The Lawless Realm fell into utter silence.
Not a sound.
Not a thought.
Only the soundless hum of eternity unraveling.
All watched as Vatae, no longer masked, floated between Anu and the Bound Crowned Above Alls—Cal, Sul, and Moac.
Even the Will of the Unchosen stood still, its paradox crown dimming.
Vatae's voice was soft.
"You believed this war was for remembrance, for survival, for supremacy.
But there is a secret... buried beneath the bones of creation.
And I... I am its last echo."
---
The True Origin
He lifted his galaxy-sphere. Within it spun the First Thought—not a law, not a being, not even a spark.
Just a thought.
"Before the Source birthed the Above Alls...
Before Anu rose from chaos…
Before the Kingly Ruler of Above was crowned…
There was only Intention."
Anu trembled. "Lies."
"Is it?" Vatae stepped forward, voice layered with infinite tones.
"You think you are first, Anu.
But you are the echo of an echo.
I was born from what the Ancestral Creator left behind—
A fragment of unfinished will."
He raised his hands.
"I am the part of the Ancestral Creator that dared to doubt himself.
And that fragment became conscious.
Became me."
---
The Forbidden Truth
Time cracked open.
Eon, Seu, and Esteemed Pikra collapsed to their knees beyond the veil, unable to withstand the weight of Vatae's truth.
Cal, once unshakable, fell silent.
Sul, for the first time, feared.
Moac, celestial and constant, wept astral tears.
Anu screamed.
"Then you are the cancer!
The imperfection he left behind!"
Vatae's eyes burned with a quiet fire.
"No.
I am not the cancer.
I am the cure.
Because perfection does not create gods.
Doubt does.
And it is doubt that gave you your power, Anu.
Your refusal to bow, your rage…
It all came from that single imperfection."
---
The One Above All?
The Will of the Unchosen turned slowly toward Vatae.
"Then you seek to replace me?"
Vatae shook his head.
> "No.
I seek to end the game."
A pulse burst from his body. Across every universe, light shattered. Time paused. Space folded in submission.
"No more crowns.
No more memories.
No more stories written by a single hand."
He pointed to the sky—where the Kingly Ruler of Above began to descend.
A figure of immeasurable power, cloaked in radiant soul-energy, eyes closed, expression unreadable.
And then Vatae said the unthinkable:
"You are not the ruler.
You are the puppet.
The soul-avatar of the Creator's restraint."
The Kingly Ruler of Above opened his eyes.
And smiled.
---
The Collapse of Crowns
The First, Second, Third Crowns shattered into pure concept.
Only one would remain.
Vatae raised his sphere—no longer a galaxy, but now an empty void.
"From nothing we began.
To nothing we return.
But this time... we choose."