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After a thousand heartbeats, Derrick waited a little longer before he felt himself enter that silent, peaceful temple.
The moment he opened his eyes, scene after scene flashed through his mind, as though some outside force had poured all his lost memories back into his head in an instant.
Those scenes included collapsed city walls; buildings of alternating white and blue; a temple of the Fallen Creator in a style similar to the City of Silver's; murals detailing the coming of the apocalypse and the Fallen Creator's resistance against six great evil gods to shelter humanity's survivors; beautiful but dangerous "mushrooms"; and Jack, an exceedingly strange boy with pale yellow hair who had come from somewhere unknown.
These scenes repeated over and over, five full times, but certain details differed each time:
The first time, all the hide lanterns outside the Fallen Creator's temple went out, nearly causing a tragedy. The second time, someone lost control and almost swallowed a "mushroom," but fortunately, Chief Colin stopped them in time. The third time, the boy Jack told them something more: he and his father had sought the Creator's Sanctuary on a boundless ocean, only to encounter a tremendous storm. The fourth time, Joshua was gravely wounded when the boy Jack mutated without warning. The fifth time, the temple collapsed completely, blocking the exit from the underground area.
And every time, it ended with Demon Hunter Colin killing the boy Jack and began with them resting at camp, preparing to enter the Ruined City, the end joining the beginning in an endless loop.
We've already explored the temple five times... We've been living through this experience all along, with no way to truly end it! The more Derrick understood his suddenly recovered memories, the more terrified he became, and the more