The catastrophic blast of golden light ripped through the square, tearing the Architect’s shadow-cloak into a flurry of dissolving geometries. The force of the explosion sent a shockwave that flattened the remaining cottages and extinguished the necrotic flames in an instant. Kaelen dropped to one knee, the alchemical engine in his hand screaming as the iron housing began to warp and melt under the impossible thermal strain of the True Quartz.
"Your defiance is mathematically flawed," the Architect’s voice echoed, no longer just in Kaelen's mind, but bleeding out into the physical air, distorted and heavy with static. It stepped forward out of the blinding light, its physical form heavily damaged. Half of its body was locked in a state of constant, glitching unspooling, leaking raw void-m
