The air changed.
The peace that had cocooned the group for days cracked under the weight of a sudden, omnipresent pressure. Birds fell mid-flight. Rivers began to boil. The Codex vibrated violently in Takeshi's hands before turning pitch black.
[Final Guardian Detected: THERZAL, THE WORLD-EATER]
He stood atop the last mountain of the Shatter—a being not of flesh or spirit, but of unraveling reality. A shifting mass of wings, voidlight, and crowns. Therzal, the first and last of the Broken Gods, had awakened.
The group stood at the edge of the valley, watching distant flashes of crimson and inverted lightning light up the horizon.
"What is that thing?" Fyria whispered.
Selene's face was pale. "He was never meant to awaken. He is the failsafe. A god created to end the world if all others failed to maintain balance."
Elira clenched her fists. "Then we stop him. Together."
Takeshi looked at the women—his bondmates, his family—and then at the gods sealed within his Codex.
"Niraxis. Varron. Ashkaris," he said, summoning their energies. "I need more than your power. I need your will."
They responded, rising from the Codex as spectral forms, lending part of their divine essence to Takeshi's form. His cloak shimmered like woven memory and fire. His eyes mirrored chainlight.
"We end this. Now."
They climbed for hours. Each step closer to Therzal twisted the world around them—gravity inverting, sound distorting, even their thoughts echoing wrong. But the harem stood firm, each member anchoring Takeshi in a different way.
Elira took his hand. "Don't forget what grounds you."
Fyria leaned in, her forehead touching his. "Burn bright."
Selene placed her staff beside his Codex. "We rise as one."
As they breached the summit, Therzal turned.
He spoke not with words, but with finality.
"TAMER OF GODS. YOU WHO CARRIES THE UNWRITTEN. RETURN TO DUST."
Takeshi opened the Codex.
And wrote one word:
"No."
A battle of reality versus will began.
The Broken World held its breath.