The city didn't sleep.
Even as the second sun rose over Aetheris, casting its pale glow across the golden towers, the people still stood in the streets. Not shouting. Not cheering. Just... watching.
Waiting.
Some had tears in their eyes.
Some stared in silence, like their world had just cracked in half.
And maybe it had.
Because the truth was no longer hidden.
I had told them.
That the gods forged the Crown not as a gift, but as a punishment.
That the Chained God was once one of their own.
And that I—Sylas Caelum—was the vessel of a god they tried to erase.
Aftershock
Inside the war chamber, the energy was tense, bitter like static before a storm.
Kaelen, Cira, Elara, and Kieran stood around the table. Holographic maps floated above it, marked with spreading zones of unrest.
"Six cities on the western front have declared independence from both continents," Cira reported. "They're calling themselves Crownless. Refusing all divine influence—yours included."
"They're arming themselves," Kaelen added. "Two of our mana relay towers have already been attacked."
"And the people?" Elara asked.
"Split," Cira said. "Some still believe in you. Others think you're just a new god in disguise."
Kieran snorted. "It was a speech, not a coronation."
"It was a match," Kaelen said. "And the world is kindling."
The Crownless Manifesto
Hours later, a new broadcast hit the network—one that mirrored mine in reach and intensity.
It was a face the world hadn't seen in years.
Elandra Vael.
Once a revolutionary scholar, presumed dead after the Divine Trials. Now, very much alive—and leading a new faction.
"You heard the truth," she said, her voice like steel wrapped in silk. "The gods are liars. Their tools are prisons. Their champions are leashes."
"We are Crownless. And we will no longer serve kings, crowns, or gods."
"We will burn the divine tree to its roots."
Her words spread like wildfire.
By nightfall, six more cities had declared for her.
Sylas's Dilemma
"What do we do?" Kieran asked. "She's not wrong. But if we let this spiral—"
"She's exactly what the Harbinger wants," Cira cut in. "Division. Rebellion. Chaos."
"She's just like Darian," Elara muttered. "Seeing only half the picture."
"No," I said quietly.
Everyone looked at me.
"She sees it all. She just made the other choice."
Flashback: The Scholar and the Blade
I hadn't thought of Elandra in years.
But now, her face returned with painful clarity.
She had been there, in my past life—long before the fall. Before the Crown.
A scholar. A dreamer. Someone who believed in truth at any cost.
I had offered her power.
She refused.
I had offered her safety.
She disappeared.
But now, she returned with fire.
And this time, she wasn't alone.
A Risky Plan
"We can't fight a war on three fronts," Kaelen said.
"Three?" Elara frowned.
Kaelen raised a finger for each:
"The Harbinger and his cult."
"The remnants of the steampunk rebellion."
"And now the Crownless."
"So what's your play?" I asked.
He looked directly at me.
"You speak to her."
My jaw tightened. "You want me to walk into her camp?"
"She wants truth," Kaelen said. "You are the truth. If there's a chance to avoid another civil war…"
"I'll take it," I said.
Elara placed a hand on my arm. "We go with you."
The Journey to Crownless Territory
The airship Silent Thread departed under stealth at midnight. It carried only six passengers—me, Elara, Kieran, Cira, and two envoys from Kaelen's office.
We crossed over into Crownless territory within hours.
Gone were the polished cities and steampunk towers. The lands beneath us were wild, reclaimed by nature. Villages repurposed old war gear as farming equipment. Walls were painted with murals of broken crowns and rising suns.
"They're rebuilding," Cira said softly. "Without gods. Without war."
"They're preparing," Kieran corrected. "That's what this is. A preparation for something bigger."
I couldn't argue.
The Meeting
We arrived at dusk in a small valley camp fortified with mana pylons and steamwalkers repurposed as guard towers. Hundreds of soldiers, civilians, scholars, and even former priests watched as we stepped off the ship.
Elandra Vael waited at the base of the central spire, flanked by her people.
She hadn't aged a day.
Her hair was short, silver streaks woven through black. Her eyes—piercing, violet, and unafraid—locked on mine.
"I thought you'd come sooner," she said.
"I thought you were dead," I replied.
"I was," she said. "Then your truth brought me back."
Truth vs. Freedom
They didn't waste time with ceremony.
We sat across from each other in a war tent, our escorts waiting just outside.
"I saw your vision," Elandra began. "I believed it."
"Then why fight me?"
She leaned forward, her eyes burning. "Because believing the truth doesn't mean accepting the chains that come with it."
"I'm not a god."
"No," she said. "You're worse. You're proof that they existed. That they shaped us. That we're still tethered."
She reached out and tapped the space over my chest where the Crown Mark rested.
"As long as that thing pulses, we are not free."
"I reforged the seals to protect people."
"And you still chose for them."
The Offer
"You could stand with me," she said. "Help us tear it all down. The gods, the Harbinger, the seals—everything."
"And what then?"
She smiled.
"Then we build something real. Not divine. Not imperial. Just… human."
"And if people die?"
"They're already dying," she said. "All over the world, because we keep letting gods pick sides."
Her voice softened.
"You don't have to be their tool anymore."
For a moment, I wanted to believe her.
But the Crown flared faintly beneath my skin—and I felt it.
A presence stirring.
Not a command.
A warning.
The Choice
I stood.
"I won't fight you," I said. "But I won't join you either."
"Then you're in the way," she said quietly.
"No," I replied. "I'm the bridge. Between what was… and what comes next."
"You'll fall," she said.
"Maybe."
I turned and left the tent.
But as I did, I whispered something only she could hear:
"When the real gods return, you'll need me more than you hate me."
Back in the Shadows
As Silent Thread lifted off hours later, Kieran leaned on the railing beside me.
"She won't stop."
"I know," I said.
"She'll rally more."
"She already has."
Cira joined us, holding a new report.
"Worse news," she said. "The Harbinger's ritual has begun. He's targeting the Anchor. If he corrupts it…"
"The timeline shatters," I finished.
Elara stepped out onto the deck.
"We move at dawn," she said. "To stop him."
I nodded, eyes on the horizon.
"I just hope there's a world left to save by the time we get there."