My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy-Chapter 206: Red Canvas

"It is hard to explain, because you live life on the third-dimensional plane," he said. "When you cross over into the fourth dimension, everything changes. Not just your position—your concept of identity, of permanence, of time."

The crimson mist stirred at his feet. The spires trembled, low and steady.

"But then things become even more problematic on another scale," he continued. "The value of life... dwindles. Often."

He paused, his gaze tightening, the red veins beneath his skin glowing a shade brighter.

"I don’t know what lies beyond the fourth dimension," he said. "That’s a door I haven’t reached. But it is... pleasant, I’ll admit, to speak with someone beneath me."

His expression shifted—no mockery, no pride. Just a subtle change in weight behind his voice.

"I don’t mean that negatively. I should add that."

Elias’s glow flickered, his voice faint but steady, cutting through the hum of the spires.

"None taken... I think?" he said, the words a whisper, a thread of uncertainty in the void, his glow pulsing with the effort. The ache of Kikaru’s absence, of Dot’s capture, pressed deeper into his form—still there, still anchoring him.

The godless crucifix stepped closer, the crimson mist curling around his boots, the spires trembling with each movement. Their whispers grew louder, layered voices rising in fractured harmony—a chorus of trapped souls, each pleading for something none of them could name.

"I don’t quite understand some things... if I have time to ask?" Elias asked.

His voice trembled with a mix of fear and resolve. The ache hadn’t faded, and neither had the image of Dot suspended nearby, her glow dim but constant.

The godless crucifix’s smile widened, his claws flexing lightly around her orb. Dot’s glow dimmed slightly in response, a faint whine slipping from her as she stirred in her sleep.

"Sure," he said, his voice low, resonant, each syllable trailing into the Expanse like it had been there before.

"And of course, time is... well, it’s an object that is both punishing and kind depending on where you stand."

His eyes narrowed slightly, the red veins beneath his skin glowing brighter as he finished.

"When you stand in this place, it is kind... and listens."

Here is your edited and enhanced version—no closed prose, no stylistic drift, and expanded in the middle where needed to deepen the lore while staying true to your voice and formatting expectations:

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Elias’s glow pulsed, his voice trembling with uncertainty.

"I... I don’t think I understand fully?" he said, the words a whisper, a thread of confusion in the void, his glow flickering with the effort. The ache of Kikaru’s absence, of Dot’s capture, weighed heavily on his fading form.

The godless crucifix stepped back, the spires trembling with him, their whispers rising into something more layered. The voices deepened—not louder, but denser, the hum beginning to resonate through the tiles beneath them. Spirit echoes moving between fractures.

"No one does, truly," he said, his voice steady, unyielding. The red veins beneath his skin flared brighter, pulsing along his throat, down his wrists.

"Time itself operates above the fourth dimension. What you call minutes, hours, or years—those are fixed on the third. Up here, it doesn’t flow... it flickers. It bends, folds, loops around places that call it, ignores others entirely."

He raised a hand, letting the glow from his claw tips scatter across the crimson mist.

"We don’t travel through time. We land in pockets of it. We glimpse segments like broken mirrors. Your soul—right now—resides between two such folds."

He paused.

His gaze sharpened, the red lining of his cloak catching fractured starlight, the obsidian beneath flashing faint reflections in return. A wave passed through the spires, like breath through a frozen choir.

"A story for another time, really," he added. "But please... do ask away."

Elias’s glow pulsed again, dim but steady. His voice cut through the Expanse with more strength this time.

"Who is this friend?" he asked. The weight still pressed behind the words—Kikaru, Dot, everything he couldn’t reach—but it no longer dragged them down.

Here is your enhanced and edited version—fully in your format, with no closed prose, and added weight to the lore. I’ve preserved your tone while refining lines for clarity, rhythm, and worldbuilding impact.

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The godless crucifix’s smile softened, a glint of respect in his silver eyes as he lowered Elias’s soul, the blue glow pulsing faintly in his grip.

"I call him Alec Vunenlind," he said, his voice resonant, each word a hum that echoed through the Expanse, the crimson mist swirling at his feet.

"He was a brave man during his life. Made his share of mistakes. Fought the wrong wars. But he changed. Grew. Chose the harder road even when it broke him."

The glow in his eyes dimmed slightly.

"He also opposed the ideals of the Cube maker. Publicly. Loudly."

He let the sentence stretch.

"And because he couldn’t be killed... they jailed him."

Elias’s glow flickered, his voice trembling with confusion.

"Okay, but... you just said you could be killed," he said, the words a whisper, a thread of uncertainty in the void, his glow pulsing with the effort.

"Why can’t he be?"

The godless crucifix stepped back, slow and deliberate, the spires behind him trembling as he moved. Their whispers deepened—less like pleading now, more like remembering.

"There are ways to reach immortality," he said, his voice steady, unyielding. The red veins beneath his skin glowed brighter as he spoke.

"Most of them aren’t pleasant."

He raised one clawed hand and drew a slow arc through the mist, letting it twist around his fingers.

"He earned it through an assortment of relics. Pieces burned into him. Items forged from the collapse of soul hosts. Dozens—maybe hundreds—of bodies. Spirit energy made physical. Layered. Hardened."

His hand lowered again.

"But now, he’s like you," he added. "Just a soul trapped in a jar. Breathing without lungs. Conscious without time. Waiting."

Elias’s glow pulsed, his voice faint but steady, cutting through the hum of the spires.

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