Ian took a few steps forward and stopped several paces from the old man. "I have a lot of questions."
"Then ask."
Ian fell silent for a moment. "What are the Chronos Guardians? I can't sense them, and even the power of God can't lock onto their location. Do they exist outside your system of creation?"
The old man did not answer immediately. He raised his fishing rod slightly, as though testing the movement beneath the water. "They are boundaries." His voice was calm. "Not living beings, not an organization, not an institution. Before I created everything, I placed them at the edges first, to confirm whether the boundaries remained where they belonged."
"When you created them, you placed them beyond my perception?"
"They are part of the boundaries," the old man said. "When I created them, you did not yet exist. They have always been there. They simply never needed to engage with anyone before."
Ian was silent for a while. "Then were they also responsible for Lucifer's injuries?"
"No." The old man leveled the fishing rod again. "Lucifer's wounds came from running into something while walking that path himself. The path itself does not hurt people, but the way he dismantled his original structure left some gaps. The Chronos Guardians will not actively attack him, but neither will they bypass those gaps."
"They will fill those gaps?" Ian asked.
"They will ensure the integrity of the boundaries," the old man said. "No matter how those gaps were formed."
Ian did not respond at once. The wind swept across the lake, stirring the hem of the old man's coat. He looked at the water, seemingly sorting through the information he had just received, before lifting his gaze again. "You didn't bring me here just to tell me this."
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