Ashveil's foundation cracked.
The sky split wider.
Players across the world froze mid-motion. Quests vanished. Enemies dissolved into meaningless particles. Time became liquid.
The Collapse Engine, hidden deep beneath the Nexus since its creation, activated automatically.
[Collapse Protocol: Active]
[System Defense Initiated: GATEKEEPER ENTITY: "ATAL-SYN"]
[Final Phase: Initiate Universal Lock]
Kael and Echo barely had time to respond before the entire world inverted.
The land folded like paper, and from the void came a monstrous being made of gears, bone, and void-code: ATAL-SYN, the fail-safe defense.
It had no face—only a thousand rotating eyes and a voice that sounded like dying stars.
"I am the last page," it growled. "You will not escape this story."
Kael stepped forward.
"I'm not escaping," he said. "I'm writing the sequel."