The Universe did not scream as it unraveled.
It went quiet.
The kind of quiet that made even the strongest beings feel like something had been taken from them without permission. Not violently. Not cruelly. Simply… removed.
After Vahn said no, the erasures accelerated.
Not as punishment.
As continuation.
Astralis felt it first.
Entire outer corridors began to flicker, not collapsing, not breaking, but failing to resolve. Trade routes vanished mid transit. Not with ships lost, but with destinations gone. Messages returned with empty headers. Coordinates led nowhere.
Reality was thinning.
Inside the Core World, alarms did not blare.
Because there was nothing to detect.
Only absence.
Celestine stood on the highest balcony of the Imperial Spire, Valen held tightly against her chest, as if letting go would allow the Universe to take him.
Below, the Empire still functioned.
Because it did not yet understand.
But Celestine did.
"This is because of us," she whispered.
