The air was wrong.
Not just heavy. Not just shifting.
But yered.
Darius could still see it.
The other world.
The one that existed before the Thanatarchy’s first rewrite.
Ais watched him carefully.
"You’re not looking at this city anymore, are you?"
Darius exhaled sharply.
"No."
Because he was seeing something older.
The first version of the world was still there.
Not gone. Not erased.
Just… buried.
Hidden beneath the yers of rewritten history.
And Darius had just broken through.
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The Architect of Correction was still frozen in pce.
It did not react.
Because it did not know how to.
The rewrite had hesitated.
But now—it was restarting.
Darius could feel it.
The process was realigning.
The Thanatarchy would not allow this break to st.
The original world was not supposed to be seen.
And now that he had glimpsed it—
They would erase him at all costs.
Ais noticed the shift first.
"The sky’s changing again."
Darius looked up.
The rewrite was accelerating.
The Thanatarchy was no longer simply rewriting Vornis.
It was correcting the entire region.
Ais clenched her teeth. "They’re rewriting everything, aren’t they?"
Darius nodded.
"They’re making sure no one ever remembers what I just saw."
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The city around them was breaking apart.
Not just into nothingness.
But into two competing versions of itself.
Vornis.
And the city that had existed before it.
Ais took a slow breath.
"Then tell me, Darius."
She met his gaze.
"What did you see?"
Darius closed his eyes.
And then—he spoke.
"This world is not the first."
His breath was unsteady.
"The Thanatarchy has rewritten history not just once. Not twice."
His hands clenched into fists.
"They have rewritten the world countless times."
Ais’s eyes darkened. "How many?"
Darius exhaled sharply.
"I don’t know."
His voice was quiet.
"But I saw the first one."
Ais hesitated. "And what was different about it?"
Darius turned back toward the breaking city.
His gaze was steady.
"The Thanatarchy did not exist in the first version."
Ais froze.
Darius’ voice was quiet.
"Which means someone created them."
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Ais’s breath was sharp. "You’re saying—"
Darius nodded.
"The Thanatarchy is not a natural force."
"It was designed."
"And whoever created it—"
His jaw tightened.
"They are still rewriting the world."
The truth settled between them.
Cold. Unrelenting. And before Ais could respond—
The rewrite colpsed.
And the Thanatarchy made its next move.
