"I'm... I'm sorry..."
The words cracked from Atlas's lips like a fault line splitting the earth. They weren't dramatic. They weren't heroic. Just broken. Quiet. Real.
His head was lowered, shadow hiding half his face, but even the flickering candlelight couldn't disguise the tremble in his jaw. He hated this part—where the people he loved the most stood before him, their stares heavy with disappointment, fear, and love. A cruel trinity that weighed more than any divine pact.
"I'm sorry... I didn't tell you all but... but I'm still going..."
There it was. The fracture became a rupture.
No divine thunder shook the air, but the silence that followed was louder than any god's roar.
In the corner, Eli leaned back, arms crossed. Her figure half-draped in the dark, her eyes glowing with the eerie intelligence of someone who'd seen too much and felt too little—until now. And yet, a small, uninvited smile crept across her lips. Not joy. Not smugness. Just... recognition.
