Sirid looked at the Infinity Blade. It hummed with the stored souls of a thousand past Sirids, each one convinced he was the original, each one feeding the endless war.
…or is it? The cycle will resume in: 14… 13… 12…
The text shifted. It was no longer a recounting of his past. It was a conversation . You believe the blade chooses you. It does not. It chooses the cycle. You are a tool, Sirid, as much as I am a prisoner. Sirid (the Redeemer): Then why show me this? Why break the pattern? Ryth: Because even a Deathless can grow weary of winning. The 15th iteration of this simulation was designed not to trap you, but to offer you what no Infinity Blade can: an out . Sirid’s hands trembled. A simulation? He remembered his first death, the resurrection via the Dark Citadel’s arcane machines. But what if those machines were just the game’s tutorial? What if the real prison was the narrative ? Sirid looked at the Infinity Blade
He sat down on the steps of the throne, cross-legged, and picked up a real book from the floor—the same one from the library. Infinity Blade Redemption . He opened to page 15 and began to read aloud.
EPUB • MOBI • PDF • 15 The last note of the Deathless’s scream faded into the dust of the arena. Sirid stood over the slumped, crystalline form of Ryth, the Worker of Secrets, his Infinity Blade dripping iridescent ichor. Another victory. Another loop. The cycle will resume in: 14… 13… 12…
Brandon Sanderson
Then he turned to page 15.
He did not die. He simply… stopped being the protagonist.
For a long moment, the only sound was the distant chime of the respawn timer, ready to yank him back to the beginning. You believe the blade chooses you
“The same thing that happens to a character at the end of a book,” Ryth replied. “You become finished . No sequel. No loop. Just an ending.”