The ascent toward the Heart of the Mountain was a journey through the fundamental code of reality.
As Aegis rose, the golden light of the Atlas began to flicker, replaced by a creeping, static-filled silence. But as he reached the crystalline summit, he found his path blocked not by the Erasure, but by three figures of blinding, indifferent radiance.
These were the Prime Architects, the oldest beings in the Atlas, who had watched the birth of the first realms. They stood like statues of living marble, their eyes devoid of empathy.
"Step back, Aegis," the first Architect commanded. "The Great Erasure is not an ending. It is the Great Reset. It is the beginning of the Eleventh Epoch. All that is stagnant must be un-made so that a higher form of existence can be drafted. Your 'True Existence' is an anomaly that interferes with the cycle."
"My 'anomaly' is my family," Aegis said with a low, dangerous growl.
