Surviving A Novel I Don't Remember: A Tutor's Guide To Staying Alive Chapter 332: I must protect them this time

​"Do you see it now?" the God of Light asked, his voice echoing softly. "Do you see why he hates us so much?"

​Julian looked at the god of light, his chest tight. He could understand it, certainly.

"It is not just this life," the god of light remarked, once again showing the tapes that wove Julian’s souls together. There were slides of different lives, different deaths, different tears. "I did not tell you this before because I felt you would not fully grasp it until you saw the book of your soul, but in every life, every single ti you were reborn, your soul was dragged into the fabrics of this world, and you were made to et Theo. Fall for him, and watch him die. This tragedy has happened all over again across the ages."

Julian’s heart grew even heavier.

​"Norx had been writing our story," the god of light said. "And he wants to force us into this circle forever."

Julian lowered his head. If for centuries, this has been going on, then... shouldn’t the god of light have intervened just ​like he did this ti? Why did he let it go on if he could see Norx’s plot?

"I did not let it go on because I wanted it to happen," The god of light responded to Julian’s thoughts. "Norx has made it so that the laws of this world move in a specific way. Fate. He made it so that the deaths are completely natural, and as such, I could not intervene. And moreover..." he looked at the current slide of Julian’s life that included Lucius. "Kael had not t his father up until this life."

Julian stared at the smiling, tanned boy.

"I must protect them this ti. You beca a dium to my light, enabling to communicate with you." The god of light looked back at him. "Norx knows this, knows that you have the power to protect them this ti, so he has once again created the darkness to swallow the world, and all that is in it."

"The demons," Julian whispered, his hands clenching into fists as the cold realization settled in. "The monsters currently attacking our borders... they aren’t a natural disaster. They are his creation."

​"Yes," the God of Light answered, the golden halo above his head humming with a soft, lancholic chi. "He is rewriting his old script, but on a much larger scale. He wants to force a tragedy so massive that your light will fail under the weight of the despair. He wants to ensure you lose Theo and the child for the final ti."

​Julian looked back at the glowing slide of his current life. He saw himself as the quiet teacher, living a simple life, completely unaware of the cosmic war baseline beneath his feet. He saw Alaric—this life’s incarnation of Theo—with his stubborn blue eyes and protective stance. And he saw Lucius, the boy who had finally, after eons of fractured cycles, managed to be reborn right back into his father’s arms.

​The pieces were all on the board. The family was finally whole again, and that was exactly why Norx was moving with such desperate, vicious malice.

​"I won’t let him do it," Julian said. He lifted his head, his eyes locking onto the God of Light with an unyielding, fierce intensity. "I don’t care if he engineered the rules of fate. I don’t care if he spent centuries watching us bleed. I am the one down here in the mud this ti, and I am the one holding the weapon."

​The God of Light offered a faint, sad smile, his image starting to ripple like water as the connection began to close. The heavy book of Julian’s soul was shutting, pulling him back toward the conscious boundary of the waking world.

​"The conduit between us is fully open now, Julian," the deity’s voice echoed, sounding more distant by the second. "My authority in the heavens will hold the stars, but the dirt belongs to you. Wake up. Your family is waiting."

​With a sudden, violent gasp, the silent expanse shattered.

Julian blinked away the tears, his focus finally locking onto the anxious blue eyes staring down at him in the dim room.

​It was Alaric. His strong, calloused hand was heavy on Julian’s shoulder, anchoring him back to the earth. His face was tense with worry, his sharp features illuminated by the weak lamplight as he leaned over the bed.

​"Julian? Julian, hey—look at . Breathe," Alaric urged, his deep voice rough with panic.

​Julian gasped for air, his body trembling as the overwhelming weight of eons of mories settled into his chest. He looked at Alaric, then past his shoulder toward the smaller cot in the corner of the room.

​There lay Lucius, his small, tanned fra curled up under the blankets, sleeping soundly and completely oblivious to the cosmic storm that had just unfolded in Julian’s mind. The child was safe. Kael’s soul was finally back with his father, and Alaric was right here, holding Julian together just as he always had.

​"I’m here," Julian choked out, his voice cracking as he reached up to grip Alaric’s wrist. The touch was warm and real, instantly pushing back the lingering chill of the void. "I’m back."

​Alaric let out a long, shuddering breath, his forehead dropping for a second to press against Julian’s temple. "You wouldn’t wake up. Your skin was freezing, and you were weeping in your sleep. I thought..." He tightened his grip, his jaw setting into that stubborn, protective line. "I thought sothing happened again."

​Julian closed his eyes for a brief mont, the image of the smiling boy and the fierce warrior flashing in his mind. He knew the truth now. He knew the enemy, he knew the curse, and he knew exactly what was marching toward their borders.

​Norx was coming to tear this family apart again. But this ti, Julian wasn’t a blind mortal waiting for the slaughter. He had the light, he had the mories, and he had a promise to keep.