The Void Between Worlds trembled.
Ancient machines awakened in the darkness.
Their massive structures stretched beyond sight, connected by rivers of golden energy.
Entire realities seemed insignificant beside them.
At the center stood Astraeus.
Calm.
Confident.
Certain of victory.
"You think I'm your enemy," he said.
Aria tightened her grip on her weapon.
"Aren't you?"
The Architect King smiled.
"No."
With a wave of his hand, the darkness around them transformed.
A vision appeared.
Not of the past.
Of the future.
They saw countless worlds.
Some prosperous.
Others devastated by war.
Many consumed by disasters.
Across existence, suffering repeated endlessly.
Generation after generation.
Kingdom after kingdom.
The same cycle.
The same pain.
The same loss.
Astraeus l
