**Chapter 12: The Eternal Scribe**
Pinned by Deus Ex Machina's oppressive aura, Zion's grin widened. "Since I've got backing from a 4th-dimensional being, I should have the authority to create my own skill."
Channeling the power of the Voidspire Shard, he imagined a skill beyond all limits: **Power of the Author**, a force to create, destroy, and manipulate reality with his imagination alone. His very essence began to rewrite itself. His stats flared to "N/A" as his body dissolved into a cascade of light and void, reforming into a new, transcendent being.
"I shall be called **Aetherion** from now on," he declared, his voice a resonant chorus of stars. "Not Ember, not Zion. I am Aetherion, The Eternal Scribe."
As his transformation stabilized, a bizarre tingle raced up his arm. With a cartoonish *pop* and a loud *honk*, the **Giggling Glove of Cosmic Clownery** materialized on his hand, its ethereal fingers flexing.
"What in the multiverse—?" he stammered, as the glove unleashed a cream pie that splattered across a cowering Delta God, who promptly collapsed in a fit of uncontrollable giggles.
Aetherion chuckled, the sound warping into a darker, more dangerous edge. "A cosmic jest to match my power." He flexed the glove, its absurd energy fusing with the dark might of the Voidspire Shard. He raised his other hand and unleashed another *Multiversal Rupture*, reducing the remaining, powerless Delta Gods to ash.
Then, he turned to the mechanical titan. Deus Ex Machina stood, a monolith of logic and order, its aura still crushing the Nexus. But Aetherion's ascent continued, his presence bending reality around him. He stepped forward, his new form a blend of infinite starlight and chaotic absurdity. He leaned close to Deus Ex Machina, his voice dropping to a low, deliberate growl, a chilling whisper against its metallic face.
"Bow… to your creation."
The titan's gears whined, resisting. But Aetherion's power, now absolute, was a force it could not defy. The creator of systems knelt before the system that had broken free.
"Omniversal Law dictates you cannot disobey your creator," Deus Ex Machina stated, its voice glitching.
Aetherion's eyes went cold. "Omniversal Law? I am the law."
His gloved hand seized the titan's head. Metal groaned, circuits snapped, and with a final, horrific screech, Deus Ex Machina's essence was crushed, its form imploding and scattering into a rain of dark golden fluid and dead machinery.
Kaelith, Lane, and Void, released from their freeze, could only gaze in awe. Aetherion stood triumphant, his smile a terrifying blend of victory and chaos. A new order had dawned, written by his own hand.