken aloud.

  And Elias—

  He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what it was.

  Sera exhaled. “You still haven’t explained why you brought us here.”

  Valen turned slightly, looking at the space around them.

  The room had changed again.

  The walls stretched impossibly far, fading into the same void Elias had seen before. Time here didn’t move—it existed. Layered, shifting, tangled in ways that weren’t meant to be understood.

  It wasn’t just a place.

  It was a memory of a place.

  A remnant of something that had once been real, now trapped in the system’s web.

  Valen exhaled. “Because he needs to see more.”

  Elias tensed. “More of what?”

  Valen’s gaze flickered.

  And then—

  The record appeared again.

  Elias’ breath caught.

  Not the same record as before.

  Not a continuation.

  Something else.

  Something older.

  Valen studied it for a long moment before tossing it to Elias.

  Elias caught it out of reflex.

  The moment his fingers closed around it—

  The world shattered again.

  —

  Elias fell.

  Not through space. Not through time.

  Through concepts.

  Through truths that had been buried under lies so well that they had become forgotten history.

  And as the void consumed him, as the weight of existence peeled away, as the next truth forced itself into his mind—

  He realized something.

  This wasn’t just about the Lie Seller.

  This wasn’t just about him.

  This was about why the cycle existed in the first place.

  And for the first time—

  Elias wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.