infinity transmigrate

The cold wind whipped dust around them as they reached the invisible boundary of Sector 9.

The sky had dimmed to a muted gray, like an old photograph left too long in the sun. 

The ruins ahead rose higher, thicker. Unlike Sector 7, which had turned to waste, these structures still stood. They were twisted but still standing, as if whatever burned this world paused before completing its task.

Kael adjusted the weight of the rusted machete Riven had tossed him earlier. It was dull and slightly bent, but better than nothing.

"This is it."

Riven said quietly. Her usual bravado was gone.

"The main gate."

She pointed to a huge steel wall in front of them. It was partly hidden by thick vines and debris. A tall gate stood in the centre.

It was half-cracked but still whole. Its surface had strange, spiraling glyphs carved into it.

"No one's ever made it past it," she added.

Kael stared at the symbols.

They weren't just markings.

They were language.

And not just any language. One he'd spoken in a past life—one the System tried to hide but then noted as a "Corrupted Variant."

Dead tongues aren't always dead.

Some are just sleeping.

Riven stepped forward and examined the wall, fingers tracing a curved indentation. 

"We've lost people here. Something beyond this gate feeds on minds. It turns people… strange."

Silas grunted. 

"You sure about bringing him?" 

He jerked a thumb toward Kael. 

"He'll get brain-fried in five minutes."

"Maybe," Riven said. 

"Or maybe his trick works on more than just people."

Kael stepped forward, narrowing his eyes.

Words hummed across the surface of the gate. Not visibly—but mentally. Like thoughts echoing in his mind. They wanted to be read.

"Don't come," he said.

"What?"

"I said, stay back."

He placed a hand on the cold steel.

_____________________________________________________________________________

[System Warning: Foreign Script Detected - Proto-Eldranic / Mental Anchor Hazard] [Do you want to continue with language integration?]

Y/N

Kael chose: Yes.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Pain flared behind his eyes. It felt like his skull had been split open and rewired.

Glyphs swirled in front of him. They split apart and snapped back together like puzzle pieces in the air.

The wall... responded.

"He returns."

"Not in flesh. But in voice."

"The Gatekeeper awakens."

The vision shuddered.

Riven stepped forward despite Kael's warning.

"What the hell did you just do?"

Kael didn't answer.

Because suddenly, the memories came rushing back.

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A tower is burning. A man in crimson chains. Kael, not as he is now, but as he once was: a scholar-warrior of the Fallen Verse.

In forbidden languages that could summon storms and silence gods. A blade made from his own soul. A deal struck at the edge of time. And then… a betrayal.

_____________________________________________________________________________

He stumbled back from the gate, breath ragged.

"Kael!" Finn ran to his side.

"I'm fine," he lied.

The system pinged again.

_____________________________________________________________________________

[Dimensional isolation Partially Unlocked] Recovered Memory Fragment: 'The Versed Executioner – Timeline 042-B' Perk Gained: Echo Memory (Lv. 1) – Access passive recall of tactical skills from previous lives.

_______________________________________________________________________

He rubbed his head while his heart was hammering inside his ribcage.

Riven crouched beside him.

"Talk. Now."

Kael glanced at the gate, which had begun to creak—just slightly, just enough to suggest movement.

"There's something sealed in there," he said. "And I've spoken its language before."

"You remember another life?"

"Not clearly. But enough."

Riven didn't press. But the look in her eyes changed. From suspicion to calculation.

She saw it now. The same thing Kael had always known, but hated admitting:

He wasn't normal. And he wasn't entirely human anymore.

_____________________________________________________________________________

They made camp near the outer wall, behind the burned shell of a diner.

The air crackled with unease, like static before a storm.

Finn watched the gate from a distance, chewing on a piece of jerky.

"Do you think it'll open fully?"

Kael sat beside him, sharpening the machete slowly.

"Maybe. But it won't open to just anyone."

"You mean it's locked?"

"No," Kael said. "It's testing us."

Finn blinked.

"That's worse."

Kael chuckled.

"You're right."

Silas stood nearby, on watch. He hadn't said much since the gate trembled.

Riven came over, holding a worn cloth bundle.

"Here,"

She said, tossing it into Kael's lap.

He opened it to find a set of reinforced gloves, a tighter shirt with alloy-thread mesh, and a sheath for the machete.

"Scavenged gear?" he asked.

"Old Hunter stockpile. Figured you should look less like a walking trash bag."

Kael nodded, slipping the gloves on.

"Thanks."

Riven sat across from him, arms crossed.

"Tell me something."

"Shoot."

"That language—the one on the gate. You spoke it like a native. Did your system teach you, or… was it you?"

Kael paused. Then answered honestly.

"It was me. Before this body. Before this world. I lived a life where words weren't just communication—they were power. I studied the original tongues of the Eldran Spires. This gate? It's built from their relic scripts."

"Eldran?" she repeated.

Kael looked up.

"You don't know that name?"

She shook her head.

"No one does. Not anymore."

That was worrying.

If even the names of the old empires were lost here… then this world wasn't just ruined. It was wiped. Entirely.

"Then something's erasing history," he said softly.

"Or guarding it," Riven muttered.

They sat in silence for a while. Wind blew through the ruins like whispers.

"Kael," she said suddenly. "Why do you keep going?"

He looked at her.

"I mean it. If you've died before—why fight so hard to keep surviving?"

Kael thought about that.

The easy answer was revenge.

But the truth was more complicated.

"I keep going," he said slowly.

"Because somewhere along the way, I made a promise. To someone I don't even remember. But I feel it. In my bones. Every time I wake up."

He looked toward the horizon.

"I think… I was supposed to save something. Or someone."

Riven didn't laugh. Didn't scoff.

She just nodded.

"Good answer."

_____________________________________________________________________________

That night, Kael didn't sleep.

Instead, he knelt near the gate alone, whispering pieces of the script under his breath. Not to open it—but to learn it again.

To reshape the letters like clay, until they bent under his will.

_____________________________________________________________________________

[System Notice: Language Mastery Progress - 68%] You have unlocked a section of the Gatekeeper's Cipher.

_______________________________________________________________________

"He does not knock. He remembers."

"One who speaks the lost. One who walked the Verse."

Kael exhaled slowly.

"I'm coming back," He whispered. "And this time, I remember enough to win."